Movie theater company AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE: AMC) recently saw its shares fall to 52-week lows, while also announcing an at-the-market share offering.
AMC CEO Adam Aron brushed off concerns of bankruptcy.
What Happened: Movie industry experts expect a weaker box office in 2024 compared to the prior year, which could have AMC shareholders concerned.
When Aron was asked about box office concerns at the 2024 CinemaCon gathering in Las Vegas, he told The Hollywood Reporter that a restructuring is not going to happen for AMC.
"Personally, I think it's inconceivable that AMC would have to restructure like Regal Cinemas did and file for Chapter 11," Aron said. "One of the things I'm very proud of is that going into the pandemic, AMC was in very strong position."
The entire movie theater sector was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, Aron says. Indeed, it has taken time to recover. The Hollywood strikes created a "double whammy," he added.
"We are already at the four-year mark since COVID shut theaters in March of 2020. And the box office is still not yet back to where it was before."
Aron said AMC has gotten "more creative" at trying to cope with COVID.
The AMC CEO highlighted the concert films of Taylor Swift and Beyonce that were done in partnership with the movie theater company. Aron said the company will consider distributing more films if it makes sense.
Special events like the 2024 Summer Olympics will be shown in AMC theaters along with some live concerts.
Aron also highlighted a retail popcorn business, which sees over 6,000 stores including Korger, Publix and Walmart carry the product. Aron didn't share numbers on the popcorn business but said it is very successful. At the movie theaters, customized popcorn holders that highlight new releases and are limited-time in release, have generated $54 million in revenue over the last five years, Aron added.
What's Next: The CEO said AMC has enough cash on hand to get through 2024. A strong box office is predicted by Aron for 2025 and 2026.
"Everything that I see tells me 2025 and 2026 are going to be gangbusters. And that means our EBITDA is going to go way up."
Aron said this could solve the problem of concerns from investors and analysts and makes him "quite optimistic and enthusiastic."
While the 2025 and 2026 box office numbers could be stronger, analytics firm Grower Street is predicting a decline in 2024. The global box office is expected to decline 5% year-over-year to $31.5 billion. The North American box office is expected to decline 11% to $8 billion in 2024.
For comparison, the box office prediction would be down 30% from the three-year average of 2017, 2018 and 2019, which were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2024, the box office of the winter period, which is tracked as the first day after the New Year's week through the Thursday before the first Friday of March, was down 21.6% year-over-year, despite 13 more films released.
AMC ended 2023 with a cash balance of $885 million according to the report.
"That's money in the bank. It suggests to me that not only have we weathered the storm so far, but to the extent that there's any storm left, we will weather that as well."
Aron said he doesn't see a scenario where the company doesn't have enough money to make it through 2024.
AMC Price Action: AMC shares are down 5% to $2.83 on Tuesday, hitting new 52-week lows. Shares of the movie theater company are down 93% over the last year and down over 50% year-to-date in 2024.