Even a return trip to Pandora wasn’t enough to boost quarterly earnings at AMC Theaters.
Despite the box-office success of “Avatar: The Way of Water,” revenue at the world’s largest movie chain fell 15 percent in the fourth quarter to $990.4 million. That was down from $1.17 billion in the previous period. Losses also widened, as AMC posted a net loss of $287.7 million, a bigger lag than the $134.4 million in losses it posted a year ago. AMC lost 26 cents per share, compared with a loss of 13 cents in the same quarter in 2021.
That failed to match Wall Street forecasts. Analysts had expected quarterly revenue of $1.05 billion and a loss in earnings of 22 cents per share. AMC stock briefly rose nearly 4% in after-hours trading before slipping back into negative territory and then back into positive territory.
This volatility is nothing new. AMC has often seen its stock prices rise and fall regardless of its financial results. The company, like GameStop, has been seen as a meme stock, as the price has been affected by the sentiments of its army of retail investors, as well as short sellers who believe its stock is overinflated. At one point, AMC stock rode the excitement to $72.62 a share. It has since come back down to earth and is now trading at over $7 a share.
The company’s results included a non-cash impairment charge of $133.1 million that was “related to long-lived assets.” The filings suggest it had to do with lease obligations, as well as costs associated with closing and opening certain venues.
AMC has scrambled to find ways to expand its brand and launch new revenue streams as the theatrical box office has struggled to bounce back from the pandemic. It bought a stake in a gold and silver mine, partnered with Zoom to allow companies to book meeting spaces at its venues, and announced this week that it is launching a new line of microwaveable and ready-to-eat popcorn products that will available at Walmart.
And yet AMC’s core business has still failed to return to pre-pandemic levels, even as the fall and winter have delivered hit movies like “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish ” and “Black Panther”. : Wakanda Forever.” Worldwide attendance, which has been hurt by a lack of major studio films and changing consumer habits as more movie fans turn to streaming services, continued to decline. AMC said it hosted 49.5 million visitors, from the 60 million customers it had in the previous period.
The company fared better than Cineworld, its biggest competitor, which was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2022 in the wake of the box office slump. AMC chief Adam Aaron predicted the worst was behind the fairs, noting the influx of new blockbusters in 2023 and continued improvement in global ticket sales.
“But the real story is that in 2022, AMC Entertainment continued on a multi-year path to recovery,” Aron said in a statement. “AMC’s full-year 2022 results represented our strongest year since pre-pandemic 2019, with 2022 results improving on 2021, which in turn were better than 2020.”
He added: “We expect the recovery to continue apace in 2023, as Hollywood is expected to release around 75% more major film titles than in 2022.”
Aron said AMC’s recovery depended on its shareholders voting the authority to issue more shares as the company tries to pay down its debt. He said this would give “…AMC the best opportunity to create value for all of our shareholders in the months and years to come.”
AMC said its debt was about $4.9 billion at the end of the year.
