AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. enjoyed its best week ever based on admissions revenue from July 21 through July 27, the company said Monday, setting a new company record for U.S. theaters and global theaters.
Some 65 U.S. locations also set single-week box-office records, including 13 locations in the greater Los Angeles market.
Shares of the movie-theater chain and meme-stock darling rose 6.1% Monday, outpacing the S&P 500’s
SPX,
gain of 0.1%.
Related: Are movie theaters back? ‘Barbie’ success breathed some life into dwindling attendance.
The record revenue was driven primarily by the strong openings of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” which hit theaters July 21 and saw strong moviegoer demand throughout their first full week, according to AMC
AMC,
The momentum for both movies stayed strong in their second weekend, the company said in a statement. AMC also cited the opening of “Haunted Mansion” and the continued success of “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” and “Sound of Freedom,” which made July 27 through July 30 its third-busiest weekend globally since theaters reopened from pandemic closures in 2020. Admissions revenue was “considerably more than double” the admissions revenue for the same weekend last year, the company said.
“Wanting some good news from AMC?” tweeted AMC CEO Adam Aron Monday. “It doesn’t get any better than this. In addition to last weekend being the highest grossing AMC weekend in 4 years, the week of July 21-27 was the highest grossing for AMC in our entire 103-year history. The best in ONE HUNDRED AND THREE YEARS !!!”
Related: AMC, Cinemark and Regal saw major ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ foot traffic boost, research shows
“If you are rooting for a full pandemic recovery for AMC in 2024 or 2025, as I am, the huge box office caused by Barbenheimer has to be a good and optimistic sign,” Aron added in a subsequent tweet. However, the AMC chief also struck a note of caution. “Still, none of this changes that the year-to-date box office remains lower than that of 2019, or that there is uncertainty due to our having to cope with the potentially debilitating writers and actors strikes,” he wrote. “The risks I cited in my Open Letter a week ago are real.”
Last week, in that open letter, Aron urged AMC investors not to get carried away with the blockbuster opening weekend for “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” citing the ongoing challenges the company faces.
AMC’s plan to convert its AMC Preferred Equity
APE,
units to common stock was blocked earlier this month when a Delaware judge rejected a settlement that would have allowed the deal to proceed. The stock-conversion plan was part of the company’s ongoing battle to eliminate debt.
Related: ‘Barbenheimer’ may have sparked euphoria, but ‘cash is very tight’ for AMC, CEO warns
In his letter, Aron warned that if the company is unable to raise equity capital, “the risk materially increases of AMC conceivably running out of cash in 2024 or 2025, or of AMC being unable to satisfactorily refinance and stretch out the maturity of some of our debt (which is required of us beginning as early as 2024).”
AMC has filed a modification in an attempt to address the Delaware court’s concerns, Aron said.
As of March 31, AMC’s cash position was $495.6 million, down from $631.5 million in the same period last year.
Related: What’s next for AMC after court blocks its APE-conversion plan?
The APEs rose 2.1% Monday.
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