AMC stock plummets after 14th straight quarterly decline, fourth straight year down
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. on Tuesday reported a loss for the 14th straight quarter and fourth straight year, and shares fell in after-hours trading.
The theater chain and meme-stock phenom beat Wall Street’s reduced targets for the holiday quarter, reporting a net loss of $287.7 million, or 26 cents a share, compared to a net loss of 13 cents a share for the same period in December previous year . On an adjusted basis, AMC AMC,
reported a net loss of 14 cents per share, worse than a 6 cents per share loss last year. The company hasn’t reported a profitable quarter on a GAAP basis in nearly a year before the pandemic, in Q2 2019, and hasn’t been profitable for a full year since 2018.
AMC reported fourth-quarter revenue of $990.9 million, compared to $1.18 billion for the same period last year. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting revenue of $978 million and a net loss of 19 cents a share on an adjusted basis after repeatedly lowering those targets — revenue was $1.11 billion and up at the end of January estimated at $1.3 billion just last August. For the full year, AMC posted a loss of $973.6 million, or 93 cents a share, on revenue of $3.91 billion.
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Shares of the company initially gained in after-hours trading on Tuesday following the earnings release, but then fell about 6% in the extended session. Shares of the meme stock darling closed regular trading down 6.2% at $7.14 and are down 38.4% over the last 12 months. The stock hit a 52-week high of $21.09 on March 29, 2022.
“With more big films to come in 2023, we are very confident that our multi-year recovery will continue to show significant progress this year,” Chief Executive Adam Aron said in a statement. “But we cannot stress enough how important it is that to remain profitable, AMC must continue to be agile and nimble, not only in running our day-to-day business, but also in continually raising cash and reducing debt burdens by AMC Entertainment.”
AMC executives did not provide financial guidance, although Aron noted that “domestic box offices have already posted an impressive 44% increase in the first quarter from 2022,” while again acknowledging that “industry-wide box offices will not return to pre-pandemic norms until 2024.” will return or at the earliest in 2025.”
During a conference call to discuss the results, Aron said that AMC has been “masterful” at raising equity when needed. The company ended 2022 with over $840 million in cash in the bank or undrawn revolving credit lines.
According to Aron, AMC has also strengthened its cash profile and balance sheet. In the trailing 12 months, AMC raised approximately $314 million in gross cash proceeds and also reduced the total principal amount of its debt by approximately $390 million since early 2022, he said.
“2022 was a year of growth and recovery for AMC,” the company’s CFO Sean Goodman said during the earnings call. The company welcomed 201 million guests to its theaters around the world in 2022, a 56% increase from 2021, he added.
According to Goodman, the company ended the fourth quarter with $843 million in cash.
The cinema chain has had a busy few months. December saw the much-anticipated grand opening of Walt Disney Co.’s DIS,
Avatar: The Way of Water, which has become one of the top five grossing films of all time at the box office.
Related: AMC Highlights Strong Opening Weekend For “Avatar: The Way of Water,” Raising $162 Million Through APEs
AMC announced a special meeting of shareholders in January to increase the number of AMC authorized shares to 550 million from just over 524 million and to authorize a 1:10 reverse split of the Company’s common shares, converting AMC Preferred Equity to APE becomes.
units in common shares. The move is part of the company’s ongoing fight to reduce debt, but has been held up Court cases that contributed to a big swing in AMC and APE shares on Monday. APEs fell 4.1% in extended trading on Tuesday.
The company’s APEs made their commercial debut in August. With its APE equity unit, AMC has created what appears to be a 2-for-1 stock split, which is the company’s latest effort in the stock issuance battle. The name is a nod to the investors who turned the company into a meme stock and often refer to themselves as “monkeys” or “monkey nation.”
This month, AMC announced that it has repurchased $365 million in debt since early 2022 and introduced seat-based movie ticket prices.
Also Read: AMC CEO Adam Aron Sees Increase in Movie Releases in 2023, Touts ‘Pathway to Eventual Pandemic Recovery’
Ahead of Tuesday’s market open, AMC announced a popcorn collaboration with Walmart Inc. WMT.
The theater chain said the microwave and ready-to-eat popcorn will be available at hundreds of Walmart locations starting March 11. During the conference call to discuss the results, Aron said the company’s Perfectly Popcorn will be available at more than 2,600 Walmart stores in the United States. “Once again, AMC is demonstrating unmistakable progress on our multi-year glide path to pandemic recovery,” he said. “What a tremendous vote of confidence in AMC from the largest retailer in the United States.”
Over the past two years, AMC has been on a rollercoaster ride, taking it from battered pandemic victim to meme-stock phenomenon. AMC took advantage of its stock price’s surge to hit the stock and bond markets, raising $917 million in January 2021. AMC ended the quarter with $842.7 million in cash.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/amc-stock-gains-after-reporting-14th-consecutive-quarterly-loss-fourth-straight-year-in-the-red-8cd3461d?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo AMC stock plummets after 14th straight quarterly decline, fourth straight year down
