AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE: AMC) offset lower attendance with higher ticket prices and food and beverage revenue to help beat third-quarter revenue and earnings per share estimates, which could help the company's recovery an analyst says.
The AMC Analyst: Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey maintained a Hold rating on AMC with no price target.
The Analyst Takeaways: AMC showed strategic steps towards growth and a recovery, Hickey said in a new investor note.
The analyst said AMC "exceeded expectations" in the third quarter, including for revenue and adjusted EBITDA.
Attendance was down 11.5% year-over-year in the third quarter, but was offset by higher average revenue per moviegoer.
"Despite this decline, the average ticket price rose by 5.44%, and food and beverage revenue per patron increased by 14.79%," Hickey said.
In the U.S., attendance was down 8.9% year-over-year but offset by higher average ticket prices and a 14.3% increase in food and beverage revenue per patron, Hickey added.
The U.S. segment saw a record for food and beverage revenue per moviegoer in the third quarter.
"These increases reflect AMC's strategic pricing adjustments and enhanced in-theater offerings to maximize per-patron revenue."
Food and beverage revenue per person was up 11.9% in the international segment, also helping to offset attendance weakness.
The analyst highlighted AMC's commentary on being interested in adding more sports content like NCAA Football and NFL games, pending securing rights and exclusivity.
What's Next: Hickey said movie studios are increasing film output, which should help support a "healthier release schedule in 2025 and 2026" for AMC and the movie theater sector.
AMC CEO Adam Aron has been highlighting the strong movie lineup for 2025 and 2026 for many months and shared his optimism for the next two years and the closing quarter of 2024 on Wednesday.
"We believe of much greater importance is our bullishness about the impressive movie slate that is coming to our theaters in November and December of 2024, and continuing in 2025 and again in 2026," Aron said.
On Thursday, AMC announced the upcoming release of its Cinnamon Butter Microwave Popcorn, which will be available soon in Kroger (NYSE: KR) and Publix stores in the U.S. and online.
AMC Price Action: AMC stock is down 4.7% to $4.36 on Thursday, versus a 52-week trading range of $2.38 to $11.88. AMC stock is down 28% year-to-date in 2024.