What happened
Shares of larger-than-life cinema technologist IMAX (IMAX 3.18%) closed Wednesday's trading session 10.6% lower. The company reported second-quarter results on Tuesday, falling short of Wall Street's revenue estimates.
So what
Your average analyst had expected IMAX to report a net loss of $0.52 per share on revenues near $9.8 million. The final net loss was smaller at $0.44 per share but sales fell 92% year over year to $8.9 million. The COVID-19 health crisis slammed the brakes on IMAX's revenue generation in March, and the company is recovering slowly from that situation.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
The company generated $750,000 in revenue over the last weekend through two new movie releases in China. Forty percent of the global theater network has generated sales in July with an overwhelming focus on the Middle Kingdom. Only 10% of IMAX's screens in North America are operating at this time, and that's mostly in Canada.
"The reopening of our network is, of course, a positive incremental step forward for IMAX, but we still have a long way to go," said CEO Rich Gelfond in IMAX's earnings call. "Around the world, we're seeing solid early evidence that audiences will return to theaters where and when it's safe to do so."
Until then, the company continues to burn roughly $10 million of its cash reserves on fixed costs. IMAX has $319 million of cash equivalents at the moment, and management is convinced that the company will weather this crisis.
The stock is trading 51% below its 52-week highs.
