Shares of Cinemark Holdings Inc. CNK charged up 3.7% toward a nine-month high in premarket trading Thursday, after the movie theater operator reported first-quarter results that beat expectations by wide margins, amid strong growth in theatrical releases. Net losses narrowed to $3.1 million, or 3 cents a share, from $74.0 million, or 62 cents a share, in the year ago period, to beat the FactSet loss consensus of 29 cents. Revenue grew 32.6% to $610.7 million, above the FactSet consensus of $563.3 million. The volume of wide-release theatrical films rose more than 25% from a year ago, and 2023 volume “is tracking better than expected” with 110 wide-release films now dated. “We remain highly encouraged about our industry’s ongoing recovery based on positive sustained momentum in movie-going trends, an accelerating improvement in film volume, and better than expected box office performance year-to-date,” said Chief Executive Sean Gamble. The stock has soared 90.7% year to date through Thursday, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 5.8%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.