(Bloomberg) — AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. rebounded after a return of moviegoers, and new releases spurred the theater to report preliminary results that exceeded expectations.
Most read by Bloomberg
The world’s largest cinema company expects fourth-quarter revenue of approximately $1.17 billion, ahead of the average analyst estimate of $1.09 billion. AMC expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to be between $146.8 million and $151.8 million, surpassing analysts’ highest estimate of $137 million, data collected by Bloomberg shows.
The Leawood, Kansas-based company shot a whopping 14% as the US stock market opened, its biggest jump since mid-December. While the stock is up more than 30% in the past year, it has lost nearly three-quarters of its value since a peak in June.
The company’s total liquidity at year-end was more than $1.8 billion, compared to a quarterly cash burn of about $217 million, the statement said.
AMC delivered a “huge blow” that confirmed Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey’s view that the domestic box office will recover from the pandemic.
Led by films like “SpiderMan: No Way Home,” AMC was able to close 2021 with “its strongest quarter in two years,” Chief Executive Officer Adam Aron said in the statement.
The head of the company has embraced an army of small day trading investors who have fueled the theater chain from the brink of bankruptcy to record highs in 2021. the high-yield market Tuesday morning.
Gains from other so-called meme stocks were evident in early trading, with favorites from retail traders such as GameStop Corp. that rose after AMC’s announcement.
The video game retailer was up 3.1%, while Express Inc. 4.3% climbed and Sundial Growers Inc. 2.3% won. The once-trendy stocks have stumbled in recent months, with a basket of 37 meme stocks tracked by Bloomberg at 30% since early December.
(Updates prices everywhere, adds analyst comments in the fifth paragraph.)
Most read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2022 Bloomberg LP