FILE PHOTO: An AMC theatre is pictured in Times Square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., June 2, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
March 1, 2022
(Reuters) -Theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc beat estimates for fourth-quarter revenue on Tuesday as box-office hits such as “Spider-Man: No Way Home” brought people back to the movies.
Long-awaited releases including the James Bond film “No Time To Die” and Marvel’s “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” also helped AMC recover from pandemic restrictions that had brought movie-going to a standstill.
Worries over the Omicron variant have pushed producers to postpone movie releases, making the future of the theater chain uncertain this year. While “No Way Home” is still playing in cinemas, operators have few other big titles on their schedule until spring and summer.
“The box office pacing and our results in 2022 are expected to be heavily weighted towards the second half of the year,” Chief Executive Officer Adam Aron said in a statement.
AMC said bookings are very strong for “The Batman” film, which opens this weekend and added that it expects to benefit from releases like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” later this year.
During the fourth quarter, footfall at AMC’s theaters swelled to nearly 60 million from just over 8 million a year ago, reflecting moviegoers are returning to theaters in droves after relying on Netflix and other streaming services for much of their entertainment during pandemic-induced lockdowns.
Revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 was $1.17 billion. Analysts on average had expected $1.10 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Net loss narrowed to $134.4 million, or 26 cents per share, from $946.1 million, or $6.21 per share, a year earlier.
AMC’s stock leapt more than 1,150% last year, largely driven by an army of retail investors coordinating their buying on forums such as Reddit’s WallStreetBets.
AMC also said it finished 2021 with a record year-ending liquidity position of over $1.8 billion.
(Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Maju Samuel)
Source: One America News Network
