Movie Theaters Did Have Returning Customers, But Far Less Than Before The Pandemic

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (AMC) and IMAX Corporation (IMAX), including major movie theater chains at the box office, may report low -earnings due to the pre -epidemic level.

Key TakeAways 

• The movie theater chain revenue is increasing but remains below the level before the epidemic.
• The first quarter earnings are expected to be lower than the 2019 levels.
• IMAX may benefit from changing premium theater experiences and withdrawal of Chinese customers after covid lockdown.
• Apple and Amazon are one of the technical firms wishing to invest in film production or movie theater to strengthen streaming businesses. {alertSuccess}

Another cause of backward results: the spread of streaming platforms and covid anxiety that is not completely eliminated.

According to estimates collected by visible alpha, AMC may have a net loss of approximately $ 190 million. This would be less than a year ago, yet in the first quarter of 2019 is still more than $ 130 million. Revenue is expected to grow 22% to $ 961 million, but it is still fifth lower than four years ago.

AMC shares, a popular meme stock, rose 20% in the first quarter of the year, although in early January they fell to a low-lying level of $ 3.77 to a 52-week level.

IMAX can be slightly better than a profit of $ 3.5 million than a loss of $ 13.6 million a year ago, as the revenue increases to one -third to $ 79.3 million. It will still be much below the net income of $ 8.3 million in the first quarter of 2019.

Its shares increased by 35% in the first quarter and is close to its 52-week high.
According to Venabash Securities, the company may benefit from the Covid lockdown after a change towards premium theaters, as well as the return of cinema experiences for customers in China.

The US box office earned $ 1.7 billion in the first quarter, which was around 28% year-on-year. They lagged behind the results in 2019 and were filled with a small slate of the film release for the quarter compared to 302 in early 2019.

The total box office yoga was about three-fourths in the first quarter of the top 10 films compared to 56% before Covid. Vesabash analysts hope that the increase in the number of films released will increase the return.

Meanwhile, some tech firms are taking steps to enter the area to diversify their content offerings. Apple Inc. (AAPL) allegedly plans to spend $ 1 billion or more annually to produce films for dramatic release as well as films for streaming games.

Last month, amazon.com Inc. (Amzn) was asked to consider the purchase of AMC. In each case, both tech companies can expect that investing in films will help in the growth of customers for their streaming platforms.