1 Step Down, 2 Big Steps to Go for AMC Stock

We're finally closing in on AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE: AMC) at full strength. The country's leading exhibitor will reopen another 40 movie theaters by Friday afternoon, including all of its more than two dozen multiplexes in the densely populated Los Angeles and San Diego markets. It will have 98% of its U.S. circuit open by tomorrow, and it expects to be up to 99% by next weekend.

This naturally doesn't mean that AMC is almost back at full strength. Its theaters can sell 40% or less of its available seats right now, and guests must be socially distanced. In California the cap is 25% or 100 moviegoers per screening, whichever is less.

The limit isn't a deal breaker right now. Actual ticket sales have been well below the new normal capacity constraints. Domestic box office receipts for the industry were down 92.4% last month when pitted against last February, and it's not as if theaters were packed anyway before the pandemic. AMC reopening is theaters is a big positive step, of course. Now it just needs supply (i.e., big Hollywood content) and consumer demand to play along.

Source Fool.com