Posted on 06/03/2020 12:02:23 PM PDT by BBQToadRibs
AMC Theatres, the world's biggest movie theater chain, said on Wednesday that it has "substantial doubt" it can remain in business after closing locations across the globe during the coronavirus pandemic.
The theater chain, which closed its theaters earlier this year, expects to have lost between $2.1 billion and $2.4 billion in the first quarter. The company also said that its revenue fell to $941.5 million, which was down roughly 22% from $1.2 billion in the same quarter last year. This quarter, the situation has gotten substantially worse. "We are generating effectively no revenue," the company said in a regulatory filing Wednesday. AMC (AMC) will continue to monitor the "potential lifting of various government operating restrictions," but added that the chain has serious challenges even if restrictions are lifted. That includes studios holding back new films from being shown.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Not really the model is fine, people will pay to go to a movie... and overpay for snacks and drinks.. but when you are highly leveraged as most businesses are, and you lose most of your revenues for an extended period of time... that debt eats you alive quickly.
What may change is business and investors willingness to carry huge debt loads in exchange for short term profits.. not likely though... eventually greed will prevail.
Chinese owned, let them die
OH NO!!!
Just kidding.
This is very sad. Very sad indeed.
I haven’t gone to movies in years and now I still won’t be able to go see the crap they put out. Bummer.
You mentioned a key factor: companies issuing debt to expand or buy back stock. The economy slows down and cash flow from operations if positive cannot cover the debt payments.
I recently sold my late parents’ home. It is near North Dakota State University in Fargo; the buyers purchased it as a rental property and paid cash-no debt.
that it has “substantial doubt” it can remain in business “
Close your business for 3 months and...oh who the hell even cares anymore...
Morons.
China owns majority stake
I wouldn’t notice.
The model has to evolve.
It would not surprise me if some drive-in movie operations start to pop up (certainly not in urbanized areas).
I think the mega pictures with 100-million of investment money....will be cut in half for the future.
Amazon wants AMC on the cheap...
they want to control distribution of their competitors’ content, plus make their movies eligible for the Oscars, etc.
American movies are PC propaganda crap...
Who’d wanna see that in a dirty theater, overpriced, with retardedly overpriced snacks/beverages?
I have those films on either bluray or 4K.With my nice setup I can sit in my easy chair...with family and friends...and watch them,rewind them,pause them (bathroom breaks) and activate closed captions when needed.
Why would I possibly want to visit a theater featuring $10 containers of popcorn,sticky floors,people coughing and sneezing,etc,etc?
Why would I *ever* do so?
The article does not mention that the company was purchased by Wanda Group, a Communist Chinese company.
AMC is spending $250 million per month just on rents and Wanda Group may not be able to bail them out. A bailout would require Wanda to move money from China to the US which the CCP may not allow because Chinese companies are suffering.
AMC has $4.9 billion in debt.
“Why would I possibly want to visit a theater featuring $10 containers of popcorn,”
“It would not surprise me if some drive-in movie operations start to pop up (certainly not in urbanized areas).”
Wisconsin is still HUGELY into Drive-In Theaters. They’re a blast - we still have a dozen or so, here.
Corona didn’t effect them at all - they usually open up for the season in May - if the snow has melted, LOL!
https://www.travelwisconsin.com/things-to-do/entertainment-attractions/drive-in-movie-theatres
There is nothing wrong with the model or AMC. AMC is a victim. First, they are a victim of the Covid-19 debacle. Next, they are a victim of Hollywood and their over inflated opinion of what they are worth. Then, AMC is a victim of the garbage that Hollywood it foisting upon them and calling it entertainment. The last movie that my wife and I went to see was American Sniper. It was so filled with foul language that it was all we could do to sit through it. That movie could have been made without a single foul word in it and it would have projected the same message to the viewing audience. This is why it is years between movies for us. Trash is never attractive to anyone.
The next few months will be peppered with stories like this. Businesses that were already even close to struggling before the lockdown are now as good as dead. The exceptions would be companies that actually benefit from this thing, like Zoom.
We are in the eye of the storm. Next side will be economic, ignoring these ephemeral riots based, really, on the lockdown.
There’s places around me doing that too. I can’t blame them for trying to seek cash flow, plus the ones I know of doing this are classic old places instead of the modern multiplex barns like AMC.
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