AMC Entertainment, the largest movie theater operator in the U.S., shattered Wall Street's expectations and reported its highest-quarter revenue and adjusted profit in company history.
"After six long years of navigating AMC through uncharted waters, we can finally say with relief that we have brought our ship into port," CEO Adam Aron told analysts. "For years now, the skeptics have been repeating the conventional wisdom and writing of AMC's final chapter, but they were wrong."
"Looking ahead, I could not be more bullish about the long-term prospects for our company," he added, saying that he has personally bought more AMC stock this year.
Third-quarter revenue jumped 31.6%, up $411 million from a year ago, to a record $1.71 billion, sailing over Wall Street's expectations for $1.66 billion.
Net earnings improved to $109.3 million, up $407.5 million, compared with a loss of $298.2 million in the year-ago third-quarter. And adjusted earnings of 12 cents a share was higher than the 9 cents a share expected.
Michael Hickey, entertainment and digital media analyst for StoneX Equity Research, raised his price target on the stock to $5, up from $3 previously, and maintained his Buy rating.
Shares closed down 12.5% on Thursday after initially falling 4% on Wednesday afternoon, but improving as Aron began talking about results. The stock closed at $3.08 and is up 97.4% this year, on pace for its best year since 2021, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
AMC, with about 840 theaters and 9,500 screens worldwide, has benefited from a strong run of blockbuster movies this year, which Aron called "the best domestic box office in seven years."
He noted that October domestic box office is about 35% above last year, and full-year box office totals to easily surpass $10 billion, noting that this month's offerings include Amazon MGM's I Play Rocky, Searchlight Pictures' Wild Horse Nine, Paramount Pictures' Ebenezer, and Netflix's The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth.
Domestic box office sales through Sunday are at about $8.46 billion, or 20.1% more than the comparable period in 2025, according to Rentrak. That leaves approximately $1.54 billion to reach the $10 billion milestone for the first time since 2019.
AMC's results were boosted by its loyalty programs, Aron said, plus its growing number of premium large-format and extra large format auditoriums, disciplined cost management, and operating leverage.
"Our success was driven by a resurgent box office, market share gains in both domestic and international markets," and all-time record revenue per patron, he added.
Admissions revenue of $953.5 million in the quarter beat the $921 million expected. Food and beverage revenue of $589.4 million and other theater revenue of $168.2 million also exceeded expectations.
Hickey noted that AMC will have exclusive screenings of Netflix's The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, which will screen in theaters for two weeks on only 200 IMAX screens in the U.S. and 550 screens worldwide, primarily AMC theaters, before streaming on Netflix starting Dec. 23. Both Cinemark and Regal declined to participate, Hickey wrote. The crime thriller stars Brad Pitt and Elizabeth Debicki.
AMC will gain differentiated premium content and a deeper Netflix relationship, while Cinemark and Regal will reserve their IMAX capacity for Lionsgate's The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, he wrote. Sunrise opens on Nov. 20, five days before Cliff Booth, and its opening forecast has risen about 55% to between $101 million to $130 million after strong presales, "making it costly to surrender premium screens over Thanksgiving."
On Aug. 3, AMC reported its highest-ever revenue weekend after Sony Pictures' Spider-Man: Brand New Day opened in the U.S. and internationally, including new records for admissions revenue and food and beverage revenue. Spider-Man opened to $360.1 million in ticket sales at the domestic box office and $927 million worldwide, the second-highest ever global opening weekend gross for any movie title, and while Universal's The Odyssey was still in theaters.
AMC's quarterly adjusted earnings before interest, tax, and depreciation of $347.5 million, up 183.7% from last year, was also the highest in any quarter of its 106-year history.
Third-quarter free cash flow of $109.3 million, up more than $190 million from a year ago, brought year-to-date free cash flow to $124.7 million. "This gives us confidence to expect that AMC will achieve the much-welcomed milestone of positive annual Free Cash Flow for the full year 2026," Aron said.
To strengthen its financial foundation, AMC on Oct. 5 completed a $3.97 billion refinancing covering approximately 97% of its debt, extending maturities to late 2031 and 2033, simplifying its capital structure, and reducing its cost of capital. That prompted the major credit-rating agencies to raise its credit rating, and means it now has a significantly stronger balance sheet, AMC said.
While AMC will continue striving to pay down debt and further reduce leverage, Aron said future characterizations of the company as "overly debt-laden" are wrong and "come only from those looking in the rearview mirror, not the front windshield of the AMC auto."
He said the most anticipated movies this December include: The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, Dune: Part Three, Avengers: Doomsday, Mr. Irrelevant, and Jumanji: Open World.
Rival Cinemark Holdings, the third-largest movie theater operator in the U.S. after AMC and Regal Cinemas, reported record third-quarter revenue and higher-than-expected profits on Tuesday.
Cinemark said it had 64 million moviegoers in the quarter, up 18% from the previous third quarter.
IMAX Corp. on Thursday reported what it called its best quarter on record, saying it generated a record $712 million in global box office receipts during the quarter, of which 76%, or $538 million, came from The Odyssey.
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