As AMC Continues to Play “Debt Dodgeball”... IMAX is Pulling Off the Best Comeback in Movie History

It wasn’t that long ago that going to the movies meant something. Whether you were in a small town with one sticky-floored theater or in a big city debating between IMAX, AMC, or some boutique place that served preppy cocktails and appetizers in Delray Beach, Florida… movie night was a ritual. Films like Interstellar or Infinity War were something you just had to experience in a theater. Then COVID hit. And the ritual was replaced with sweatpants, three consecutive “Are you still watching?” prompts, and your dog snoring through Tiger King muttering, “I’m never going to financially recover from this.”

And speaking of financial ruin… movie theaters took the punch straight to the face. AMC almost went belly up (then got meme-stock CPR courtesy of Reddit), Cineworld filed Chapter 11, and most investors yeeted the entire sector into “dead industry” territory. But one name is surviving the streaming apocalypse… And no, it’s not being propped up by diamond hands and WallStreetBets posts.

Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX, has spent the last few years quietly steering the company into a pretty enviable spot. While AMC’s been stuck trying to untangle its balance sheet and explain why it sold off more stock (again), IMAX leaned into one big idea: if people are going to leave the house, it better be worth it. Turns out, that idea’s aging like a fine Christopher Nolan storyline.

Gelfond is forecasting $1.2 billion in global box office revenue this year… up 33% from 2024 and on pace for the best year in the company’s 55-year history. Not bad for a business most people assumed was just a “big screen” novelty a few years ago. What’s wild is that IMAX controls less than 1% of global movie screens… yet it's pulling in 20%+ of box office revenue for certain blockbusters. Case in point: F1: The Movie pulled nearly $300 million globally in its first 10 days (and IMAX took more than a fifth of that).

I think we can all agree the post-COVID economy has had some weird side effects. People won’t pay $4.99 to remove ads from their streaming apps, but they’ll drop $350 to sit in the rafters at an NFL game. According to Gelfond, that’s the key. “People still love staying home and streaming, but when they go out, they want something that feels different… special.”

That mindset has helped IMAX carve out a premium corner of the market. Films shot with IMAX cameras, like Oppenheimer or the upcoming The Odyssey from Christopher Nolan, are noticeably prettier and make them box office outliers. The tech creates a viewing experience that directors and studios can rally behind. (And yes, that means more free promo from Tom Cruise-level talent.) In fact, Cruise himself begged for a three-week exclusive IMAX run for the latest Mission: Impossible. Gelfond’s response was to “Say the word ‘IMAX’ in every interview.” Apparently it worked.

Right now, IMAX has around 1,700 screens globally… 400 of which are in North America. But Gelfond says they’ve already signed contracts to build another 500. That’s a 29% screen expansion, which, for a company riding stronger margins and higher market share, could really give earnings a shot in the arm over the next few years. And they’ve got plenty of ammo. 2026 alone looks like an Avengers-style team-up of box office gold: a new Avengers film, the return of Star Wars to theaters, Toy Story 5, Shrek 5, Moana live-action, and many more. If you can’t find something in there to get off your couch for… you’re probably more of a documentary guy.

Wall Street’s starting to catch on. IMAX shares are up 54% over the past year, and analysts at Wedbush just added the stock to their Best Ideas list. Their thesis is that a wave of upcoming blockbusters filmed specifically for IMAX, combined with growing global demand, could push both revenue and market share higher. With more directors backing the format and international screens on the rise, investors are beginning to view IMAX less like a niche player… and more like a key piece of the post-streaming movie economy.

On the flip side, AMC has been doing its best impression of someone blindly reaching for the last life preserver. To be fair, things have stabilized a bit… Wedbush just upgraded the stock to “Outperform,” marking its first Buy rating in over five years. They assigned a $4 price target… which, as one analyst pointed out, still won’t get you a small popcorn (let alone a drink to wash it down).

AMC has cleaned up some short-term debt and says it won’t issue more shares… for now (we’ve heard that one before). But take the lipstick off the pig, and it’s still a low-growth business trying to survive in a crazy competitive business. Sure, AMC might catch a break with a stronger release calendar over the next 18 months, but it still lacks the margin profile, global footprint, or director loyalty that IMAX has locked down.

So yeah, don’t let anyone tell you the streaming boom killed movie theaters the way Amazon killed shopping malls… it just exposed the difference between content and experience. IMAX is leaning hard into the latter, and in doing so, it’s pulled off something most thought impossible: it’s made moviegoing feel big again.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News holds positions in Amazon as mentioned in the article.