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☆ AMC's meme stock windfall may help it pay down a massive debt load
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Cars drive near an AMC Theater in New York City on March 29, 2023. The stock, alongside GameStop , surged this week after "Roaring Kitty," the man who inspired the massive short squeeze of 2021, posted online for the first time in nearly three years. The return of Roaring Kitty, whose legal name is Keith Gill, has led AMC shares to more than double since Friday's close. The last time these retail investors rallied around AMC and its stock surged, the movie theater chain was able to avoid bankruptcy. While the acquisitions bolstered the size AMC's theater network, they also levered the company's balance sheet, Handler said.

Persons: Roaring Kitty, Keith Gill, Adam Aron, Eric Handler, Roth, Handler Organizations: AMC, GameStop Locations: New York City

Deutsche Bank maintained a hold rating on Nvidia ahead of earnings next week, while Wells Fargo raised its price target. The firm downgraded shares to neutral from buy while lowering its price target to $35 from $55. He has a $850 price target on shares, indicating shares pulling back nearly 6% from Monday's close. The analyst raised his price target on the stock to $1,150 from $974, implying upside of more than 27%. He also raised his price target to $78 from $68, implying upside of 19% from Monday's close.

Persons: Wells Fargo, Roth, Roblox, Eric Handler, Handler, — Hakyung Kim, Tesla's, Elon Musk's, Tesla, Dan Levy, Levy, Hakyung Kim, Jefferies, Boston Beer, Samuel Adams, seltzer, Kaumil, Boston Beers, Seltzer, Gajrawala, Ross Seymore, NVDAs, Seymour, Wells Fargo's Aaron Rakers, Rahul Krotthapalli, Krotthapalli, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, Nvidia, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Roth Capital Partners, Barclays, Jefferies, Boston Beer, Boston, Deutsche, Fitness Locations: Monday's, Boston

☆ Summer box office bust? This season's movie slate could put up the lowest haul in decades
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

For the first time since 2009, the box office doesn't have a Marvel film to kick off the summer movie season — and it shows. This year, the headline film for the first summer weekend was Universal's "The Fall Guy." The result could send the 2024 summer box office down as much as $800 million compared to 2023, according to Comscore's Paul Dergarabedian, and have ripple effects for the whole year. At present, analysts believe the summer movie season will exceed $3 billion in ticket sales, but just barely. Before Covid, the summer box office consistently topped more than $4 billion.

Persons: Guy, Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Eric Handler, Roth MKM, bode, Comscore's Paul Dergarabedian, doesn't Organizations: Labor, Disney Marvel

☆ Wall Street is watching for a $10 billion domestic box office in 2026. Disney could get it there
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

While 2024 and 2025 boast franchise-rich movie slates, Wall Street doesn't expect ticket sales to top $10 billion domestically until 2026. The domestic box office has not hit that benchmark since 2019 before the Covid pandemic. When the box office does again surpass that threshold, Disney could be the driving force. After all, the first Avatar generated nearly $800 million at the domestic box office after its release in 2009. Therefore, where industry experts see gaps between major tent poles, there could be smaller-budgeted films that add incremental value to the overall box office.

Persons: it'll, Eric Handler, Roth, snared, Handler, Shawn Robbins, Robbins, Bob Iger, It's, Jonathan Majors, Taylor, it's Organizations: ANGELES, Star Wars, Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Disney Animation, Universal, Paramount, Warner Bros, Hollywood, Angel, AMC, Comcast, CNBC Locations: U.S, Canada, NBCUniversal

☆ To stream or not to stream: Hollywood studios could send more films to the big screen as Wall Street pushes for profits
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Since it came out on Jan. 12, the $36 million film has tallied $83 million globally, according to data from Comscore. Low-budget films are typically those that cost under $20 million — films from the horror genre often fall in this category, as well as some independent features. The annual box office those years reached $11.9 billion and $11.4 billion, respectively. Domestic wide releases by year 2017 — 107 wide releases2018 — 112 wide releases2019 — 112 wide releases2020 — 32 wide releases2021 — 67 wide releases2022 — 71 wide releases2023 — 95 wide releases * Wide releases are any films that debut in more than 2,000 locations. Source: ComscoreIn 2023, 95 films had wide releases, 15% fewer titles than pre-pandemic times, and the box office barely surpassed $9 billion.

