Investors snapped up shares of Cinemark following this morning’s fourth-quarter earnings results, which exceeded Wall Street’s estimates.
Shares rose nearly 6% in morning trading to $42 after the motion picture exhibitor reported revenues of $750 million for the holiday quarter, thanks to increases in admissions and concession revenue. That beat consensus analyst revenue forecasts of $745.8 million. Cinemark’s earnings of $95.1 million, or 82 cents a share, also surpassed average analyst estimates of 48 cents.
“We are thrilled to report our third consecutive year of record results in worldwide revenues, net income … and earnings per share,” said CEO Mark Zoradi said in a prepared statement. “We were able to deliver these all-time highs in a box office environment that declined slightly year-over year.”
For the year, Cinemark reported net income of $264.2 million, or $2.26 per share, on revenues of nearly $3 billion. The company said its board of directors increased the cash dividend by 10% to $1.28 per share of common stock on an annualized basis. The fourth-quarter dividend of 32 cents will be paid on March 22 to shareholders of record on March 8.
