AMC beats revenue expectations despite demand softness - and says it wants to work more with Netflix

By James Rogers

CEO Adam Aron says the softness seen in the third quarter should not be cause for alarm

Movie-theater chain AMC reported third-quarter results after market close Wednesday.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.'s third-quarter revenue topped Wall Street expectations despite "softening" demand from moviegoers, the company said Wednesday.

AMC's (AMC) third-quarter revenue came in at $1.3 billion - down from $1.349 billion in the prior year's quarter, but above the FactSet analyst consensus estimate of $1.235 billion.

The company is not surprised by how the 2025 calendar year is progressing, according to Chief Executive Adam Aron. "Due primarily to the timing of major studio film release dates, a weak first quarter was followed by a blazing hot second quarter, which then was followed by a softening third quarter," Aron said in a statement. "We continue to expect that the year will culminate in what we hope will be quite a strong year-end in quarter four."

Third-quarter admissions revenue was $715.1 million, down from $744.2 million in the previous year but above the FactSet consensus estimate of $676.2 million. Food-and-beverage revenue fell to $451.8 million from $490.4 million in the year-ago quarter, but topped the FactSet estimate of $448.1 million.

During the quarter, AMC achieved all-time record admissions revenue per patron of $12.25.

Aron described the third-quarter softness as being industrywide and said that it should not be cause for alarm. "To the contrary, we expect the fourth-quarter industrywide box office will turn out to be the highest-grossing fourth quarter in six years," he said in the statement. "We also continue to believe that the size of the 2026 box office will be dramatically larger than that achieved in 2025."

Rival Cinemark Holdings Inc. (CNK) also reported a year-over-year revenue decline when it reported its third-quarter results early Wednesday.

Speaking during a conference call to discuss the results, Aron highlighted forthcoming releases from major studios, including Walt Disney Co.'s (DIS) "Predator: Badlands," "Avatar: Fire and Ash" and "Zootopia 2"; Paramount Pictures' (PSKY) "The Running Man" and "The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants"; Sony Pictures Classics' (SONY) "Nuremberg"; and Universal Pictures' (CMCSA) "Five Nights at Freddy's 2" and "Wicked: For Good."

"Advanced bookings for 'Wicked: For Good' are through the roof," he noted, adding that they exceed the advanced bookings at the same time last year for the original "Wicked" movie.

During the call, Aron also said he is optimistic that AMC can collaborate more with Netflix Inc. (NFLX), pointing out that the movie-theater chain showed the streaming giant's smash hit "KPop Demon Hunters" in its cinemas over Halloween weekend. "The talks with Netflix are in their infancy and we do not know yet the ultimate size there can be for this potential cooperation," he added, according to a FactSet transcript. "There is much still to work out, especially, for example, on windows."

Shares of original meme stock AMC were up 0.4% in extended trading. The stock ended Wednesday's regular session down 0.4%.

For the quarter ending Sept. 30, AMC's net loss was $298.2 million, or a loss of 58 cents a share, after a net loss of $20.7 million, or a loss of 6 cents a share, in the same period last year. The company said the increased net loss was mainly the result of noncash charges associated with the company's debt-restructuring deal in July.

On an adjusted basis, which excludes nonrecurring items, AMC lost 21 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were looking for an adjusted loss of 20 cents a share.

The company's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda), a measure of underlying profitability, was $122.2 million, compared with $161.8 million in the prior year's quarter. AMC said this was mostly the result of a domestic box office that was down in the quarter by 11.1% year over year.

On Sept. 30, AMC's cash and cash equivalents were $365.8 million, down from $423.7 million at the end of the previous quarter and from $632.3 million at the end of December 2024.

AMC shares are down 37.2% in 2025, compared with the S&P 500 index's SPX gain of 15.6%.

-James Rogers

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11-05-25 1902ET