AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) reported what Chairman and CEO Adam Aron called its “best Adjusted EBITDA first quarter result since 2019 pre-pandemic,” highlighting a $96 million year-over-year improvement as box office trends strengthened and per-patron economics hit records.
First-quarter performance and “operating leverage”
Aron said the quarter’s results were driven by “strong domestic performance” and “vastly improved international results across our European footprint,” which he attributed to disciplined operating execution and cost containment alongside investments in the moviegoing experience. He also emphasized what management described as the operating leverage in the business, arguing that improving revenues can have an outsized impact on profitability.
Chief Financial Officer Sean Goodman said AMC welcomed 47.6 million guests globally in the quarter, a 13.6% increase from the prior year. He said the quarter produced a post-pandemic first-quarter Adjusted EBITDA record of $38.3 million, with Adjusted EBITDA up $96 million year over year.
Goodman also said AMC exceeded $1 billion in consolidated first-quarter revenue “for the first time since 2019,” while posting per-patron records for admissions revenue, food and beverage revenue, and total revenue across both domestic and international businesses.
On profitability per guest, Goodman said consolidated contribution margin per patron increased 6% year over year to a record $15.19, which he said is now 57% higher than the first quarter of 2019. “This is why the box office does not need to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels for us to be able to achieve pre-pandemic levels of Adjusted EBITDA,” he said.
Box office rebound and outlook for 2026 film slate
Aron said the first quarter of 2026 marked a major industry rebound after several flat years that he tied to the 2023 strikes. He said the North American box office rose 22% year over year in the first quarter and described it as “the strongest since the pandemic closed theaters back in the first quarter of 2020.”
He pointed to Amazon Studios’ Project Hail Mary as a late-March driver and said momentum continued into the second quarter with three “blockbuster hits in a row,” naming Illumination’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Lionsgate and Universal’s Michael, and Disney’s The Devil Wears Prada 2. Aron said AMC had seen footage from upcoming titles and expressed optimism about the 2026 slate across major studios and independent distributors.
Aron also provided an industry-level expectation for the year, saying AMC believes the 2026 domestic box office could be “somewhere between $500 million and $1.2 billion bigger than that of 2025,” and noted that foreign-language films in Europe have been performing well.
Balance sheet actions: refinancing, equity conversion, and liquidity
Management spent substantial time discussing steps taken to increase liquidity and improve financial flexibility. Aron said AMC refinanced $400 million of debt due in 2027, extending the maturity to 2031 while also reducing annual cash interest expense. He also said AMC was converting approximately $155 million of debt into equity.
Goodman added that the refinancing replaced $400 million of 12.75% debt maturing in 2027 with a new $425 million first lien term loan at 10.5% due in 2031. After the transaction, he said AMC’s only remaining debt maturity prior to 2029 is $125.5 million of 6.25% unsecured notes due in 2027.
On liquidity, Goodman said AMC ended the quarter with $339 million of cash, excluding $42 million of restricted cash, and reiterated that AMC typically uses cash in the first and third quarters due to box office seasonality. He said that during the quarter AMC raised approximately $101 million through its at-the-market equity offering and the sale of Hycroft shares, with proceeds intended to strengthen the balance sheet and invest in guest-facing initiatives.
Aron said AMC raised approximately $72 million of gross proceeds in the first quarter through its at-the-market equity program. He also said AMC sold a portion of its Hycroft Mining holdings at an average price of $42.40 per share, generating about $30 million in cash proceeds. Combining that sale with fourth-quarter 2025 Hycroft share and warrant sales, Aron said AMC has generated about $54 million of cash from Hycroft, above its initial $27.9 million investment, while retaining about 129,500 Hycroft shares.
In response to an analyst question about the debt-to-equity conversion, Goodman said the exchangeable notes had a mandatory conversion provision tied to AMC’s share price, and that the company’s share price met the required targets. He said removing that debt also eliminates associated covenants, giving AMC more flexibility to pursue future refinancing opportunities.
Initiatives: premium formats, “Arena One,” merchandise, and loyalty
Aron emphasized AMC’s premium large format footprint, listing screen counts across formats including IMAX at AMC, Dolby Cinema at AMC, ScreenX, 4DX, PRIME in the U.S., and iSENSE in Europe, along with thousands of laser-equipped screens. “No one has more premium screens than AMC,” he said, adding that the company plans to expand premium offerings further under the AMC Go Plan and increase deployments of its AMC Club Rocker seating in additional high-potential theaters.
AMC also announced a new live entertainment product called Arena One at AMC. Aron said it will launch in June across more than 300 AMC locations in 89 U.S. markets, offering “exclusive, real-time, interactive, live concerts” broadcast from a purpose-built stage, with a two-way interaction between artists and theater audiences. He said the concept will expand to approximately 260 Odeon theaters in nine European countries shortly after the U.S. launch.
Responding to Texas Capital Securities analyst Eric Wold, Aron said AMC was able to implement Arena One with “essentially no upfront spending” and described the model as a revenue share, with AMC retaining a “significant percentage” of admissions and food and beverage revenue. He said ticket prices would vary by artist and market and suggested they could fall in a $40 to $75 range.
Aron also addressed merchandising, telling Macquarie analyst Chad Beynon that demand for movie-themed products remains strong—citing interest in “Prada purse popcorn bags”—and said AMC believes it can drive 20% annual growth in its merchandise business. He said AMC’s merchandise revenues were “nothing” in 2022 and are “a $100 million a year business” currently.
On loyalty and marketing, Aron said AMC’s A-List subscription program surpassed 1 million members in the prior week and said the Stubs loyalty program now has 39 million member households, up from 2 million when he joined 10 years earlier. He also cited pricing initiatives, including “50% off Tuesdays and Wednesdays,” as a positive for the company.
Windows, Netflix, and labor agreements
Aron said he sees “palpable” momentum toward longer exclusive theatrical windows, pointing to public commitments from Universal and Paramount to extend windows to at least 45 days, alongside Disney’s approach. He also discussed the importance of both PVOD timing and what he described as a “90-day SVOD window,” arguing longer windows can help “retrain the consumer” after shorter post-pandemic release patterns.
He also highlighted Netflix’s plan to give Greta Gerwig’s Narnia a global theatrical release with a 49-day window beginning in February 2027, calling it a significant opportunity for the industry to embrace Netflix as a theatrical content provider. Aron said AMC and Netflix have worked together since fall 2025 and cited three prior projects: a K-pop event around Halloween, a Stranger Things season finale event on New Year’s Eve, and new episodes of One Piece. He said the relationship between the companies has been “very positive” and that both have expressed interest in doing more together.
Finally, Aron pointed to recently reached multi-year labor agreements with SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild as a constructive development, saying it provides confidence that the disruptions of 2023 will not be repeated in the near term.
In closing remarks, Aron reiterated that AMC’s first quarter of 2026 was its best first-quarter performance in seven years and said the company expects an improving box office backdrop for the remainder of 2026, again emphasizing the operating leverage he believes can drive stronger bottom-line results as revenues rise.
About AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC)
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc operates as a leading movie exhibition company, specializing in the presentation of theatrical motion pictures across a network of multiplex cinemas. The company’s core business activities encompass ticket sales, concession and refreshment services, and the licensing of premium viewing formats. AMC offers a variety of auditorium experiences, including IMAX®, Dolby Cinema™, and Cinemark’s RealD 3D systems, designed to enhance audience engagement through superior sound, visual clarity, and seating comfort.
Originally founded in 1920 with its first theatre in Kansas City, AMC has evolved into one of the largest theater chains in the world.
