Investors have started chasing up shares of former ‘meme’ stocks and companies whose shares have been heavily shorted by hedge funds.

Since the start of August, shares in cinema operator AMC Entertainment (AMC:NYSE) have rallied more than 65% to almost $24 after languishing below $15 for most of the preceding three months.

A study in the Wall Street Journal showing a shift in consumer spending back towards cinema-going may have been partly responsible for the renewed interest.

Yet AMC isn’t the only former ‘meme’ stock to have surged this month, with shares in entertainment firm Gamestop (GME:NYSE) gaining nearly 30% to $43.45.

Part of the attraction may be the remarkable performance of newly listed Hong Kong-based fintech AMTD Digital (HKD:NYSE), whose shares rallied more than 32,000% from their $7.80 initial price in July to an intraday high of $2,555 in less than three weeks.

Meanwhile, shares in US home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY:NASDAQ) have almost doubled this month as retail investors have piled into the stock, one of the most-shorted names in the US market.

A big jump in the price of shorted shares can force bearish investors to rush to cover their bets, which in turn adds to the upward momentum.

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