“Inside Out 2” helped lift Imax‘s quarterly earnings, but a slower start to summer blockbuster season took a bite out of the company’s profits and revenues.
The big screen company logged $89 million in revenue for the three-month period ending in June, down 9% from the $98 million it reported in the prior-year quarter. Net income stood at $3.6 million, a 56% drop from the $8.4 million that Imax delivered in the year-ago period, while earnings per-share hovered at 18 cents, a 36% decline from the 26 cents that the company reported in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted EBITDA declined 14% to $31 million, down from $34 million in the year-ago period.
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Despite the declines, Imax trounced Wall Street’s estimates. The company has been projected to report quarterly earnings of 8 cents per share and revenues of $79 million, according to Zacks. Shares of Imax surged more than 3.7% on the stronger-than-expected earnings announcement.
The company said its global box office tally stood at $196.4 million, which it attributed to the popularity of “Inside Out 2,” the summer’s biggest hit. Imax also sold “The Blue Angel,” an original aviation documentary that it produced, to Amazon, which bolstered revenue. The film earned $2.2 million during its run in Imax theaters.
But overall, the theatrical box office was in a rut for much of the quarter, with movies like “Furiosa” and “The Fall Guy” failing to draw crowds. Some analysts attributed the lack of pop in popcorn season to the impact of the Hollywood actors and writers strikes, which delayed productions and left theaters with fewer movies to show. In a statement, Imax CEO Rich Gelfond painted a more optimistic picture of the future.
“With the strikes — and the lingering effects of the pandemic — firmly behind us, we are in an excellent position to fully realize the benefits of our strong, asset-lite business model,” the Imax chief said. “The second quarter offered strong evidence that we are at in inflection point in our business; we are on a tear with system sales activity, our system installations are up significantly, and the slate through 2026 is as strong as we’ve ever seen.”
As Gelfond suggests, Imax did broaden its footprint, installing 24 theater systems in the quarter, compared to 24 in the prior-year period, to bring the number of locations to 1705. Imax said there is a backlog of over 500 theater systems left to install. It also said it had signed a deal with China’s Wanda Film that marked “our biggest exhibition agreement in five years.”
In the next quarter, Imax will release “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which is expected to set a record for an R-rated debut, as well as “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “Alien: Romulus.”
