Despite blockbuster holiday offerings like “Avatar: Fire and Ash” and “Zootopia 2,” AMC Theatres suffered a 10% drop in attendance in the fourth quarter and saw revenues dip 1.4% to $1.28 billion.
In reporting earnings for the quarter, the world’s largest theater chain said its attendance was 56.3 million, down from the 62.4 million in 2024. The company pointed to fewer tentpole releases early in the quarter as a key driver of reduced traffic, while performance improved later in the period alongside major holiday titles.
Shares of AMC tumbled to a new low of $1.16 on Monday after the earnings report was released.
AMC recorded a net loss of approximately $127 million in the quarter, narrowing from a loss of roughly $136 million in the same period of 2024. The company said the bottom line remained pressured by interest expense and restructuring-related costs tied to its debt load.
Quarterly Adjusted EBITDA reached about $134 million, though that figure trailed the prior-year period as operating leverage weakened amid a softer film slate.
Admissions and food-and-beverage spending per patron remained resilient, however, helping offset the attendance dip and supporting overall revenue stability.
AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron touted all-time per-patron records in admissions revenue in a statement, noting the company “is exceptionally well positioned to capitalize on a recovering box office. And as I have said many times before, the not-so-secret formula to a full box‑office recovery is straightforward, we need more great movies from our studio partners.”
Through the first two months of the year, the box office has not enjoyed a tentpole-level opening weekend like for last year’s “Captain America: Brave New World.” But on the whole, grosses have been more consistent as holdover grosses for holiday films like “Zootopia 2” and “The Housemaid” have combined with recent releases like “Send Help,” “Wuthering Heights” and “Goat” to give the domestic box office a $991 million running total, 2.6% ahead of last year’s pace.
March films like “Project Hail Mary,” “Hoppers” and “Reminders of Him” should help theaters avoid the deep slump that theaters found them in this time a year ago, while Universal/Illumination’s “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is expected to be this year’s smash pre-summer hit with a good chance to top its 2023 predecessor’s $574.9 million domestic/$1.36 billion global total.
