Top exhibitor AMC Entertainment posted a loss of 10 cents a share and saw revenue slide 24% in the second quarter due to the strike-hit movie pipeline.
Though they may have been shaky, however, the financials matched Wall Street analysts’ estimates and shares in AMC gained modest ground in after-hours trading. The loss compared with a profit of 6 cents a share in the same period a year ago, while the revenue figure of $1.03 billion was down from $1.348 billion in the 2023 quarter.
CEO Adam Aron, the pre-eminent corporate optimist, said the dynamic shifts in the marketplace left him feeling optimistic about the second half of 2024. After an unnervingly quiet spring and major disappointments like Fall Guy in what is usually the kickoff to summer in early May, the triumph of Inside Out 2 sparked a revival that has continued through the current Deadpool and Wolverine heyday.
“As expected, the second quarter started slowly with the box office adversely impacted by the 2023 Hollywood writers and actors strikes. However, the quarter finished with incredible strength powered by the success of Disney’s Inside Out 2,” Aron said in the earnings release. The company “saw a remarkable contrast between the early quarter wit h a dearth of movie releases and the end of the quarter with a record-setting movie delighting audiences in our theatres. That difference between AMC’s early quarter performance and our late-quarter performance was as if we were two totally different companies, surrounded by two completely different industry dynamics.”
The company’s earnings release followed a preliminary report about the quarter’s financials, which signaled the loss to come.
