WALL STREET GOES TO THE MOVIES

Movie Studios and Exhibitors See Their Stocks Rise

On the box office results of recent movies and the upcoming slate of films for the summer, Wall Street investors have pushed up the stock prices of the Hollywood studios and the large movie circuits. 'X-Men: Days of Future Past', 'Captain America', and 'Godzilla' all did a bang-up job at the box office and point to an impressive run for the summer releases to come.  In addition, to these blockbusters, films like 'Neighbors' and 'Heaven Is For Real' also grossed exceeding well.

This performance has not gone unnoticed by Wall Street as stock in Disney, Time-Warner, Viacom, and Fox have outperformed the market. While AMC Entertainment, Cinemark, and Regal Entertainment have all seen good stock price increases for 2014. "We have become increasingly optimistic on the outlook for the movie stocks given the better than expected start to the summer," Eric Wold, a stock analyst for B. Riley & Co. told CMG.  Wold, as well as other analysts,  has put a "buy" rating on the shares of the large cinema circuits.

It seems there is also a renewed interest is 3D .  After the huge success of the 3D version of 'Gravity' where 70% of the U.S. box office came from the 3D admissions, Hollywood has been taking a second look at releasing 3D films that are a cut-above.  The demand for 3D is still there but the movies must be up to the high standard that format demands.  For example, about half of 'Godzilla's' $93 million opening came from 3D ticket sales.

 Studio and Exhibitor Stocks On the Rise

Also pushing investors is the sequel-packed roster of films scheduled for 2015, including: 'Avengers:Age of Ultron', 'Hunger Games' final installment, 'Mission Impossible 5', 'Fast and Furious 7' and 'Jurassic World'.  The movie line-up for 2015 is impressive so investors look at this year's performance as a forerunner of things to come and it all looks pretty rosy for movie distributors and exhibitors alike.

Cinemas, need to be on their best game and moviegoers will reward them. Good box office producers are here and more are coming - it's up to cinemas to bring patrons in with excellent presentations, great service, and exceptional concessions.