New York, May 18, 2026, 17:03 (EDT)
AMC Entertainment Holdings stock finished up 6.25% at $1.36 on Monday after a slide last week. Traders circled back to the company’s efforts on box office and its balance sheet. AMC shares ranged between $1.24 and $1.40 for the day. Trading volume came in at about 20.4 million, short of its 32 million average.
U.S. stocks turned in a mixed session. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up 0.3%, Associated Press data showed.
AMC shares dropped 4.48% to $1.28 on Friday, trailing rivals Cinemark Holdings and Marcus Corp., according to MarketWatch data. That comes as AMC looks to convert its stronger movie lineup into cash and reassure investors about dilution worries.
The peer group traded higher Monday. Cinemark moved up to $26.83, Marcus was at $17.82. The bounce didn’t stick to just AMC.
AMC gave a short operating update before the bell, saying it rolled out its expanded Feature Fare menu to more than 400 U.S. theaters. Menu items now include popcorn chicken, hot honey sausage pizza, and street corn poppers. Hank Green, the company’s senior VP for food and beverage, said the menu is “always evolving” as AMC gets feedback from guests. AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc.
AMC’s food and beverage sales jumped in the first quarter, with the company posting $347.3 million, compared to $283.4 million in the same period last year. Total revenue was $1.05 billion, up from $862.5 million. AMC said adjusted EBITDA came in at $38.3 million. That’s a turnaround from a loss on the same basis a year ago.
AMC CEO Adam Aron linked the improvement to a stronger release slate, saying in the May earnings statement that “the box office is back.” He also mentioned AMC posted its best first-quarter adjusted EBITDA since 2019, before theaters were closed by the pandemic.
AMC’s balance sheet still looks tough. In a filing on May 13, the company said it gave out 12.4 million Class A shares to holders of exchangeable notes, knocking out the last $13.6 million in principal. All the notes got canceled, the filing said.
AMC pulled in roughly $71.7 million before fees with an at-the-market equity program, selling shares directly into the market over time, its first-quarter release said. The move adds to cash but puts pressure on the stock by bumping up share count.
Eric Handler at Roth Capital bumped his AMC price target up to $2 from $1.50 last month but stuck with his Neutral rating. He said AMC should see some gains from a multi-year content cycle. Handler flagged the balance sheet, calling out equity dilution risk, high net leverage, and free cash flow that may not go positive before 2027 or 2028.
But the risk is still on the table. If summer movies flop, AMC might not get enough cash from bigger crowds, and attention could swing back to cash burn, debt and new share sales. AMC has said if liquidity gets worse and revenue doesn’t come back, it could face a restructuring, either in or out of court.
AMC shares got a lift Monday, buying the company some time. But the debate isn’t over. AMC remains well under its 52-week high of $4.08. Where the stock goes next may depend more on actual box-office cash than what’s on the menu.
