The threadbare movie slate in the final months of 2023 didn’t take too harsh of a toll on Cinemark’s Q4 earnings, as the theater chain reported quarterly revenue of $638.9 million on Friday morning.
That figure is above Cinemark’s revenue for Q4 2022, rising 6.5% from the $599.7 million grossed in that quarter when theaters struggled with a lack of major theatrical hits outside of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and harsh winter storms hampered the Christmas box office even with the success of “Avatar: The Way of Water”
Other key figures:
- Quarterly loss: Cinemark reported an adjusted loss per share of 15 cents, better than the projected loss of 17 cents per share made by Zacks Investment Research. The previous quarter, Cinemark reported earnings of 61 cents per share thanks in large part to an $875 million quarterly revenue total fueled by the success of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” which gave the company its best July box office in its history.
- Attendance: Cinemark reported admissions revenue of $322.4 million, a 5.4% increase from the $304.6 million reported for Q4 2022. With the SAG-AFTRA strike continuing until Nov. 9, films like Warner Bros./Legendary’s “Dune: Part Two” were moved out of the Q4 release slate out of concerns that actors wouldn’t be able to promote them, leaving movies like “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” and “Wonka” to carry the weight.
- Concessions: A bright spot for Cinemark is that concessions revenue saw a slightly bigger bump to $243 million, up 7.7% year-over-year from $225.7 million in Q4 2022.
“We believe our strong 2023 results provide a clear sign that our many ongoing strategic growth and productivity initiatives are driving significant impact,” Sean Gamble, Cinemark’s President and CEO said in a statement. “As we look ahead, we remain highly optimistic about the future of our company and our ability to fully capitalize on our industry’s continued recovery given our solid foundation, advantage market position, and the many opportunities that lie before us.”
Net loss narrowed to $18 million for the fourth quarter, an improvement on the $99 million loss for the same period in 2022.
The company achieved all-time high food & beverage per cap of $5.68 for 2023 with concession revenue that exceeded 2019 by 3% on 25% less attendance.
As the box office has gone through wild ups-and-downs through the past couple of years, theaters have stemmed the tide somewhat from a sustained increase in per patron spending, as moviegoers are showing a greater tendency to spend on food & beverage along with premium formats like Imax when they go to the movies.
Quarterly grosses for the domestic box office reached $1.85 billion in Q4, a 4.6% improvement from the $1.77 billion grossed in Q4 2022 but 10% down from the $2.06 billion grossed in Q4 2021, when pandemic-delayed films like “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and “No Time to Die” helped give the box office its first big boost since they reopened.
This past quarter, no film contributed $200 million to overall grosses, with “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” leading with $179.8 million closely followed by “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” with $159.7 million. Other key contributors include the Blumhouse video game adaptation “Five Nights at Freddy’s” with $137 million and the holiday release “Wonka” with $133 million.
The start of 2024 is bringing another rough start for Cinemark and theaters, as the domestic box office to date currently stands at $652 million, down 15% from last year. Paramount’s “Bob Marley: One Love” stands to provide some degree of relief after opening to $14 million on Valentine’s Day, but it likely won’t be until the release of “Dune: Part Two” and “Kung Fu Panda 4” in March that the market will get a significant boost.
Gamble acknowledged the strikes’ impact on volume in 2024, but said based on production ramping back up and expressed plans from studios that 2025 is looking bright.
“While six months of work stoppage associated with the Hollywood strikes will likely cause a dip in wide releases to approximately 95 titles in 2024 for an estimated 75% of pre pandemic levels, we expect film volume in 2025 will quickly spring back to the recovery glide path it’s been on over the past two years. notching another step closer to pre pandemic levels based on current production activity and expressed plans at the major studios,” he said, pointing to Amazon and Apple’s ambitions to continue to make films for the theatrical space.
Gamble added that based on discussions with studio partners, while there’s a potential for 2025 to return to pre-pandemic levels, it may not happen until 2026.
Adam Chitwood contributed to this report.
