Imax saw profits surge and revenue rise last quarter as the company beat Wall Street forecasts with global box office up 19% year-on-year and its highest-grossing domestic quarter ever at $143 million.
On just over 400 screens, the large-format exhibitor delivered at least 10% of the domestic opening on seven consecutive “filmed for Imax” releases this summer with a 20% shares for Sinners, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and F1: The Movie.
A 10% share “used to be the high end of what we delivered on major tentpole releases,” said CEO Rich Gelfond on a call Thursday after the numbers were reported. “Now that’s just business as usual.”
Gelfond said Imax will rerelease F1 on August 8.
Superman is up to $55 million in Imax.
The company has also been installing screens, with 57 locations opened worldwide and sales pacing well ahead of 2024 through the first six months of the year, “a strong indicator of our momentum, as our exhibition partners worldwide are clearly looking to capitalize on our surging share of the global box office,” said Gelfond. New screens include flagships on the way with Regal in NYC and LA.
Imax has delivered signings for 124 new and upgraded systems upgraded worldwide year-to-date vs 130 signings in all of 2024.
Net income surged 139% to $12.2 million for the three months ended in June on revenue up 3% to $91.7 million.
Imax continues to expect to deliver $1.2 billion in global box office in 2025.
Over the quarter, “key drivers of our business worked in concert, with strong network growth worldwide, record box office in North America, and impressive market share gains driven by more releases filmed with our technology than ever,” Gelfond. “The fundamentals of our business are strong, the strength and impact of our brand across the entertainment landscape has reached new highs, and we have tremendous runway with a strong slate and network growth prospects ahead.”
Imax shares popped, up 1.24% this morning. They’ve jumped more than 60% over the past year as Wall Street touts the company’s growth and potential in a changing exhibition landscape. Consumers are gravitating towards a premium theatrical experience when they go to the movies, and studios are leaning on the format as an increasingly key part of the marketing campaigns for big releases.