Not So Fast…

Meme stocks are always on the move, but two stood out today. So let’s take a look. 👀

We covered AMC on Tuesday after it settled a shareholder lawsuit preventing its approved share conversion and reverse split. However, we noted that it would need court approval to perform those actions before the scheduled April 27th court date. 🧑‍⚖️

And today, shares were back on the move because a U.S. court denied AMC’s request to lift a status quo order on converting the APE units into AMC common shares. Delaware Chancery Court judge Morgan Zurn said, “The parties offer no good cause to lift the status quo order.”

While she didn’t address the deal’s merits, she reiterated that class action settlements require court approval to protect the interests of outside parties, such as investors not involved in the litigation. As a reminder, the settlement would pay the plaintiffs one share for every 7.5 shares they own, amounting to a roughly $100 million payout. 🤑

The slower-than-expected conversion caused $AMC shares to rally 21% and $APE units to fall 11%. Unfortunately, that essentially wiped out all of this week’s convergence progress.

Meanwhile, Bed Bath & Beyond shares cratered again. The struggling retailer has called a meeting on May 9th, asking shareholders to approve a reverse stock split in the range of 1:10 to 1:20. 🗳️

Management warned that the company could face bankruptcy if this measure isn’t approved. The filing said, “The Company may be unable to avoid bankruptcy if the Reverse Split Proposal fails to obtain shareholder approval. We need to raise equity capital to have the necessary cash resources to fund operations and service obligations under our Credit Agreement…” 

The news comes a day after the company secured a $120 million vendor consignment agreement designed to help it keep inventory on its shelves. Yet, even with that lifeline, its situation remains dire. And without this reverse split and additional equity capital, many believe bankruptcy is the most likely outcome. 😬

As a result, $BBBY shares fell another 8% to fresh all-time lows. 🔻

Despite a better-than-expected fiscal first quarter, Levi Strauss suffered its worst daily decline as a public company. 😱

The jeans maker earned an adjusted 34 cents per share, ahead of the 32 cents per share expected. Revenues of $1.689 billion also topped the $1.623 billion consensus view. Strength in the company’s direct-to-consumer and international businesses helped offset some U.S. weakness. 🛒

While the headline numbers seem positive, investors are concerned about the retailer’s inventory levels. They’ve improved from last quarter due to its procurement and promotional efforts, but are still up 33% on a dollar basis. Executives are now expecting inventory to align with sales by year-end. They had previously expected that in the second fiscal quarter. 📦

Overall, the company faces many of the same issues as its competitors. An uncertain macro environment, shifts in consumer spending, and inflation pinching its customers’ wallets remain a headwind. But the company’s execution problems around inventory prove that it’s not faring as well as many had hoped.

Management reiterated their cautious full-year guidance, reflecting the above factors. ⚠️

$LEVI shares traded heavily today, falling 16% to their lowest level since January. 📉

There’s no shortage of interesting charts or data out there. But this morning, our scan of the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 brought up DISH Network Corporation. And once we pulled up its long-term chart, we realized we’d been teleported back over a decade. 🕰️

The American television provider and owner of direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish is trading back at its 2008 lows. The mid-cap ($4.6 billion) stock has seen better days, falling roughly 90% from its all-time highs in 2015. 📡

Analysts say weakness in its core business and legal troubles over its recent cybersecurity incident are reasons to be cautious. Additionally, it faces a class-action lawsuit from shareholders claiming it made false and misleading statements about its operational efficiency and IT infrastructure.

Where $DISH shares head from here is anyone’s guess. Nonetheless, it’s popping up on some people’s radars now that’s it back to the same levels it fell to during the financial crisis. 🤷