Tag: Investing Strategy

I recently profiled AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (AMC) as a compelling buy in the backdrop of a record-setting year at the box office, a robust slate of movies for 2018 and 2019, a strong consumer, dividend yield of over 4% and accelerating revenue and EPS growth. AMC was trading near $14.50 or nearly 30% below its 52-week high in July. AMC is reengaging the consumer via digital, mobile and loyalty program options, reformatting theaters to enhance the user experience and international expansion augmented by a healthy share buyback program. After coming off record first quarter numbers in June across all categories, the stock looked very attractive considering its depressed valuation, industry strength forecasted through the remainder of 2018 and through 2019 coupled with a slew of company initiatives to drive the consumer experience. Sure enough, AMC has been on the rise and reported its Q2 earnings in August. AMC posted robust growth with record admission and food and beverage revenue increasing ~18% and 19%, respectively while overall revenue increased 20% year-over-year. Since July, AMC has broken out from ~$14.50 to ~$19.50 for a ~30% appreciation in stock value. AMC remains compelling despite this recent appreciation on any significant pullback since the long-term growth narrative remains intact while revenue continues to grow at a double-digit clip.

AMC’s Accelerating Revenue and EPS – Q2 Earnings

AMC has a mix of improving fundamentals across the entire enterprise which were highlighted during its latest earnings announcement for Q2 2018. AMC set second quarter records for all revenue categories: admissions, food and beverage and other. Total revenues increased 20% to $1,442.5 million compared to total revenues of $1,202.3 million during the same period last year. Admissions revenues increased 17.7% while food and beverage revenues increased 19.2%. Net earnings increased $198.7 million to net earnings of $22.2 million compared to net loss of $176.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2017. Continue reading "AMC Appreciates 30% - Further Upside?" →

Introduction:

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (AMC) is looking compelling in the midst of record-setting box office numbers, a robust slate of movies thus far in 2018 and through 2019, strong consumer demand, dividend yield of over 5% and accelerating revenue and EPS growth. AMC’s stock price is nearly 30% below its 52-week high despite coming off record first quarter numbers across all categories. Additionally, AMC is reengaging the consumer via digital, mobile and loyalty program options, reformatting theaters to enhance the user experience and international expansion augmented by a healthy share buyback program. AMC will report its Q2 earnings in early August, and the stock looks very attractive considering its depressed valuation, industry strength forecasted through the remainder of 2018 and through 2019 coupled with a slew of company initiatives to drive the consumer experience.

2018 Record-Setting Box Office Numbers:

Major theatrical releases continue to break U.S. box office revenue records thus far in 2018. Yearly box office revenue already topped $6 billion outpacing 2017 by 10% and the 2016 record year by 11%. Thus far 2018 has posted the second largest first quarter and record second quarter at the box office. U.S. box office revenues hit a record $3.3 billion in the second quarter due in large part to Disney’s (DIS) “Avenger’s: Infinity War” and “Incredibles 2” with domestic grosses of $673 and $440 million, respectively. The previous record was set in the second quarter of 2015 when the domestic box office drew $3.1 billion in revenue. It’s noteworthy to point out that April and June were record months at the box office and revenue from April to June was up ~23% compared to the same period in 2017 ending the second quarter on a strong foot. Furthermore, summer 2018 is currently pacing 19% ahead of 2017 with the third largest summer on record at the same point in the season. Overall, June brought in a record $1.269 billion in domestic box office receipts besting the previous record set in 2013 at $1.246 billion. Translating these numbers into actual ticket sales to normalize for inflation and actual demand, 2018 has seen the most ticket sales since 2010. Ticket sales for 2018 are estimated to be 675 million through the end of June, and compared to the previous two decades this is the seventh largest number of tickets sold and the most since 2010 when the number of tickets sold was 679.7 million. Continue reading "AMC Looks Compelling With Record-Setting Box Office Numbers" →