#AMC Theatres Swings to Profit, Touts Highest Quarterly Attendance Since 2019, But CEO Warns of “Potentially Severe Liquidity Hurdles”

Cinema giant AMC Theatres swung to a second-quarter profit as revenue jumped 15.6 percent to $1.35 billion and touted its highest quarterly attendance in years, but also issued a warning of possible liquidity challenges ahead.

Earnings for the second quarter hit $8.6 million, compared to a loss of $121.6 million in the comparable period of 2022, the company reported on Tuesday. It also saw a 12.2 percent gain in attendance year-over-year.

“While we still have much work ahead of us on this front, AMC’s glide path to eventual recovery continued with significant pace in the second quarter of 2023 as our results set new records and represent AMC’s strongest second quarter in four full years,” said Adam Aron, chairman and CEO of AMC. “AMC theatres across the globe welcomed more than 66 million guests in the second quarter of 2023, our highest quarterly attendance number since the fourth quarter of 2019.”

He added: “Our ongoing progress is obvious and ever so encouraging. Combining AMC’s commitment to innovation with a notable increase in both the number and quality of movie titles from our studio partners, movie theatres are once again captivating audiences and driving attendance back to AMC theatres.”

Aron also touted that with the first half of the year in the books, “the 2023 domestic industry box office is 20% ahead of last year, and we believe the second half of the year could be even better unless the current writers/actors strikes wind up delaying the release of movie titles into next year. The third quarter of 2023 is off to an explosive start with Barbie, Oppenheimer, Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, and Sound of Freedom, among others, combining to cause July to become the highest monthly revenue in AMC’s storied 103-year history. There are so many more engaging movie titles to enjoy at AMC theatres later this year, and we can’t wait to welcome moviegoers to our nearly one thousand theatres in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East.”

But Aron also issued warnings. During the second quarter of 2023, AMC raised $34 million of cash and reduced its principal balance of debt by $42 million through debt repurchases. “While I am so very proud of the progress we have made since the depths of the pandemic, we continue to have a climb ahead of us,” the CEO emphasized. “Even with our $643 million of quarter-ending liquidity, our ability to continue to raise capital and remain agile are absolutely vital to maintaining our strong recovery trajectory. There are real and potentially severe liquidity hurdles on the horizon that we will need to overcome.”