“Avatar: Fire and Ashes,” “Wicked: For Good” and “Zootopia 2” may have dominated the holiday box office, but they weren’t enough to boost AMC Theaters’ quarterly revenue. The world’s largest exhibitor reported sales of $1.28 billion for the three months ended December, down 1.4% from $1.3 billion a year earlier. More troubling is that attendance has fallen by nearly 10% as year-end blockbuster movie collections have not been able to pack in audiences at the same pace. AMC welcomed 56.3 million patrons compared to 62.4 million in the year-ago period.
AMC’s losses have certainly narrowed. The company’s net loss was $127.4 million, compared with a loss of $135.6 million in the year-ago period. Diluted loss per share was 25 cents, compared with a loss of 35 cents in the same period last year.
AMC’s food and beverage revenue totaled $436.5 million, down slightly from the $446.2 million it sold in concessions during the same period in 2024. Admissions revenue was $701.6 million, down from the $721.4 million in ticket sales AMC recorded in the same period last year.
During the quarter, AMC, which remains highly leveraged, converted the majority of its equity investment in gold and silver exploration company Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation into approximately $24.1 million in cash. The amount was “approximately equivalent” to the capital originally invested in the transferred securities, the company said.
AMC will hold an earnings call for investors and analysts on Tuesday. In a statement accompanying the earnings call, CEO Adam Aaron predicted that the company’s lineup of potential blockbusters for 2026, including Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” and “Avengers: Doomsday,” will outstrip 2025 hits.
“AMC is in a very good position to take advantage of the recovering box office,” Aaron said. “And as we’ve said many times before, the not-so-secret formula for a full recovery at the box office is simple and straightforward: We need more great movies from our studio partners.”
