AMC Entertainment (AMC) Hopes to Keep Box Office Streak Going as ‘Moana 2’ Hits Theaters

AMC Entertainment (AMC) is coming off a record weekend of ticket sales at its movie theater chain, and hoping to keep the streak going heading into the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in America.

AMC posted its highest domestic revenue ever in its 104-year history last weekend. The success was due to the release of popular new films “Wicked” and “Gladiator II.” AMC Theaters sold 4.6 million tickets as “Wicked” earned $163 million during its opening weekend. “Gladiator II” earned $55.5 million last weekend.

Now, AMC is hoping the success continues as new animated Disney (DIS) film “Moana 2” hits theaters for the Thanksgiving long weekend. Box office projections shows that “Moana 2” is tracking to earn between $120 million and $150 million in box office receipts for its debut weekend.

Rising Ticket Sales

The combination of “Wicked,” “Gladiator II,” and “Moana 2” is expected to push the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, which runs from Wednesday to Sunday, past $200 million in ticket sales. Some analysts are saying they expect this coming weekend to be the second- or third-highest grossing Thanksgiving period in movie history.

The success is welcome for AMC Entertainment, the world’s biggest movie theater chain with more than 10,000 screens, as it continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The Thanksgiving weekend hasn’t topped $200 million in movie ticket receipts since 2019, according to data from Comscore. In 2016, the first “Moana” film opened over the Thanksgiving weekend and grossed $82.1 million.

AMC stock is down 18% this year.

Is AMC Stock a Buy?

The stock of AMC Entertainment has a consensus Moderate Sell rating among seven Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on no Buy, four Hold, and three Sell recommendations issued in the last three months. The average AMC price target of $4.30 implies 13.48% downside risk from current levels.

Read more analyst ratings on AMC stock