Movie theater stocks moved higher Monday in the wake of the biggest Thanksgiving ever at the domestic box office.
Spurred by Moana 2‘s debut and strong carryover business for Gladiator II and Wicked, shares in AMC Entertainment, Cinemark, Imax, National CineMedia, Marcus Corp. and specialty theater parent Reading International all rose. Heading toward the final bell, the stocks were up between 1% and 5% on the day.
AMC, the No. 1 global circuit, and top-tier player Cinemark both announced record ticket and concession sales for the 5-day holiday span, with overall ticket sales reaching $420 million, according to Comscore. Attendance at AMC totaled 8.8 million moviegoers around the world, the company said, with many patrons returning multiple times during the extended weekend. AMC CEO Adam Aron pronounced the holiday “one for the ages” for the tempest-tossed exhibition business. Imax also took in $24 million, a new high for Thanksgiving.
“Continuing the trend we have seen for the past several months,” Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble said in a statement, “these record-breaking box office, premium formats, and food and beverage results further accentuate the cultural impact an immersive, cinematic experience delivers for content across all genres. We extend our congratulations to our studio partners for delivering exceptional content that reinforces our confidence in the vitality of theatrical exhibition.”
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Eric Handler, a research analyst with Roth MKM, wrote in a report to clients that the box office has “quickly shifted into overdrive.” Moana 2 and Wicked “should carry the box office quite nicely into the Christmas holiday season,” Handler wrote, with Mufasa: The Lion King and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 due out in December.
Imax, whose stock Handler rates as a “buy,” is poised to play an outsized role in the sector’s recovery. He estimates that the company’s global box office during the quarter is about $135 million, up 23% over the same period in 2023.
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