With domestic box office picking up momentum, AMC’s revenues could surprise in Q4. Wall Street Memes looks at the hottest movies that could boost the company’s financial results.
The movie industry in the US has recently had its best 21 days of revenues since the start of the pandemic. Domestic box office reached $100 million for three straight weekends. This could be encouraging news for AMC and its investors.
Wall Street Memes lists below some of the key titles that seem to be driving the recovery in the movie theater business.
1. Halloween Kills
The horror/thriller produced by Comcast Corporation’s Universal Pictures is based on the 1978 classic Halloween movie. So far, the movie has been … killing it at the box office.
Halloween Kills alone generated $50.4 million in the past weekend and hashit$255.6 million worldwide – even though the title has been simultaneously launched on Peacock’s streaming service. This suggests strong demand for in-person entertainment, even when the stay-at-home alternative is available.
AMC recently took advantage of the “Halloween momentum” and released AMC Thrills & Chills. This is a weekly series of surprise screenings of new releases and cult classic horror movies for $5 plus taxes.
2. No Time to Die
Despite the latest James Bond movie’s box office debut disappointment,No Time to Die has hit $447.8 million in worldwide gross revenues. In the past weekend, the movie generated a total $24 million. No Time to Die dropped off more than 50% in its second week, less than Halloween Kills did.
Fun fact: No Time To Die’s stars Daniel Craig and Rami Malek surprised moviegoers before a session at an AMC IMAX theatre in Burbank, California.
3. Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Sony movie Venom: Let There Be Carnage recently dropped nearly 50% in revenues from the previous week to land at $16.5 million domestically. However, the movie has amassed a worldwide total of $283.7 million.
AlongsideNo Time To Die,Venom: Let There Be Carnage helped to push AMC to a new post-reopening record for global attendance, admission revenues, and food and beverage sales for a single weekend. According to AMC, from September 30 to October 3, more than 2.4 million people watched movies at AMC Theatres within the U.S.
Our take
AMC’s challenge to bring revenues back to normal still has a long road ahead. In the most recent quarter, the company reported sales of $444 million, while the number was a much higher $1.5 billion in the comparable, pre-pandemic period of 2019. For Q3, with the pandemic slowly fading, revenue estimates sit at $741 million.
According to CEO Adam Aron, in the first two weeks of October, domestic box office grosses reached more than $300 million – and the executive seemed quite happy about it.
Increased demand for in-person entertainment coupled with good management execution seems to be guiding AMC in the correct path to pre-pandemic revenues once again. If domestic box office keeps the same pace as reported in the first couple of weeks of October, AMC could recover sooner than some expect.