Key Points
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AMC shares are up 90% this year, but still down 99.3% over the last five years.
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There has been significant dilution and mismanagement, but AMC is making the right moves at the right time.
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AMC is having its strongest year since 2019, and in some regards, it has never been better.
- 10 stocks we like better than AMC Entertainment ›
You’re not the first to dismiss AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC) as an investment. The country’s largest movie theater operator has one of the market’s ugliest long-term charts. The shares are down 99.3% over the last five years.
If you’re a fan of Hollywood endings, check this out: AMC stock has soared 90% this year. Yes, the chart was a lot uglier earlier this year.
AMC is back
The theater chain that every reasonable investor had forgotten about is quietly gaining momentum. Unlike its last rally in the spring of 2021, this isn’t a meme-stock frenzy catapulting a nostalgic brand to the stratosphere. No one was going to the corner multiplex five years ago. The movies that did come out in theaters were mostly garbage.
It’s a different world these days. Domestic exhibitors will top $10 billion in box office receipts for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. Folks are coming back to see movies on the silver screen, and they’re spending more on food, beverages, and collectibles than they ever have.
There are now more than 40 million members of the AMC Stubs loyalty club, and they are actually loyal this time. By the end of this year, there will only be one other year when more individual movies topped $1 billion in ticket sales worldwide.
People laughed at me earlier this month when I wrote about becoming an AMC shareholder. The stock was up just 58% at the time, so who’s laughing now? I’ll tell you who is laughing: folks at movie theaters. They’re laughing. They’re crying. They’re cheering. They’re squinting during tense moments.
Like sitting through a sea of trailers before a movie starts, investors had to wait a long time for this moment. And now, our feature presentation. Enjoy the show.
Should you buy stock in AMC Entertainment right now?
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Rick Munarriz has positions in AMC Entertainment. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
