‘Meme stock’ AMC Entertainment beats quarterly revenue estimates

Aug. 9 (Reuters) – Cinema operator AMC Entertainment (AMC.N) surpassed second-quarter revenue estimates on Monday, lifted by the return of moviegoers to its theaters after a year of closures and restrictions, pushing up its shares of nearly 6% in trade extension.

The final installment of the “Fast and Furious” movie “F9: The Fast Saga” in June and “Godzilla vs Kong” in late March gave AMC much-needed relief from the blows it took from the pandemic over the course of the year. past year due to the closure of theaters.

Almost all of AMC’s theaters reopened in the quarter as more people were vaccinated and pandemic-related restrictions were relaxed.

But ticket sales at the world’s largest theater chain are still a long way from the billions it raked in two years ago, with film release cycles yet to be resumed and the threat of the Delta variant of the virus looming large. on the audience.

Revenues from the company, one of the “memes stocks” at the center of a small investment boom this year, reached $ 444.7 million in the quarter ended June 30, from $ 18.9 million one year earlier. Analysts on average expected revenue of $ 382.1 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

AMC has used the surge in its share price to raise more than $ 1 billion through stock offerings, cushioning the damage caused by dry ticket sales during the pandemic.

The company raised an additional $ 1.25 billion in new equity during the quarter, bringing AMC’s cash flow at the end of the quarter to more than $ 2 billion.

“Thanks to the increase in the number of vaccinations in the countries we serve, we have started to see an increase in demand for films and we have safely welcomed more than 22 million guests to our theaters around the world. during the second trimester, ”AMC said.

Excluding items, the company posted a loss of 71 cents per share, while analysts expected 91 cents.

Reporting by Eva Mathews and Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel

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