Persons: Bebe Wood, Renee Rapp, Avantika, Eric Handler, Roth, Paul Dergarabedian, Demeter, — Organizations: Plastics, Paramount Paramount, Paramount, Wall Street, Street, Netflix, Disney, Universal, Warner Bros Locations: Comscore

☆ AMC shares crater as investors brace for stock conversion
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

AMC Entertainment shares plummeted more than 20% on Tuesday, slipping to a new 52-week low of $2.46 per share, as investors brace for a stock conversion later this week. On Friday, the movie theater chain's preferred equity units, dubbed APE shares, are set to be transformed into common stock just one year after they began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. These preferred equity units are a workaround, of sorts, and free AMC up to sell additional units of stock after investors who feared dilution rejected the company's efforts to issue additional stock last year. AMC also is planning a 10-to-1 reverse stock split of its common stock on Thursday. Shares of the company have nearly halved since it was announced on Aug. 14 that the APE shares would be converted.

Persons: Eric Handler, Roth MKM Organizations: AMC Entertainment, New York Stock Exchange, AMC Locations: Delaware

☆ Hasbro sells off costly production studio, taking a page from Mattel's playbook
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Four years after acquiring Toronto-based production studio eOne, Hasbro is selling it off to Lionsgate. That price tag consists of $375 million in cash and the assumption of production financing loans. Without eOne, Hasbro will also return to licensing and partnerships with studios to fund entertainment projects for brands like Dungeons and Dragons, PlayDoh, Magic: The Gathering and Transformers. Hasbro acquired eOne in 2019 for $4 billion, a price tag that included coveted preschool brands like Peppa Pig and PJ Masks. Without eOne, Hasbro will continue to rely on partnerships with studios like Paramount for theatrical releases and television productions.

Persons: Drew Crum, Eric Handler, Roth MKM, Chris Cocks Organizations: Toronto, Hasbro, Lionsgate, eOne, Paramount Locations: Rhode

☆ UFC merger beefs up WWE's leverage in media rights negotiations
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Networks and streaming services need to get ready for a media rights smackdown. UFC should also benefit ahead of 2025, when its U.S. media rights deals come up, including with Disney's ESPN. "I think everything is up for grabs with these media rights deals. During his time with CAA, he had formed a relationship with McMahon during a recent round of TV rights negotiations for WWE. It will also work for UFC negotiations, he noted.

☆ Hasbro delays new Dungeons & Dragons licensing rules following fan backlash
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

CNBC obtained copies of Hasbro's reformed licensing agreements — open game license 1.1 and an FAQ section for OGL 2.0. Leaders in the Dungeons & Dragons community greeted the news of the delay with cautious optimism. The attempt to create a new game license comes as Wizards of the Coast looks capitalize on a surge in popularity of Dungeons & Dragons. Chaotic neutralThe reworking of Hasbro's open game license is not an unexpected move for the business, MKM's Handler said. There were growing concerns that the community would fracture if publishers were forced to move away from the Dungeons & Dragons game mechanics to develop their own gaming systems.

☆ AMC shares hit 52-week low as recent moves and gimmicks fail to win over investors
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The AMC 25 Theatres in Times Square in New York is seen on Tuesday, July 8, 2014. Shares of AMC have fallen more than 85% so far this year, closing at $3.84 a share on Wednesday. Branded credit cards and a pay freeze for its CEO have done little to assuage AMC Entertainment shareholders' growing concerns, as the movie theater chain's stock hit a fresh 52-week low Wednesday. Antara will also exchange $100 million of AMC notes for 91 million APE units, which would reduce AMC's annual interest expense by about $10 million. "All it's saying right now is that the shares are still overvalued by quite a lot.

☆ As market volatility persists, Wall Street analysts say to sell these stocks
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Seven of the stocks — all part of the MSCI World Index — have analysts' price targets below their current share price, according to FactSet data. Equity analysts at investment banks and research firms rate stocks as sell or underweight if they believe the shares will perform poorly over the next 12 months. Analysts' median price target for AMC is 57.5% below the current share price, FactSet data shows. Wedbush Securities analyst Alicia Reese downgraded AMC from $4 to $2 but believes the company has long-term potential at her price target. Clorox Analysts' average price target on Clorox is just 1.4% below the current share price, but 11 out of 14 analysts covering the stock give it a sell or underweight rating.

☆ AMC Entertainment struggles with falling stock, high debt load and light blockbuster schedule
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

AMC Entertainment hit a new 52-week low Wednesday as the movie theater company contends with a massive debt load, dilution of its stock and a film release schedule short on blockbusters. The company came back from the brink of bankruptcy in 2021 thanks to millions of retail investors who turned its shares into a meme stock. In its latest effort, AMC issued a dividend to all common shareholders in the form of preferred shares called "APE," a reference to the "Apes" moniker adopted by meme stock investors. AMC has also struggled to post a profit in recent quarters, and its debt load is $5 billion, about $2 billion more than its market value. "And if they had sold enough shares to wipe out their debt balance, they could have done that.

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