AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AMC) Just Reported First-Quarter Earnings: Have Analysts Changed Their Mind On The Stock?

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AMC) just released its first-quarter report and things are looking bullish. Results overall were credible, with revenues arriving 4.0% better than analyst forecasts at US$951m. Higher revenues also resulted in lower statutory losses, which were US$0.62 per share, some 4.0% smaller than the analysts expected. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

Check out our latest analysis for AMC Entertainment Holdings

Following the recent earnings report, the consensus from six analysts covering AMC Entertainment Holdings is for revenues of US$4.61b in 2024. This implies a discernible 4.1% decline in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Losses are expected to hold steady at around US$1.11. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$4.62b and losses of US$1.45 per share in 2024. Although the revenue estimates have not really changed AMC Entertainment Holdings'future looks a little different to the past, with a very promising decrease in the loss per share forecasts in particular.

The average price target held steady at US$4.42, seeming to indicate that business is performing in line with expectations. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. The most optimistic AMC Entertainment Holdings analyst has a price target of US$8.00 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$3.10. We would probably assign less value to the analyst forecasts in this situation, because such a wide range of estimates could imply that the future of this business is difficult to value accurately. As a result it might not be a great idea to make decisions based on the consensus price target, which is after all just an average of this wide range of estimates.

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. Over the past five years, revenues have declined around 1.2% annually. Worse, forecasts are essentially predicting the decline to accelerate, with the estimate for an annualised 5.4% decline in revenue until the end of 2024. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 8.3% per year. So while a broad number of companies are forecast to grow, unfortunately AMC Entertainment Holdings is expected to see its revenue affected worse than other companies in the industry.

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion is that the analysts made no changes to their forecasts for a loss next year. Fortunately, the analysts also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, suggesting that it's tracking in line with expectations. Although our data does suggest that AMC Entertainment Holdings' revenue is expected to perform worse than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. We have forecasts for AMC Entertainment Holdings going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Before you take the next step you should know about the 4 warning signs for AMC Entertainment Holdings (2 are potentially serious!) that we have uncovered.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.