“…Considerably More Expensive”: AMC Stock (NYSE:AMC) Gains as it Shifts Construction Plans

Theater chain AMC Entertainment AMC +2.19% ▲ may look a lot smaller going forward, at least it will if a new doctrine going into place holds true. AMC is looking over its real estate holdings, and planning to close more theaters than it opens. This notion may sound counter-intuitive, but investors certainly approved, based on the nearly 1.5% gain in shares seen in Friday afternoon’s trading.

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The losses AMC saw in 2025 do not bode well for AMC’s future, so it is reconsidering its playbook instead. It plans to continue shutting down theaters, open comparatively fewer theaters, and abandon original construction, instead working to acquire in-place theaters. AMC CEO Adam Aron noted, “New build theaters are considerably more expensive than what we call spot acquisitions,” surprising absolutely no one.

Apparently, there are substantial numbers of empty theaters floating around out there. Aron noted that, back in 2021, it acquired a 14-screen theater at The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles. And the pace of closures is on the rise; AMC closed 213 theaters last year, but only opened 65 new ones. This represented a 15% reduction in global portfolio operations, reports noted.

Purchased Seating

Meanwhile, AMC plans to continue a plan that rewards long-term loyalty, by planning to “block and reserve best seats” for Stubs Premiere and A-List members. Those who are willing to pay the monthly membership fees get access to prime seating. Oddly, AMC did not actually define what it considers to be the “best” seats; some believe that sitting as close to the screen as possible is best. I personally have always favored the seat farthest back, directly underneath the projector port.

But with AMC reporting a 10% decline in attendance during the end of 2025, it was clear that AMC needed to do something to get people back in the theaters by any means available, and get the fewer attendees to spend more. With new blockbusters set to emerge—summer movie season is just a few months away—this may be the catalyst that helps get AMC back up and running.

Is AMC Stock a Buy or Sell?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on AMC stock based on one Buy, three Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 65.45% loss in its share price over the past year, the average AMC price target of $1.78 per share implies 54.78% upside potential.

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