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 Beyoncé’s concert films.
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 nonrecurring items, AMC reported a loss of 54 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting a loss of 70 cents a share.
Revenue grew 11.5% to $1.104 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $1.058 billion. AMC’s adjusted Ebitda increased 193% to $42.5 million.
Admissions revenue was $614.6 million, beating the FactSet consensus of $592 million. Food-and-beverage revenue was $370.2 million, also above the FactSet consensus of $357 million.
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AMC shares fell 11% in extended trading.
AMC reported the results following a 91.4% drop in its stock price over the past 12 months. Shares have fallen drastically from the meme-stock heights they reached in 2021, when their price got close to $300.
In the company’s earnings call, Chief Executive Adam Aron reiterated previous comments that he shares the frustrations of AMC’s shareholders. As a shareholder, he has lost “tens of millions of dollars” in the last six months, he said. ”I share in your frustration, I feel your pain,” the CEO added. ”I am a shareholder, I am holding, I am not selling, I ride with you.”
Aron also said he recommended to AMC’s board last week that his target compensation for the next 12 months be ”substantially” reduced. “My target compensation will go down right now, as we move forward, by 25% versus the previous year’s target,” he said. “And, maybe even more of relevance, if you compare my new lowered target compensation against my actual compensation for the past year as most recently publicly reported, that’s actually a 50% reduction in my potential compensation in the year ahead.”
In a statement, Aron highlighted the impact of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” and “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé” on the company’s fourth-quarter results.
“Despite a diminished box office overall, in the fourth quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago, AMC’s revenue grew by 11.5% and AMC’s adjusted Ebitda almost tripled,” Aron said. “Literally, all of that increase in AMC’s revenue and Ebitda is attributable to our having shown these two movies in our theaters in the U.S. and internationally.”
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On the call, Aron lauded AMC’s distribution deals for the two concert films, in addition to showing them in its own theaters. “Our company, AMC, reshaped the box office,” he said. “They were the first movies distributed by AMC in our 103-year history – what a triumph for our company.”
AMC, he added, is in touch with other “world-class musical artists” for movies in 2024 and 2025.
Aron last month called the decline in the theater chain’s share price “frustrating” and said last year’s Hollywood strikes, which halted film production, “ruined” the box-office results for the early portion of this year.
He returned to that theme during the conference call, noting that 2023 did not live up to its full potential as the months of writers and actors strikes that “crippled” Hollywood. But he said that the box office will continue to strengthen, adding that 2025 could be “a gangbuster year,” both for the industry and AMC as a company.
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The CEO also acknowledged that 2023 “was not a great year for our shareholders,” highlighting the decline of AMC’s share price. Investors have worried that the company’s efforts to shore up its finances via stock offerings raises the risk of shareholder dilution. AMC’s total debt including finance leases at the end of 2023 was around $4.56 billion, down from $5.01 billion at the end of 2022, the company said in its earnings release.
Addressing concerns about dilution, Aron highlighted the need for cash and pointed to the $418 million raised through the company’s AMC Preferred Equity Units, which were converted to common stock in August 2023. “There can be no argument, cash is king,” he said.
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