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 Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s concert films.<\/p>\n
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 non-recurring items, AMC\u00a0reported a loss of 54 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting a loss of 70 cents a share.<\/p>\n Revenue grew 11.5% to $1.104 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $1.058 billion. AMC\u2019s adjusted Ebitda increased 193% to $42.5 million.<\/p>\n Admissions revenue was $614.6 million, above the FactSet consensus of $592 million. Food-and-beverage revenue was $370.2 million, above the FactSet consensus of $357 million.<\/p>\n AMC shares fell 7.8% in extended trading. <\/p>\n AMC reported the results following a 91.4% drop in its stock price over the past 12 months. Shares more broadly have fallen from the meme-stock heights they reached in 2021, when their price got close to $300.<\/p>\n In a statement AMC CEO Adam Aron highlighted the impact of Taylor Swift and Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s concert films on the company\u2019s fourth-quarter results. \u201cDespite a diminished box office overall, in the fourth quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago, AMC\u2019s Revenue grew by 11.5% and AMC\u2019s Adjusted EBITDA almost tripled,\u201d he wrote. \u201cLiterally, all of that increase in AMC\u2019s Revenue and EBITDA is attributable to our having shown these two movies in our theatres in the U.S. and internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n Aron last month called the decline in the theater chain\u2019s share price \u201cfrustrating<\/a>\u201d and said last year\u2019s Hollywood strikes, which halted film production, \u201cruined\u201d the box office office results for the early portion of this year. <\/p>\n He said he would have \u201cmuch to say<\/a>\u201d about the state of the company on its earnings call, set to take place after the publication of the results. <\/p>\n Investors have worried that the company\u2019s efforts to shore up its finances via more share offerings raises the risk of stockholder dilution. AMC has net debt of around $4.1 billion, according to Wedbush, which it took on over the years to either expand or stay afloat during the pandemic. <\/p>\n Tom Bruni, lead writer of the Daily Rip & Markets newsletter at Stocktwits, told MarketWatch<\/a> last month that AMC has staved off bankruptcy, cut costs, pushed its membership program and benefited from blockbusters like \u201cBarbie\u201d and \u201cOppenheimer.\u201d But he said consistent profits have remained elusive, and that many investors were \u201cworn out.\u201d<\/p>\n Wedbush analyst Alicia Reese, however, said in a research note this month that she expected a \u201ctumultuous<\/a>\u201d year ahead for the theater chain, amid fluctuations in the pipeline for new film releases. <\/p>\n But she said that big concert films \u2014 namely, \u201cTaylor Swift: The Eras Tour\u201d and \u201cRenaissance: A Film by Beyonc\u00e9\u201d \u2014 likely helped AMC pick up a bigger share of the movie-theater market. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n