AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) has been rising lately after years of declining share prices. Although still down over 37% on a 12-month basis, shares of the massive theater chain are up over 6% in the last 30 days.
Can the stock sustain this sudden pop in momentum, and how high will AMC stock go this year?
Why AMC Is Rising Again
Shares of AMC spiked in late May, coinciding with an announcement the theater chain made about its best Memorial Day weekend ever and the third-largest 5-day revenue in the last decade.
The blockbuster weekend, driven by releases that included Lilo & Stitch and a new entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise, saw 7 million people flock to AMC theaters.
To many investors, the announcement of a record-breaking holiday weekend appears to have been a breath of fresh air in AMC’s long train of struggling performance. The chain has faced many of the issues of the movie theater industry more broadly, especially declining attendance as more and more viewers watch films for the first time through streaming services.
Now, though, the movie industry in the United States seems to be picking up again. With AMC being the biggest theater chain in the US, it’s naturally a prime beneficiary of these trends.
The record weekend also built on another announcement made earlier in May. AMC plans to offer 50% off adult ticket prices on Wednesdays to customers with its Stubs membership. The move is designed to bring more moviegoers into the theaters by making ticket prices more affordable, potentially giving the chain the opportunity to generate more revenue with high-margin inside sales on snacks and drinks.
Between higher engagement with its members and evidence of renewed interest in theater releases, there are some decently positive trends affecting AMC stock at the moment.
With that said, not all the news coming out of AMC lately has been positive for investors. The Q1 earnings report, for instance, showed revenues falling from $951.4 million in the year-ago quarter to a significantly lower $862.5 million in Q1 of 2025.
AMC’s net loss also expanded from $163.5 million to $202.1 million over the same period. So, while there may be some good things happening at AMC at the moment, the business doesn’t appear to be fully past its troubles yet.
Where Does AMC’s Valuation Stand Today?
AMC is still trading at a discount to fair value as evidenced by the stock’s price-to-sales ratio of just 0.3, making it a cheap buy when weighed against revenue.
Even more crucial is the fact that AMC’s stock price has deteriorated while its revenues have largely recovered over the past few years.
It’s important to note, though, that AMC has moderately overshot its range of analyst price forecasts. The consensus price target for AMC is $2.92, while the highest currently standing is $3.00. With AMC now priced at $3.04, the stock appears to have overrun what analysts expected for it, albeit only by pennies.
Is AMC Past Its Meme Stock Phase?
AMC rising rapidly will no doubt remind many investors of the meme stock craze of 2021. During that time, AMC soared to almost insane heights, at one point reaching over $260 per share before crashing spectacularly later that year.
This unusual series of events was driven primarily by retail investors buying AMC aggressively with little to no regard for the underlying performance of the business.
While the recent jump in AMC shares may be a bit drastic, it reflects real trends in both the business and its industry. As management noted in its Q1 report, domestic box office sales are regaining momentum, driven both by consumers returning to theaters and a number of high-profile releases this year so far.
So, even if AMC shares are overreacting, it’s difficult to argue that investors aren’t sensibly pricing in very real growth catalysts at the moment.
Indeed, AMC has even managed to recapture the interest of institutional investors. Over the last six months, large investors have bought up about $924 million in AMC shares while only selling $744 million.
Institutional investors currently own a little over 56% of AMC, adding another layer of evidence that the stock has finally worked the meme stock craze out of its system.
AMC Stock Forecast 2025
In 2025, AMC stock is forecast to reach a high of $4.78 according to the consensus among 5 analysts.
In the short term, it’s likely that AMC may already have peaked and entered another period of decline. Shares of the stock briefly reached the $4 mark on May 27th, the same day the announcement related to the strong Memorial Day weekend came out.
Since then, though, AMC has drifted back down toward the $3 level, indicating that the market may have initially overreacted to the holiday weekend news before adjusting prices down again. In truth, this is slated to be a positive for investors looking at AMC as a long-term holding, as it shows that the stock is finally trading based on business fundamentals instead of meme stock enthusiasm.
With a very low price relative to its sales and trends in the US movie industry seemingly bringing consumers back to theaters in a meaningful way, stable revenue growth is set to produce a rebound and pare back its losses.
AMC may not be a buy at the moment, as the business still has a great deal to prove to investors about its relevance and viability in a post-2020-21 era entertainment ecosystem. Recent trends, however, do seem to bode well for the theater chain.
AMC is best rated a stock to hold because the business is showing signs of a stronger future that will make it a more solid buy.
The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Financhill has a disclosure policy. This post may contain affiliate links or links from our sponsors.