AMC Theatres is hoping to capitalize on this year’s box office momentum.
The world’s largest movie theater chain, which had been working to reduce its debt load, disclosed Thursday that it closed a $150 million at-the-market equity offering that it had launched in February.
Chief Adam Aron said that the move “strengthens our balance sheet, bolsters our cash reserves and provides additional flexibility to support our long-term strategic objectives.” The exhibitor, which had soared as a memestock on the NYSE during the pandemic years, has seen its stock languish between $1.60 a share and $2.08 this year, but has been on a slight upswing.
In recent months, as domestic box office has shown surprising strength due to a combination of unexpected blockbusters (A24’s Backrooms, Focus’ Obsession) and sure-fire hits (Universal’s Super Mario Galaxy Movie), this year is running 13 percent ahead of 2025, per a weekly tally from Rentrak. In May, AMC saw the most moviegoers head to its theaters, 25.5 million, since pre-pandemic May 2019, when Avengers: Endgame unspooled on screens.
To that end, the theater chain is switching gears on one of its big initiatives that it unveiled timed to its last earnings report a month ago before the box office boost took the narrative. AMC says that it will postpone its plan to air live concerts of Bebe Rexha on June 17, Paris Hilton on June 18 and Maren Morris on June 20, which had been set at 300 AMC locations in 89 markets. The studios’ product that had been hitting its screens appears to proving compelling enough that its keeping titles for longer runs.
“Week after week in 2026, the domestic box office performance has exceeded or met expectations. With a robust lineup of films and strong advance ticket sales in the weeks ahead, AMC is making some programming adjustments during the month of June,” a theater rep stated on Wednesday.
To use Focus’ Obsession as an example, the Curry Barker horror pic dropped only 7 percent in its fourth weekend, after posting bigger receipts in its second and third weekends than its opening. Those sort of legs for a feature are rare (1982’s E.T.: The Extraterrestrial has been invoked as a comp on that front).
The move to postpone its foray into concerts is a notable one, given Aron had described the partnership as launching an “entirely new chapter in live entertainment while driving incremental attendance and revenue across our circuit.” The initiative is also an effort to reduce its reliance on studio-driven products, so that if a big movie underperforms it can lean on a fanbase of a popular musical artist to turn out moviegoers to theaters. AMC benefited greatly in 2023 when it partnered with Taylor Swift for The Eras Tour feature, which grossed $261 million globally.
On Thursday, the AMC CEO added of the debt-reduction move to raise capital, “As the theatrical exhibition industry continues to recover as evidenced by the surging box office of 2026, AMC remains focused on striving on all fronts to increase our Adjusted EBITDA, reduce financial leverage, enhance the guest experience, and create value for our shareholders.”
