AMC theaters saw a record-breaking Friday and Saturday at its U.S. locations
On the heels of an "Avengers: Endgame" record-breaking weekend, shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC) are up 0.6% at $15.49 in this morning's trading. The movie theater chain reported single-day record highs for attendance, and food and beverage sales this past weekend, the latter marking all-time highs both Friday and Saturday. Specifically, for food & beverage sales AMC made $13 million Friday and another $15 million Saturday, with 2.6 million tickets sold on the latter day.
Despite the impressive start, Wedbush lowered its price target to $20 from $22, though still representing a 29% upside to Friday's close. Overall analysts were leaning optimistic coming into today, with five of nine covering firms sporting "strong buy" recommendations, and the remaining carrying a tepid "hold." Just near Wedbush's adjusted price, AMC's average 12-month price target stands at $19.24.
Short interest on the movie theater giant fell 8.8% during the past two reporting periods, and now accounts for 17.3% of the stock's total available float. This means that at AMC's average pace of daily trading, it would take shorts over a week to buy back their bearish bets.
On the charts, AMC Entertainment stock has had a volatile run, most recently seen stuck below the $16 ceiling of resistance, despite a recent bull-gap breakout attempt that sent the shares to a nearly five-month peak. Regardless, the equity has tacked on 25% year-to-date. Looking ahead, AMC is scheduled to report first-quarter results before the market opens, next Thursday, May 9.