NEW YORK, July 8, 2026, 15:01 EDT
- AMC jumped 9.9% to $1.89 Wednesday afternoon, clawing back some of its losses from a three-day drop.
- Macquarie held its neutral view on AMC, but lifted its price target to $2 from $1.50.
- AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. said the move comes after it sold more equity to strengthen its cash position and reduce upcoming debt pressure.
AMC Entertainment Holdings shares climbed almost 10% Wednesday after Macquarie raised its price target, giving traders new reason to look at one of the market’s most volatile movie theater names.
AMC was at $1.89 as of 2:46 p.m. EDT, up 17 cents, or 9.9%. Shares moved between $1.605 and $1.95 so far today. Volume was over 65 million.
AMC bounced after dropping 7.94% on Monday and another 1.15% Tuesday. MarketWatch called Tuesday AMC’s third loss in a row.
Macquarie kept its neutral rating but raised the price target to $2 from $1.50, Benzinga reported. Neutral means Macquarie isn’t seeing the stock as a buy or sell. Analysts set price targets as a view on where shares could trade in a year.
It wasn’t just AMC moving. Cinemark added 2.1%. Marcus was up 1.5%. IMAX climbed 3.5%. Investors bought shares in cinema and premium-screens, not just AMC.
AMC’s balance sheet is still in focus. The company said in a June 23 filing it struck a deal to sell 95.25 million shares at $2.10 each in a registered direct offering. The sale is expected to raise about $189 million net. AMC plans to use the funds to redeem $125.5 million of its 6.125% senior subordinated notes due 2027 and for general corporate use.
AMC said two days later that it closed the deal with gross proceeds of about $200 million. CEO Adam Aron said the sale “meaningfully strengthens our balance sheet and cash position” and will reduce annual cash interest expense by roughly $7.7 million. AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc.
The move came after AMC raised more cash. On June 11, AMC said it finished a $150 million at-the-market equity deal, selling about 105.3 million shares onto the market over time. Back then, Aron said AMC was still focused on cutting its debt and lifting adjusted EBITDA, which excludes interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Attendance is picking up. AMC said “Toy Story 5” pushed its U.S. theaters to their busiest weekend of 2026, drawing over 4.8 million moviegoers to AMC and ODEON sites globally from Thursday to Sunday. CEO Adam Aron said people are turning out “for a wide range of titles,” which matters for cinemas needing more than just one big release to drive traffic. AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc.
AMC still posted a loss in Q1. The company’s revenue came in at $1.045 billion for the first quarter, up from $862.5 million the year before. Net loss shrank to $117.1 million from $202.1 million. Cash and cash equivalents dropped to $339.2 million, down from $428.5 million at the end of 2025.
The risk is clear. AMC’s prospectus flags that shares could swing for reasons not tied to the business, and any recent or upcoming share sales might dilute current holders, shrinking each share’s ownership piece. The company also said if attendance and revenue stay weak, it may have to look for more cash.
Wednesday’s bounce shifts attention again to the main debate: Can higher movie attendance and less debt in the short term balance out the expense of constant new shares? The stock move suggests traders are interested in AMC again. But filings show the runway still comes with caveats.
