AMC Stock Tumbles Despite Beating Q4 Estimates

While AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) beat its Q4 estimates and saw a significant rise in revenue in 2022 compared to 2021, its shares were down nearly 10% after the earnings report was published.

AMC stock fell 9% on Tuesday afternoon in after-hours trading after the firm published its earnings report for Q4. While the company unveiled its 14th consecutive quarter of losses, it still managed to beat earnings and revenue estimates.

AMC Beats Estimates for Q4 2022

AMC’s earnings report for the Q4 of 2022 revealed the company’s 14th consecutive quarter of losses. However, AMC managed to beat forecasts and achieved $990.9 million in revenue as opposed to the expected $977.7 million. Similarly, its per-share loss amounted to 14 cents instead of the anticipated 21 cents.

Additionally, the company reported $3.91 billion in revenue for the entire year—a significant increase compared to $2.53 billion in 2021. Still, the company suffered a net loss of $287.7 million in Q4. Furthermore, despite beating estimates, its Q4 revenue for 2022 was still notably lower than the $1.18 billion for the same period in the previous year. Nonetheless, the company’s CEO, Adam Aron, stated he is pleased with the results and that AMC’s revenue-per-patron is well above pre-pandemic levels.

The company’s stock reacted somewhat indecisively immediately after the report was published but soon went into a distinct decline, down just over 9% at the time of writing. Additionally, AMC shares saw a decline of 6% throughout the regular trading day on Tuesday. Still, it is important to note they closed more than 20% in the green a day before, on Monday. The company’s preferred equity—APE—also fell in after-hours trading, though only by about 4% in the same period.

AMC is Up 81% YTD, APE 72% in the Green

Since the start of 2023, AMC’s regular and preferred equity shares have been on a staggering rise. AMC rose from $3.93 on Jan. 1 to $7.14 on Feb. 28—an 81.68% rise. Similarly, APE also saw a significant rise of 72.50% going from $1.20 to $2.07 in the same period. Furthermore, on several occasions, CEO Adam Aron expressed his belief that AMC will have a far stronger 2023.

On Twitter, he previously commented that he believes that the real reason for the relatively sluggish recovery of his company is the fact that Hollywood offered relatively few theatrical releases in 2021 and 2022. He reiterated the same sentiment in Tuesday’s earnings report and identified the previous year as another step “on a multi-year glide path to recovery.”

But the real story is that in 2022, AMC Entertainment continued on a multi-year glide path to recovery. AMC’s full-year 2022 results represented our strongest year since pre-pandemic 2019, with 2022 results improving over 2021, which in turn were better than those of 2020. Indeed, in full year 2022, AMC saw our annual revenue increase by more than 54% year-over-year and Adjusted EBITDA improved in a single year by more than $338 million versus 2021. We expect the recovery will continue apace in 2023, as Hollywood is expected to release approximately 75% more major movie titles than it did in 2022.

CEO Adam Aron has also previously been noted for his use of the craze of early 2021 to foster the company’s long-term recovery. As one of the major “meme stocks,” AMC’s chief executive has garnered some popularity among the so-called retail investors and has seemingly embraced them. Similarly, the other major “meme stock”—GameStop (NYSE:GME)—also used the boost the rally gave it to try and recover its struggling business by, for example, going digital and creating its NFT marketplace.

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