(Reuters) – AMC Entertainment topped Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue on Tuesday, boosted by wildly popular releases including “Moana 2” and “Wicked” that helped draw a strong crowd of moviegoers.
Shares of the company rose about 3% in extended trading after it reported a 20% jump in attendance in theaters in the fourth quarter.
AMC’s results are another sign Hollywood studios and cinemas have rebounded from disruptions caused by the strikes in 2023 by writers and actors, which left theater chains with a thin slate of releases in the first half of last year.
Disney’s animated musical “Moana 2” debuted with an estimated $368 million in global ticket sales, and combined with “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” helped deliver the biggest Thanksgiving weekend in U.S. and Canadian box office history.
Leawood, Kansas-based AMC said attendance in theaters rose to 62.4 million, compared with 51.9 million a year earlier.
The strong attendance numbers could also help quell some fears around the death of cinema, after prolonged closures during the COVID-19 pandemic sparked concerns audiences might prefer to stream movies at home rather than heading to theaters.
AMC also generated about $114 million in free cash flow in the quarter, marking its highest quarterly cash flow post pandemic.
The company expects to see material growth in the industry-wide box office in 2025 and beyond, CEO Adam Aron said, pointing to “a growing lineup of movies (that) open exclusively in movie theaters”.
Revenue for the fourth quarter ended December 31 rose 18% to $1.31 billion, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $1.30 billion according to data compiled by LSEG.
The company reported net loss of $135.6 million, smaller than the $182 million loss a year earlier.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
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