By Connor Hart

AMC Entertainment posted a wider loss and lower sales in the first quarter as box office results hit its lowest level in nearly three decades. Still, the company remains optimistic about the year ahead, citing a recent turnaround in trends and strong slate of upcoming movies.

The movie theater operator on Wednesday reported a loss of $202.1 million, or 47 cents a share, compared with a loss of $163.5 million, or 62 cents a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out one-time items, AMC logged an adjusted loss of 58 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected an adjusted loss of 59 cents a share.

Revenue fell 9.3% to $862.5 million, topping analyst views for $837 million.

Ticket sales fell 11% to $473.5 million but came in ahead of the $466.5 million that analysts expected. Food and beverage sales declined 12% to $283.4 million, in line with analyst projection.

Worldwide attendance fell 10% to 41.9 million. The number of movie-goers to AMC fell 12% in the U.S. and 7.1% internationally.

Chief Executive Adam Aron noted that the March quarter's box office hit its lowest level since 1996, excluding quarters directly affected by Covid. He argued that this slowdown is "a distorting anomaly that has already corrected itself."

"Since April 1, movie theatre demand has been booming," Aron said. He expects demand to increase through the remainder of the year citing upcoming releases including Disney's "Lilo & Stitch," as well as Universal's "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Jurassic World Rebirth."

Aron noted that the company's ongoing investments into larger, more comfortable seating across its busiest theaters, as well as new screen technologies are expected to help further fuel results in future quarters.

Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 07, 2025 17:05 ET (21:05 GMT)

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