The theatrical industry is in flux, but one stock is rising above the rest: IMAX. In 2025, IMAX's shares jumped more than 44%, even before the company announced its record-breaking $1.28 billion global box office haul for the year. This was a more than 40% increase over 2024 and 13% higher than its previous record set in 2019. In contrast, shares of fellow theatrical stocks AMC, Cinemark, and Marcus Theatres cratered in 2025, with AMC down more than 60%, Marcus Corporation slumping around 28%, and Cinemark's stock falling 25%.
The sharp declines on Wall Street come as theater operators struggle to grapple with massive changes in the industry. While domestic ticket sales have rebounded from the record lows posted during the Covid pandemic, they remain about 25% below the record-breaking $11.8 billion collected in 2018. The 2025 box office fell short of the $9 billion analysts had projected heading into the year, signaling to industry watchdogs that post-pandemic hurdles could be more permanent than anticipated.
However, the winnowing of theatrical has left IMAX ahead of the pack. When the theatrical slate is thin, IMAX benefits because moviegoers are opting more and more for premium large format experiences. In 2025, more than 16% of tickets sold for domestic showtimes were for these types of theaters, up from 15% in 2024 and 13.8% in 2023. As Hollywood shifts toward producing more big-budget blockbuster features, while medium-to-low budget films are more often sent to streaming, PLF screens will become increasingly important.
IMAX screens represent less than 1% of the total movie screens worldwide, but the company has a backlog of 478 contracts to build more screens. The company has forecast its 2026 global box office haul at a new record of $1.4 billion. As of the end of September, IMAX had more than 1,700 locations and a backlog of 478 contracts to build IMAX screens.
While AMC, Cinemark, and Marcus have invested in creating more premium large format spaces, they are playing a game of catchup. AMC, in addition to its existing partnership with IMAX, has plans to add more Dolby Cinema theaters to its U.S.-based locations as well as Screen X and 4DX auditoriums globally. Cinemark, too, made investments in the last year to add more Screen X theaters to its portfolio. However, these upgrades can be expensive, and the chains are still dealing with the financial burden of rent and utility payments.
Working in IMAX's favor is the fact that the company is notably asset-light, meaning it has minimized its ownership of physical assets like buildings by leveraging its technology and partnering with other companies. Instead of costly real estate leases, IMAX makes deals with cinema chains to install its equipment into their auditoriums and then takes a share of the box office receipts for films screened in those theaters. In the first quarter of 2025, all three cinema stocks posted net losses, but IMAX was profitable in all three quarters.
