AMC and Cinemark say third-quarter revenue hit records as average U.S. ticket prices climb

AMC Entertainment said on Wednesday, November 4, that the three months to September 30 brought the highest quarterly revenue in its 106-year history: $1,711.1 million, up 31.6% from a year earlier. Cinemark said a day earlier that its revenue for the same period rose 23.5% to $1,059.1 million, its best third quarter. For moviegoers, the most useful line sits further down in their tables: what the average ticket brought in.

What a ticket and a snack averaged

By our arithmetic, the average ticket rose 5.4% in a year at AMC and 6.3% at Cinemark, while food and drink per patron rose 3.5% and 5.6%. AMC’s average was $2.39 above Cinemark’s; neither report explains the gap.

These are averages across every ticket sold, not list prices at the box office. In Cinemark’s table, the figure matches admissions revenue divided by attendance: $417.3 million over 37.4 million patrons comes to about $11.16. Because it is an average, the mix of seats and discount tickets moves it as well as the price of any one ticket.

The chains also sold more of those tickets. By our arithmetic, U.S. attendance rose about 23% at AMC and about 13% at Cinemark. AMC’s circuit got smaller over the same year: it ended September with 840 theaters and 9,472 screens worldwide, against 856 and 9,636 a year earlier.

Why the chains say the quarter was so strong

Both point to the films and to premium screens. AMC’s chairman and chief executive, Adam Aron, credited “a resurgent box office” and “all-time record revenue per patron,” along with the company’s premium large format and extra large format auditoriums. Cinemark said box office in its premium formats, XD, IMAX and ScreenX, rose 50% from a year earlier, and that motion seats accounted for 7% of its global box office.

Cinemark had already said on September 3 that its domestic box office this summer, counted from the first Friday in May through Labor Day, was the highest of any summer in its history, and on August 18 that Spider-Man: Brand New Day had become the highest-grossing domestic film in its history.

The profit lines moved too. AMC reported net earnings of $109.3 million, against a loss of $298.2 million a year earlier. Cinemark reported net income of $122.8 million, up from $49.5 million.

What the chains expect next

Aron said October’s domestic box office ran about 35% above the same month last year, and that he expects the remaining films to lift domestic and global box office to “their highest full-year levels in seven years.” That is a company’s forecast, not a result. The titles he named include I Play Rocky, Wild Horse Nine, Ebenezer, The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, Dune: Part Three, Avengers: Doomsday, Mr. Irrelevant and Jumanji: Open World. Our guide to November’s openings has the dates studios have set for that month’s films.