What: Shares of large movie theater company IMAX Corporation (IMAX 1.60%) dropped 12.6% in January according to S&P Capital IQ data.
So what: IMAX shares surged in the months before Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened, but gave back those gains since the movie opened on December 18, 2015. This is a classic "buy the rumor, sell the news" kind of reaction from investors.
By any objective measure, IMAX is actually set up for a great fourth quarter of 2015 and first quarter of 2016. Star Wars: The Force Awakens passed $100 million in revenue in just 12 days, and $200 million in just 35 days.
Now what: This was the biggest hit the company has had since Avatar, and it shows that the big screen concept can add a lot of value to studios. What investors should be keeping an eye on rather than the market's mood is IMAX's earnings over the next few quarters. If IMAX can turn the latest Star Wars movie into a big profit, it could continue the good vibes with three more Star Wars movies and three Avatar sequels in the works. I think the dip in shares looks more like a buying opportunity than a sign of weakness for IMAX.
