IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond struck an upbeat tone during his fourth-quarter earnings call with investors, despite his company registering year-over-year losses in both revenue and profits. Much of the Q4 loss was due to the shutdown of the Chinese market throughout the quarter, which Gelfond described as “a 180-degree turn in just a few months.”
On the positive side, the Chinese run of AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER was the most successful IMAX release in that country’s history, with further support from ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA and Chinese local productions including THE WANDERING EARTH 2 and FULL RIVER RED.
IMAX has been a popular stock play in the exhibition sector based on its unique status as a name brand in Premium Large Format screens and a leader in the Chinese market. In fact, the company has recovered to pre-pandemic box office sales earlier than any other large exhibitor, with IMAX having taken the largest share in the company’s history of both the global (3.3%) and domestic (4.4%) box office. Gelfond concluded the quarterly earnings call by predicting his company’s full recovery in 2023 to pre-pandemic revenue and profits.