Movie theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE:AMC) reported fourth-quarter financial results after the market close Wednesday.
Here are the key highlights.
What Happened: AMC Entertainment reported fourth-quarter revenue of $1.1 billion, which was up 12% year-over-year. The revenue total beat a Street consensus estimate of $1.05 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
The company reported a loss of 54 cents per share, which was an improvement from the prior year and beat analyst estimates of a loss of 70 cents.
Full fiscal year revenue for the company was $4.81 billion, up 23% year-over-year. The company reported full-year EBITDA of $425.8 million. The company said revenue and adjusted EBITDA for the full year were the highest for AMC since pre-pandemic 2019.
AMC ended the fourth quarter and fiscal year with $884.3 million in cash and cash equivalents.
"AMC reported strong results for both the fourth quarter and full year of 2023, once again exceeding Wall Street's consensus expectations," AMC CEO Adam Aron said. "It was another full year of continued meaningful recovery from the aftermath of the 2020 pandemic."
Aron highlighted the success of the Taylor Swift and Beyonce concert films released in the fourth quarter.
"Despite a diminished box office overall in the fourth quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago, AMC's revenue grew by 11.5% and AMC's adjusted EBITDA almost tripled."
Aron said the increase in revenue and EBITDA is "attributable to our having shown these two movies in our theatres."
The two movies also represented one-ninth of the fourth-quarter domestic box office for the entire industry.
"This is a stunning result given that neither of these films were on anyone's drawing board until mid-year and that they were the first movies ever distributed by AMC in our entire 103-year history."
The company ended the full fiscal year with $884.3 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Related Link: AMC Q4 Earnings Preview: Can Taylor Swift Success Offset 'Black Panther,' 'Avatar' And Analyst Concerns?
What's Next: AMC highlighted its cash raising and debt paying efforts in fiscal 2023 and also said during the first quarter of 2024 the company exchanged $17.5 million in principal on Second Lien Notes due 2026 for 2.5 million Class A shares of AMC stock.
"We believe that sizable cash position puts AMC in an enviable position to tackle the challenges that will come our way this year," Aron said.
"And looking ahead to 2024, we will not hesitate to continue in our efforts to reduce debt, extend debt maturities and bring in more cash to our treasury as opportunities to do so arise."
January and February domestic box office for the sector was down 45% compared to the same months in pre-pandemic 2020, Aron said, adding the Hollywood strike impacts continue but could be "short-term in nature."
AMC expects the box office to strengthen again beginning as soon as March, he said.
AMC Price Action: AMC shares are down 8% to $4.59 in after-hours trading Wednesday versus a 52-week trading range of $3.58 to $71.10.
Photo via Shutterstock.