AMC’s CEO Adam Aron has emerged as a vocal spokesman for his company in interviews with the entertainment and financial press, touting a feel-good turnaround story for his circuit after the dark days of the pandemic. The AMC story has been a hot topic in particular with investors, as the company’s stock price has shot up from trading at $1.98 per share on January 5th to a closing price on Friday at $54.06 – a whopping 2750% rise in less than six months.
In an interview earlier this month with investment YouTuber Trey Collins, Aron suggested that AMC was ready to “play on offense again” after raising new capital by issuing new shares to eager investors after the run-up in their stock price. Industry experts are predicting that the financial strains from the pandemic will result in individual theatres and theatre circuits changing ownership. For example, AMC is reported to have reached an agreement to take over the operations at two of L.A.’s prime theatres, The Grove in West Hollywood and The Americana in Glendale.
Both locations had been operated by Pacific Theatres until April when their parent company Decurion Corp. announced that they were ceasing operations and that their Pacific Theatres and ArcLight Cinemas locations would close permanently. Many financial analysts are encouraging AMC to focus its newfound financial resources on paying off some of the $5.5B in debt that the exhibitor amassed over the last ten years when it was active in acquiring theatres and expanding its footprint.
See also: AMC Theatres Offering All You Can Eat Popcorn During Cinema Week (Variety)