Good Evening. After posting consecutive weekly losses for the first time since late September, US equities continued their slide on Monday.
The S&P 500 fell 0.90%, while the Dow Jones declined 0.49%. The Nasdaq Composite slumped 1.49%, making this the fourth day in a row, all three main averages plummeted to six-week lows.
THE END OF THE MEME STOCK?
AMC stock (AMC) reached its lowest level since the meme stock mania started in January 2021. Each share closed at $4.89.
The theater operator announced that it has raised $162 million through the sale of its APE (APE) units, a preferred equity program launched earlier this year and that it has reduced its debt obligations by approximately $180 million this year by refinancing and repurchasing a portion of its debt at a discount.
However, despite the reduction of debt obligations and AMC’s announcement of the purchase of yet another former Arclight theater in the Boston, Massachusetts region and making further potential industry consolidation opportunities. Shares still fell today and are down over 82% year-to-date, while APE shares are down 88% since its start four months ago.
OPENING WEEKEND
“Avatar: The Way of Water” by Disney (DIS) brought filmmaker James Cameron his first $100-million opening weekend — but fell short of industry forecasts of $170 million.
According to Comscore data, the highly anticipated sequel, which spans 3 hours and 12 minutes (I know…), earned around $134 million in domestic markets, matching it with Warner Bros.’ (WBD) “The Batman” for the fifth-highest opening of 2022.
Going forward with the movie! The sequel should follow similar trends, according to box office analytics provider EntTelligence. Preview night and opening day accounted for just 53% of opening weekend sales, which is a promising sign for long-term success since it shows the film was not “front-loaded” and might have continuous interest over time.
Did you know… China was the sequel’s leading international market, with $57.1 million in opening weekend ticket sales. Nonetheless, that figure fell well short of industry projections of $100 million or more