After the success of Taylor Swift's movie, CEO Adam Aron hints at more big-name concert films in the future
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. reported third-quarter results that beat top- and bottom-line expectations Wednesday, as the movie-theater chain and meme-stock darling swung to a profit.
The company swung to net income of $12.3 million, or 8 cents a share, compared with a loss of $226.9 million, or $2.20 a share, in the prior year's quarter. Excluding nonrecurring items, AMC $(AMC)$ reported a loss of 9 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were looking for a loss of 25 cents a share.
Revenue grew 45.2% to $1.406 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $1.260 billion. AMC's adjusted Ebitda was $194 million.
"For both revenue and adjusted Ebitda, these were AMC's most successful third-quarter results in our company's entire 103-year history, by definition being greater than the third quarter of pre-pandemic 2019," AMC Chief Executive Adam Aron said in a statement. "For the second consecutive quarter, AMC reported positive net income, and we ended the quarter with $730 million of cash. This all suggests that we are well underway on our growth path to recovery from the ravages of the COVID pandemic."
"What is perhaps most impressive of all is that our success in the third quarter came at a time when our attendance at the domestic box office in the quarter was still 16% below comparable 2019 levels," Aron added. "That success is because our contribution per patron was up 30% versus 2019."
Admissions revenue was $797.7 million, above the FactSet consensus of $739 million. Food and beverage revenue was $482.7 million, above the FactSet consensus of $449 million.
AMC's stock fell nearly 2%% in extended trading Wednesday.
Speaking during a conference call to discuss the results, Aron said that the short-term impact of the writers' and actors' strikes will cause challenges for AMC in 2024. "Without taking sides ... we strongly encourage all the parties involved to come to the negotiating table with the intent of reaching an agreement immediately," he said.
The AMC CEO also discussed the success of Taylor Swift's record-breaking concert film, which opened Oct. 12. "Both as distributor and exhibitor, AMC benefited handsomely," he said, adding that AMC Theatres Distribution is following this success with the release of "Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé," which hits theaters globally Dec. 1.
"In working with two of the most talented pop stars on the planet, we have already touched lightning," Aron added. "We're optimistic that this will lead to much more ahead -- we believe that we will have several more concert products in 2024 and 2025."
