Contrary to popular belief, the movie business is doing just fine. AMC has just seen their biggest quarter ever in its almost 100-year life, bringing the movie industry some record results. The skyrocketing stock numbers for AMC comes a couple months after the theater chain decided to launch a MoviePass-like service right before the rival subscription had a number of bumps in the road. Moviegoers are less satisfied than ever with MoviePass, and looking for an alternative-- perhaps with AMC's Stubs A-List service, which has already seen huge subscriber growth.
According to stock market insight resource Seeking Alpha, it's a good time for investors to put their money into AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (AMC), as their fundamental operations continue to improve. AMC has been investing in the right areas with its marketing programs and changes in theatrical experiences, and it's paying off. After seeing an impressive 2nd Quarter from April to June this year, the company has seen a 20% increase in total revenue and a little over an 80% increase since this time last year. Since the record-breaking quarter, AMC has continued to grow over the summer, with its stock currently at its highest peak of the year.
AMC has rivaled MoviePass for quite sometime as the theater chain attempted to ban MoviePass subscribers from purchasing e-tickets to their theaters, leading MoviePass to allow their subscribers to have access to some AMC locations as well. The service finally lifted the ban, unaware that AMC would rival the service in their own way. Earlier this summer, AMC's Stubs A-List service was announced, a $19.95 service allowing subscribers to see three movies per month, including IMAX and 3D showings, and pre-order showings as soon as they are released. While the plan debuted at a time when MoviePass subscribers could see more movies per month and pay less for it, much has changed since then.
MoviePass is currently being sued by its shareholders after its parent company Helios and Matheson suffered a quarterly loss of $126 million due to some complications from the service. In late-July, the service stopped working altogether when the company had to borrow $5 million to make necessary payments to stay afloat. The service then changed their service benefits to three views per month, with more limited options of movies and theaters.
On the other hand, AMC's Stub A-List service is racking up subscribers very quickly with a reported 260,000 people signed on to the service as of last week. AMC's rise in stock has seen a particular rise since late-July, just in the midst of the MoviePass trip up. While it looks like the rival service is in good standing, it's fairly new, so we'll have to see how the service goes moving forward.
