By Angela Palumbo

AMC Entertainment Holdings reported a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss on Wednesday as the box office struggles to gain momentum.

AMC reported a first-quarter adjusted loss of 58 cents a share on revenue of $862.5 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected the company to post a first-quarter loss of 59 cents a share on revenue of $837 million.

In the same period last year, AMC posted a loss of 78 cents a share on revenue of $951.4 million.

"Setting aside those first quarters directly impacted by Covid and its aftermath, the January to March industry box office in 2025 was the lowest it has been since 1996. If that level of activity were to continue, of course it would be highly problematic for movie theaters," CEO Adam Aron said in the earnings release.

According to Box Office Mojo, the domestic box office in March brought in $397.7 million, a 47% decline from the last year period. Snow White was the top performing movie in March.

AMC's first quarter ended on March 31. Aron said in the earnings release that there's already been an improvement in the box office performance since the beginning of April.

"The April 2025 industry-wide domestic box office was double that of April 2024, and so far in May the box office again has been running at double the rate of a year ago," he said. "So, we believe that any negative assertions drawn from first quarter results about the movie theatre industry are likely to be wholly erroneous."

Box Office Mojo says that the domestic box office in April brought in $875.4 million as A Minecraft Movie brought families to theaters. That's a 104% increase from last year.

Shares of AMC were up 0.4% in after-hours trading.

Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 07, 2025 16:45 ET (20:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.