An ongoing and apparently sustained Hollywoodbox officerecovery underpinned solid revenue growth forAMC Theatresduring the second quarter.
Overall revenue was up 14 percent to a quarterly record at $1.59 billion, compared to $1.39 billion in the same period of 2025, even as AMC increased its net loss to $11.4 million, against a year-earlier $4.7 million. The adjusted EBITDA came to $320.6 million, comparedto $189.2 million and representing another quarterly record.
Investors greeted the latest financial results from the exhibition giant lifted by a Hollywood box office rebound by sending shares in meme stock AMC Theatres up 34 cents, or 17 percent, to $2.28 in pre-market trading on Monday.
The second quarter results at AMC follow the exhibition industry seeing gains from a steady and diverse supply of Hollywood tentpole releases like Toy Story 5 and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and surprise horror pics like Backrooms and Obsession, to get film lovers back in the habit of going to the multiplex in pre-pandemic numbers.
Just this weekend, Christopher Nolan’s epic drama The Odyssey revived the summer box office with this year’s biggest live-action debut and the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s highest-grossing global launch of $124 million. That’s allowed exhibitors to look to full-year 2026 box office likely to exceed the comparable performance for last year, and possibly set a new annual record.
“Both our U.S. and European businesses showed great progress in the second quarter. The momentum in the total industry-wide domestic box office was undeniable, reaching approximately $2.99 billion, up 10.7 percent from last year’s second quarter, making this the biggest box office quarter in seven years and the fifth biggest quarter ever,” AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron said in a statement on Monday morning.
U.S. market attendance rose 12 percent to 52.2 million patrons, compared to 46.8 million in 2025, while international markets attendance was also up by 18 percent to 18.7 million cinemagoers, against 16 million patrons. This past weekend, AMC saw 4.3 million patrons pass through its theaters as The Odyssey launched and Aron during a morning analyst call said over half of ticket receipts for the Nolan epic were for giant screen formats like Imax and Dolby auditoriums, which command ticket price premiums.
Aron in the company’s second quarter financial results press release also talked up fortunes for his debt-laden company as it looks to recover from the impact of pandemic-era box office disruptions, including by reducing borrowing costs: “This demonstrates the inherent operating leverage in our business model at a time of rising revenues, combined with the power of AMC’s market leading position, the appeal of our theatres, the increasing numbers of our premium offerings, the prowess of our marketing programs and our ability to keep a tight lid on our costs.”
The theater chain’s chief added, “Finally, after some admittedly tough years as our industry recovered only slowly from the ravages of COVID-19 and its aftermath, the relentless focus of AMC on delighting our guests as we execute with all cylinders blazing is reflected in our record-setting second quarter financial results.”
During the analyst call, Aron said maintaining discipline on cost containment and capital expenditures going forward will keep incremental revenue dollars dropping to the bottom line. “We’re going to do everything in our power to maximize and drive revenue growth and keep costs under control,” he said.
Aron also told analysts the exhibitor will continue to add giant screen formats to its circuit, especially the XL offering, and better seats, to get cinema-goers out to the multiplex and willing to pay premium ticket prices.
And that’s without having to raise ticket prices. “So we can grow our revenue per-patron without necessarily increasing prices. It’s providing new opportunities for audiences to go to premium formats, providing new movie-themed content, movie-themed merchandise,” AMC Theatres CFO Sean Goodman added during the analyst call.
Aron also defended the continued raising of fresh cash to keep AMC Theatres on track for a post-pandemic recovery by paying down the company’s hefty debt load. “So while the decisions we made were not always popular with our shareholder base, we knew that they were absolutely essential for our survival and gave us the runway we needed to get to the Promised Land,” he told analysts.