5 Best-Performing Stocks in 2021

In this article, we discuss the 5 best-performing stocks in 2021. If you want to read our detailed analysis of these companies, go directly to the 10 Best-Performing Stocks in 2021.

5. AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AMC)

Number of hedge fund holders: 19  

Year-to-Date  Gains: 2,159%

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AMC) is a Kansas-based firm involved in the theatrical exhibition business. It was founded in 1920 and is placed fifth on our list of 10 best-performing stocks in 2021. The stock has offered investors returns exceeding 2,159% year-to-date. The movie theatre chain runs more than 1,000 movie theatres and 10,700 screens across the world. The recent surge in the share price of the company is a result of increased retail investor interest in the stock. 

On June 5, AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AMC) trade was limited by financial services company TD Ameritrade after a dramatic increase in volatility driven by social media speculation around the theatre firm, mostly by users on popular Reddit forum WallStreetBets.

At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 19 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $34 million in AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AMC), up from 16 in the preceding quarter worth $24 million. 

In its Q4 2020 investor letter, Mittleman Investment Management LLC, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AMC) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“AMC Entertainment (AMC) was our only material loser in Q4, dropping from $4.71 to $2.12 (-55%). I planned on discussing here why it was worth at least the $10 per share that my recently reduced estimate of fair value claimed, but since then AMC raised more cash against their UK holdings and then the stock took off due to speculative players from reddit.com getting involved, so we sold it all around $14 during the last week of Jan. 2021. This was a modest profit for most clients, but a loss for some others, depending on when the account began, so check your statements to see where you came out. And yes, I recognize it as being a dose of good luck, which I heartily accept from the universe as it seemed somewhat lacking in the portfolio of late. After the sale of AMC in late January 2021, our exposure to the movie theater business is now exclusively in Canada via Cineplex, which has a 75% market share and much less leverage on its balance sheet.”