AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. reported profit that beat Wall Street projections after a first quarter that saw the theater industry rebound.
(Bloomberg) — AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. reported profit that beat Wall Street projections after a first quarter that saw the theater industry rebound.
The world’s largest movie theater chain generated total sales of $954.4 million, up 21.5% from a year earlier. Investors were expecting $959 million. The company’s loss, at 13 cents per share after adjustments, was better than analysts’ projections for a loss of 16 cents. The shares jumped 3.5% in premarket trading.
Movie-theater stocks have rallied since the beginning of the year thanks to a strong performance from films including Creed III, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Avatar: The Way of Water.
“This progress is a testament to the ongoing recovery in the industrywide box office,” AMC Chairman Adam Aron said in a statement. He added that the results represent AMC’s “strongest first quarter in four full years.”
Still, a full recovery of the box office to 2019 levels isn’t expected until early next year at the earliest, leaving AMC in a precarious financial situation as it burns through its cash reserves. It’s also facing a lawsuit from shareholders over a plan to raise money by converting its preferred equity units into common stock.
Last year, rival Cineworld Group Plc, which owns Regal, filed for bankruptcy. The chains have repeatedly blamed the dearth of available films from studios for their woes, rather than moviegoers’ lack of interest in returning to theaters.
Companies including Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc are committing at least $1 billion annually for films released in cinemas, Bloomberg has reported. Paramount Global, Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. are also increasing their output of movies for theaters after experimenting with distributing films on streaming services alone.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.