Benzinga - by Chris Katje, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Shares of movie theater company AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE: AMC) have been on a wild ride in 2023. Shares ended the week on a positive note, closing up 3% higher on Friday after investors reacted positively to a new at-the-market offering of 40 million shares raising $325 million.
The company’s CEO shared his excitement with investors.
What Happened: AMC shares hit new 52-week lows on Monday, continuing a fall in 2023, with investors seeing the share price down 90% over the last 52 weeks. Shares ended the week up double-digits, and CEO Adam Aron shared optimism about the future.
“You have sent me over 5,000 comments in response to the tweets I wrote just in the past two days. I try to read all, or as many as I can. As should be expected, many are positive, many are negative,” Aron said on X on Thursday.
The AMC CEO said he appreciated receiving the good and the bad because it is the investors who “own our company.”
“It is important that I understand what you think – both the favorable and the unfavorable. At the same time, it is absolutely vital that after distilling all of your feedback, I actually do and action what I think is in the best interests of all of our shareholders,” he wrote.
Aron added that he has led five companies since 1993 and is in his eighth year as AMC's head.
“It is far easier to be an armchair quarterback from the sidelines, than it is to actually have the responsibility of leading something as complex as AMC,” he admitted.
The post from Aron came after AMC completed the offering.
Related Link: 5 Things You Might Not Know About AMC CEO Adam Aron
What’s Next: Aron also mentioned the difficulties facing the movie theater industry following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CEO said AMC is "leading and innovating" and is stronger with its recently increased cash reserves.
“How many times have the naysayers and prophets of doom predicted with certainty that AMC would fail? So far, we have proven them wrong. Over and over again. Wrong, wrong, wrong,” Aron said.
Aron concluded his note by thanking supporters but not before sharing an optimistic outlook for the company.
“In my view, AMC has an exciting future ahead, as our industry continues on its long glide path to eventual recovery and as AMC continues to take bold action to be out front,” he wrote.
The comments from Aron came as the first and second quarters of 2023 saw box office revenue up year-over-year. The second half of the year could prove tougher, given a lack of upcoming blockbuster movies.
AMC Price Action: AMC shares trade at $8.36 versus a 52-week trading range of $7.05 to $85.37. Shares of the movie theater stock are down 76% year-to-date.
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