AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. reported better-than-expected revenue and a narrower-than-expected loss in its fourth-quarter results Wednesday, boosted by the performance of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé’s concert films.
The movie-theater chain and original meme stock reported a net loss of $182 million, or 83 cents a share, compared with a loss of $287.7 million, or $2.64 a share, in the year-prior quarter. Excluding nonrecurring items, AMC reported a loss of 54 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting a loss of 70 cents a share.
Revenue grew 11.5% to $1.104 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $1.058 billion. AMC’s adjusted Ebitda increased 193% to $42.5 million.
Admissions revenue was $614.6 million, beating the FactSet consensus of $592 million. Food-and-beverage revenue was $370.2 million, also above the FactSet consensus of $357 million.
AMC shares fell 7.8% in extended trading.
AMC reported the results following a 91.4% drop in its stock price over the past 12 months. Shares have fallen drastically from the meme-stock heights they reached in 2021, when their price got close to $300.
In a statement, AMC Chief Executive Adam Aron highlighted the impact of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé’s concert films on the company’s fourth-quarter results.
“Despite a diminished box office overall, in the fourth quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago, AMC’s revenue grew by 11.5% and AMC’s adjusted Ebitda almost tripled,” Aron said. “Literally, all of that increase in AMC’s revenue and Ebitda is attributable to our having shown these two movies in our theatres in the U.S. and internationally.”
Aron last month called the decline in the theater chain’s share price “frustrating” and said last year’s Hollywood strikes, which halted film production, “ruined” the box-office results for the early portion of this year.
He said he would have “much to say” about the state of the company on its earnings call, set to take place Wednesday after the release of the results.
Investors have worried that the company’s efforts to shore up its finances via more stock offerings raises the risk of shareholder dilution. AMC’s total debt at the end of 2023 was around $4.56 billion, down from $5.01 billion at the end of 2022, the company said in its earnings release.
Tom Bruni, lead writer of the Daily Rip & Markets newsletter at Stocktwits, told MarketWatch last month that AMC has managed to stave off bankruptcy, cut costs and push its membership program, while benefitting from blockbusters like “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” this year. But he noted that consistent profits have remained elusive, and that many investors were “worn out.”
Wedbush Securities analyst Alicia Reese said in a research note this month that she expected a “tumultuous” year ahead for the theater chain amid fluctuations in the pipeline for new film releases.
But she added that big concert films — namely, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” and “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé” — likely helped AMC pick up a bigger share of the movie-theater market.
