The Hollywood box office rebound, thanks to tentpoles like Wicked, Gladiator II and Moana 2, has been good to long-suffering AMC Entertainment Holdings and its sluggish stock price.
On Tuesday, the parent of AMC Theatres posted a net loss for the fourth quarter at $135.6 million, an improvement from the year-ago net loss of $182 million, which included a non-cash impairment charge related to long-lived assets of $106.9 million.
The cinema chain also reported overall revenues of 1.3 billion, up from a year-earlier $1.1 billion. That matched an analyst estimate of fourth quarter revenues at $1.3 billion, according to a Benzinga Pro consensus.
The year-ago box office came mostly from Taylor Swift and Beyonce concert films as the world’s biggest exhibitor had to make do with a thin Hollywood tentpole supply. This year, the major studios refocusing on theatrical releases coming out of the pandemic has produced an ongoing box office rebound for North American industry cinema ticket sales.
The per-share loss at the cinema chain came to 18 cents, better than the year-earlier loss of 54 cents. That was in line with analysts forecasting a loss of 18 cents per share in the latest fourth quarter.
“Naturally, we are pleased by our impressive finish to the year. We also take comfort as a result of the decisive actions we took during 2024 to strengthen our balance sheet, lower our debt levels, bolster our cash reserves,” AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron said in a statement after the release of his fourth quarter financial results.
But with the mega exhibitor far from taming its overall debt load, shares in AMC Entertainment Holdings continue to lag industry peers. Stock in AMC Entertainment on Tuesday closed down 9 cents, or 2.7 percent, at $3.27. After market, shares in AMC Entertainment jumped 5 percent, or 20 cents, to $3.47.
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