AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE:AMC) Inc (NYSE:AMC) said it will have technology in place to accept payments for tickets and concessions in Bitcoin by the end of the year.
The announcement was made by the cinema chain’s chief executive Adam Aron on a call discussing the firm’s second-quarter earnings overnight on Monday, which saw the group’s revenues come in ahead of estimates at US$444.7mln.
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The company also reported an adjusted diluted loss per share of US$0.71, smaller than analyst predictions of a US$0.91 loss.
AMC, which is favoured by ‘memestock’ investors on the Reddit forum r/wallstreetbets, also reported that as of June 30 all of its 593 domestic US theatres were now open alongside 335, or 95%, of its international outlets following relaxations of lockdown restrictions.
The group also saw 22mln guests back in its theatres during the quarter, with new blockbuster films released in the period helping it to achieve successive box office records for the pandemic period.
Aron said that the company had raised another US$1.25bn in the period, which he said will give the company “financial staying power to navigate boldly amidst coronavirus waters”.
The CEO added on the post-earnings call that revenues for the third quarter are on track to reach 45% of the levels seen in the same period of 2019, according to Reuters.
“AMC’s journey through this pandemic is not finished, and we are not yet out of the woods. However, while there are no guarantees as to what the future will bring in a still infection-impacted world, one can look ahead and envision a happy Hollywood ending to this story. We would like to think that someday when a movie is filmed about AMC and COVID, its title will be one compelling word, ‘Recovery.’ But, only time will tell,” Aron said.
The results sent AMC shares up 5.3% to US$35.60 in after-hours trading on Wall Street overnight.