IMAX Q1 Earnings Miss Forecasts Despite Strong Box Office Results
The main culprit appears to be a drop in joint revenue sharing deals as IMAX installed four new theaters under these arrangements in Q1 vs eight in the same period last year. All told, the company reported net income of $2.9M, +14%, on revenues of $49.9M, -10.3%. Analysts expected revenues of $54.2M. And earnings per share, at 8 cents not including stock-based compensation and a one-time tax benefit, were a penny shy of the Street’s consensus forecast. Helped by films including Oz The Great And Powerful, the gross box office for IMAX’s digitally remastered films was $128.7M, +5.8%, generating Q1 revenues of $14.4M, +4.3%. The company has announced 28 titles that it will run this year but says it “remains in discussions with virtually every major studio” for additional releases with a plan to match last year’s 35. Summer films including Iron Man 3, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Man Of Steel provide “a strong foundation for our full portfolio of films this year,” CEO Rich Gelfond says. The company had 738 theaters at the end of March, including 606 in commercial multiplexes, with plans to build or upgrade 283. The joint revenue sharing deals generated $9.4M in revenue in Q1, -19.7%. By targeting “underpenetrated international regions,” Gelfond says that IMAX will continue to promote itself as “a unique player in the global entertainment industry.”
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