Shares of Imax Corp. rallied after hours on Wednesday after the high-end movie-theater operator reported second-quarter results that beat estimates — helped by titles like “Super Mario Bros.” — with more gains likely on the way as theater operators ride blockbusters like “Oppenheimer” through the summer.
The results, Imax
IMAX,
+2.84%
executives said, landed as more moviegoers are showing a preference for seeing movies in “premium” theaters following the shutdown of the industry during the pandemic. And they hit after “Oppenheimer,” directed by Christopher Nolan, brought in $35 million for the theater chain across only 740 of its screens worldwide.
The company — whose massive movie screens and high-resolution film quality make for a rich audiovisual experience — reported second-quarter net income of $8.4 million, or 15 cents a share, contrasting with a loss of $2.9 million, or 5 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue jumped 32% to $98 million, compared with $74 million in the prior-year quarter.
Adjusted for share-based compensation and taxes, Imax earned 26 cents a share.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected Imax to report adjusted earnings per share of 16 cents, on revenue of $86.6 million.
Shares of the company, which runs more than 1,700 theaters in more than 80 countries, rose nearly 6% after hours.
Richard Gelfond, Imax’s chief executive, said that the sales from “Oppenheimer” over the past weekend represented a “paradigm shift at hand in moviegoing.”
The movie-theater industry has suffered tremendously in recent years as a result of pandemic-related shutdowns and a broader shift to home viewing and streaming. The Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes, meanwhile, have left production in flux. Movie-theater operators are hoping that big releases like “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” can revive their fortunes and sustain them going forward.
Earlier this month, Imax also cited a big sales bump from “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One.” For the second quarter, which ended June 30, executives on Wednesday called out “Super Mario Bros.,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” as movie titles that helped results.
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