AMC stock expectations take off as Top Gun: Maverick ignites blockbuster season
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The stock of a major global cinema chain was up on Tuesday as the sequel to a hit 1980s action movie broke box office records.
As US traders returned to their desks following the Memorial Day holiday Monday, AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) stock was up as much as 14% in pre-market trading on Tuesday (although it is down 46% for the year to date).
AMC (AMC) stock price
Founded in 1920, AMC is the world’s largest film exhibition chain with approximately 950 theatres across the world, including the UK’s Odeon chain.
The company’s stock also has a huge retail following thanks to attention from social media site Reddit’s Wallstreetbets page.
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Need for speed
Top Gun: Maverick, which went on general release on 27 May, is the much-delayed sequel to 1986 movie Top Gun and sees Tom Cruise return as US Navy pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.
Set 30 years after Top Gun, the new film finds Maverick working as a test pilot for a high-speed spy plane who is ordered to train a group of elite pilots for a daring strike mission.
“We want to thank the more than 3.3 million people who have already seen Top Gun: Maverick at our AMC and Odeon theatres in the US and abroad,” AMC Chairman and CEO Adam Aron said in a statement.
“It was our pleasure to entertain you, and we invite you to come back to our theatres and see Top Gun: Maverick again. This movie is that good!”
Talk to me Goose
Top Gun Maverick was released by Paramount Global, a media and streaming content company in which legendary investor Warren Buffett bought over $2bn of stock just two weeks ago.
Paramount GlobalParamount changed its name earlier this year from ViacomCBS in order to associate itself with the Paramount brand, known as a successful Hollywood studio and home to the Star Trek science fiction franchise.
That loving feeling
Top Gun: Maverick has broken US box office records, raking in $156m (£124m, €146m) over the Memorial Day weekend according to industry publication Variety.
Box Office MojoConsidered the beginning of summer in North America, Memorial Day has traditionally been the time of year when blockbuster movies are released, tempting people to spend time in air-conditioned cinemas.
More potential blockbusters are on the way with Comcast (CMCSA) subsidiary Universal’s Jurassic World Dominion due on 9 June, Disney’s (DIS) Lightyear due on 17 June and Thor: Love and Thunder due on 8 July.
AMC is due to report second-quarter earnings in August.
