- The U.S. box office has set an annual record with three days of ticket counting still to go.
- Exhibitors brought in $11.1831B through December 28 to mark a 2.1% gain from last year's level.
- The top movies of the year are Finding Dory ($486M), Captain America: Civil War ($408M) and The Secret Life of Pets ($368M). As reported earlier this month, Disney (NYSE:DIS) had a dominant year at the box office and is poised for a repeat in 2017.
- Exhibitor stocks have had a banner year as M&A talk and higher patron spending has kicked in. AMC Entertainment is up 46% YTD, while Carmike Cinemas sits close behind with a 45% gain. Shares of Reading International have increased 26% and Cinemark Holdings (NYSE:CNK) is up 19% with only a day of trading left.
- Related stocks: CKEC, AMC, CNK, IMAX, RDI, MCS, NCMI, DCIN.