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The geniuses at AMC managed to lose over $480 million last year. They ran just a 2% operating margin ($101M operating profit from $5B+ revenue). They may in fac

The geniuses at AMC managed to lose over $480 million last year. They ran just a 2% operating margin ($101M operating profit from $5B+ revenue). They may in fact kill MoviePass by refusing to budge, but they would be shooting themselves in the foot doing so. Who else is generating demand for movie tickets at this scale? According to their own earnings releases, AMC's USA per-screen attendance dropped from over 38,000 admissions per screen in 2016, to 29,808 in 2017. http://investor.amctheatres.com/file/Index?KeyFile=392398945 http://investor.amctheatres.com/file/Index?KeyFile=392398945

gamblor956 8y ago
The geniuses at AMC managed to lose over $480 million last year. You need to learn to read investor reports...The "loss" was entirely driven by tax law changes that changed how they accounted for certain items on their books. "Included in the net loss for the quarter was approximately $310.0 million of tax expense in our U.S. markets related to the impact of the change in the U.S. enacted federal income tax rate from 35% to 21% and the impact of a full valuation allowance on our deferred income tax assets." They may in fact kill MoviePass by refusing to budge, but they would be shooting themselves in the foot doing so. Who else is generating demand for movie tickets at this scale? Not MoviePass. Last I checked, the movie studios spent a few hundred million dollars on promoting movies in the US alone. There's no point in bringing in more MoviePass subscribers if they're losing money per ticket due to splitting the revenue 3 ways (i.e., adding MoviePass into the cut) if those viewers don't also buy enough concessions to make up for the lost revenue. So far, it appears they don't. That being said, AMC has a subscription pass coming out (or is already out in some markets) which is like the original MoviePass: a sustainable price that brings in viewers and incentivizes them to purchase concessions (and additional tickets).
- listenallyall 8y ago
  Passionate defense of AMC, a company whose stock price has tanked by more than 50% since Jan 1, 2017. ::eyeroll:: Operating income was still just 2% of revenue last year. 2018-Q1 was strong but if ticket sales continue their downward trend, will they even make an operating profit? They have more screens than ever to fill, while variety -- the number of films in wide release -- is also trending downwards. The $310m of tax-related expenses in Q4 must be countered against the gain in the other 3 quarters. Annual "income tax provision" was only $154M for the year. Earnings before income tax were still -333 million. The Q4 "loss" is essentially the reduced ability to take future write-offs ("deferred income tax assets"), since the corporate tax rate was just slashed. Meaning, executive management failed to maximize the value of deferred taxes, when rates were higher. You seem to believe no MoviePass subscribers are buying snacks. Surely there are abusers of the system, and subscribers' average spend may be lower than the general public's, but more butts in seats does result in more concession sales. Do you have evidence otherwise? Let me know when AMC's subscription is out, and it has 2.5 million subscribers. Will it be as awesome as Cinemark's Movie Club? $8.99 for 1 whole movie ticket?

gamblor956 8y ago

The geniuses at AMC managed to lose over $480 million last year. You need to learn to read investor reports...The "loss" was entirely driven by tax law changes that changed how they accounted for certain items on their books. "Included in the net loss for the quarter was approximately $310.0 million of tax expense in our U.S. markets related to the impact of the change in the U.S. enacted federal income tax rate from 35% to 21% and the impact of a full valuation allowance on our deferred income tax assets." They may in fact kill MoviePass by refusing to budge, but they would be shooting themselves in the foot doing so. Who else is generating demand for movie tickets at this scale? Not MoviePass. Last I checked, the movie studios spent a few hundred million dollars on promoting movies in the US alone. There's no point in bringing in more MoviePass subscribers if they're losing money per ticket due to splitting the revenue 3 ways (i.e., adding MoviePass into the cut) if those viewers don't also buy enough concessions to make up for the lost revenue. So far, it appears they don't. That being said, AMC has a subscription pass coming out (or is already out in some markets) which is like the original MoviePass: a sustainable price that brings in viewers and incentivizes them to purchase concessions (and additional tickets).

listenallyall 8y ago
Passionate defense of AMC, a company whose stock price has tanked by more than 50% since Jan 1, 2017. ::eyeroll:: Operating income was still just 2% of revenue last year. 2018-Q1 was strong but if ticket sales continue their downward trend, will they even make an operating profit? They have more screens than ever to fill, while variety -- the number of films in wide release -- is also trending downwards. The $310m of tax-related expenses in Q4 must be countered against the gain in the other 3 quarters. Annual "income tax provision" was only $154M for the year. Earnings before income tax were still -333 million. The Q4 "loss" is essentially the reduced ability to take future write-offs ("deferred income tax assets"), since the corporate tax rate was just slashed. Meaning, executive management failed to maximize the value of deferred taxes, when rates were higher. You seem to believe no MoviePass subscribers are buying snacks. Surely there are abusers of the system, and subscribers' average spend may be lower than the general public's, but more butts in seats does result in more concession sales. Do you have evidence otherwise? Let me know when AMC's subscription is out, and it has 2.5 million subscribers. Will it be as awesome as Cinemark's Movie Club? $8.99 for 1 whole movie ticket?