Is Most-Watched Stock AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (AMC) Worth Betting on Now?

• AMC
  +4.83%
• ^GSPC
  -0.10%

AMC Entertainment (AMC) has been one of the most searched-for stocks on Zacks.com lately. So, you might want to look at some of the facts that could shape the stock’s performance in the near term.

Shares of this movie theater operator have returned +20% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite’s +2.1% change. The Zacks Leisure and Recreation Services industry, to which AMC Entertainment belongs, has gained 1.1% over this period. Now the key question is: Where could the stock be headed in the near term?

While media releases or rumors about a substantial change in a company’s business prospects usually make its stock ‘trending’ and lead to an immediate price change, there are always some fundamental facts that eventually dominate the buy-and-hold decision-making.

Revisions to Earnings Estimates

Rather than focusing on anything else, we at Zacks prioritize evaluating the change in a company’s earnings projection. This is because we believe the fair value for its stock is determined by the present value of its future stream of earnings.

Our analysis is essentially based on how sell-side analysts covering the stock are revising their earnings estimates to take the latest business trends into account. When earnings estimates for a company go up, the fair value for its stock goes up as well. And when a stock’s fair value is higher than its current market price, investors tend to buy the stock, resulting in its price moving upward. Because of this, empirical studies indicate a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and short-term stock price movements.

For the current quarter, AMC Entertainment is expected to post a loss of $0.01 per share, indicating a change of +95.2% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged over the last 30 days.

For the current fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of -$0.22 points to a change of +77.1% from the prior year. Over the last 30 days, this estimate has remained unchanged.

For the next fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $0.04 indicates a change of +84.1% from what AMC Entertainment is expected to report a year ago. Over the past month, the estimate has remained unchanged.

With an impressive externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool — the Zacks Rank — is a more conclusive indicator of a stock’s near-term price performance, as it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions. The size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for AMC Entertainment.