- AMC
+26.80%
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AMC) jumped 16% in premarket trading on Monday after reporting record second-quarter revenue and a surprise adjusted profit. Revenue reached $1.60 billion, compared with the $1.47 billion expected by analysts, while adjusted earnings came in at 14 cents per share instead of the expected 6-cent loss.
The quarter provides the strongest evidence yet that movie theaters are recovering from the pandemic and Hollywood labor disruptions. Whether that recovery translates into lasting value for AMC shareholders is a more complicated question.
Strong 2Q Beat
In detail, AMC’s revenue increased 14.2% from a year earlier to $1.60 billion. Adjusted EBITDA climbed nearly 70% to $321.4 million, marking the first time the company generated more than $300 million of adjusted EBITDA in a single quarter. The company’s adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 20.1% from 13.6% a year earlier.
Attendance increased 13.5% to 71.3 million customers during the quarter. U.S. attendance rose 12%, while international attendance increased 17.9%. Admissions revenue advanced to $863.1 million, and food and beverage revenue climbed to $576.1 million.
The broader domestic box office grew 10.7% to approximately $2.99 billion during the quarter, its best performance in seven years. AMC’s domestic revenue increased 13%, suggesting the company grew slightly faster than the overall market.
Despite the operating improvement, AMC reported a GAAP net loss of $11.4 million, compared with a loss of $4.7 million one year earlier. The gap between AMC’s $104.3 million adjusted profit and its GAAP loss was primarily caused by $51.1 million in marked-to-market derivative losses and $63.1 million in debt-extinguishment losses. These expenses do not directly reflect attendance or concession sales.
One strong quarter therefore does not mean AMC has permanently returned to profitability. It does, however, show that the underlying theater business can produce substantial cash when the film slate attracts enough customers.
The Recovery Still Depends on Hollywood
Six films generated domestic opening-weekend box-office sales exceeding $75 million during the second quarter. Titles including The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Obsession helped drive attendance.
AMC expects additional support from upcoming releases including Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Dune: Part Three, and Avengers: Doomsday. Management believes 2026 could become the industry’s strongest post-pandemic year.
The quality of the release calendar remains a risk AMC cannot directly control. Film delays, production disruptions, changing theatrical windows, or a run of disappointing releases could quickly reduce attendance.
