On the 1st March 2022, the AMC Q4 2021 earnings report was released, and as normal, thousands of Apes piled into listening to Adam Aron, the Silverback CEO of our favorite theatre company, giving us the lowdown on how well the company has done.
The mood was particularly bullish, with the expectations that the AMC Q4 2021 earnings would beat expectations, and beat expectations they most certainly did.
Of course, as you would expect Apes who’ve been holding for well over a year (including those who bought in at much higher levels) immediately went out and sold their stock at a loss. Oh, wait, hang on, no, that’s not right… Apes are still holding, it’s short hedgefuckery still going on.
Interesting, the volume levels over the last couple of days as the stock has been continuing it’s ongoing slide (thanks Kenny you utter bastard) have been unbelievably low. This is a great sign for those of us still patiently awaiting the MOASS.
AMC Q4 2021 Earnings Summary
According the Aron, the news wasn’t just good for the company, it was seriously good. Remember, this is the company which the hedgies believe is dead, because nobody’s going to the cinema anymore, instead everyone is streaming on Netflix (which is absolutely hilarious, given where Netflix is right now).
The official summary reads as follows, and should give everyone an Ape sized boner:
- AMC’s fourth quarter of 2021 represented its strongest quarterly results in two full years.
- Total revenues for the fourth quarter grew to $1,171.7 million compared to $162.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2020.
- Net loss for the fourth quarter improved to $134.4 million, including a non-cash impairment charge related to long lived assets of $77.2 million, compared to a net loss of $946.1 million for the same quarter a year ago, which included a non-cash impairment charge related to long lived assets, definite and indefinite lived intangible assets and goodwill of $466.1 million.
- Fourth quarter Adjusted EBITDA improved $486.7 million to $159.2 million compared to an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $327.5 million for the fourth of 2020.
- Net cash provided by operating activities for the fourth quarter was $46.5 million, and Operating Cash (Burn) generated (non-GAAP) was $224.4 million.
- Available liquidity and Cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2021 was approximately $1,801.6 million and $1,592.5 million, respectively.
More importantly, attendance levels are up to 59.7 million compared to about 8 million in the final quarter of 2020 with attendee improving in both the US and in the chain’s other cinema groups around the world.
AMC Dead? Cow Dung
Most hilarious quote from Adam Aron was when he took apart the idea that people have ditched the movie theatre experience for streaming content providers, calling the notion ‘cow dung’.
“There are so much conventional wisdom floating around that movie theaters cannot co-exist and cannot thrive in a world of streaming. What a load of like cow dung. There, that cleans that up nicely. What a load of cow dung,”
Adam Aron speaking on the AMC Q4 2021 Earnings call.
In short, AMC is in a great position, and bouncing back hard from the covid-induced enforced shutdown of the industry for the best part of 2 years.
Our record year-end liquidity positions AMC well for continued recovery from the impact of COVID and provides AMC with the financial flexibility to opportunistically grow and innovate as we seek to transform our business.
To that end, during 2021 and early in 2022, AMC has been adding what we expect will be nicely profitable theatres to our network both in the U.S. and in international markets, launched four separate NFT programs, accepted cryptocurrency for the first time, and announced AMC’s entry into the multibillion-dollar retail popcorn industry.
Adam Aron, full quote from AMC Q4 2021 earnings call
As we have repeatedly said, with the monetary war chest that was provided to us by our shareholders in 2021, AMC is no longer on its heels. As COVID case numbers are finally declining and vaccination numbers increasing, as our operating results are markedly improving, and as our healthy liquidity allows, AMC is playing on offense again.
Retail still owns the Float
One of the most important things Apes wanted to hear was that we still own the float, and Adam Aron did not disappoint. According to Aron, once Index funds are excluded from the calculation (because they are obliged to hold the stock for the index), retail does indeed continue to own 90% of the available float.
Of course, we Apes know we don’t just own the float, we own it many times over, thanks to the continued hedgefuckery of the SHF’s, but it’s nice to hear it anyway.
For the full details of the AMC Q4 2021 earnings report, you can download it here from AMC’s website.
