Imax Likely to Achieve Pre-Pandemic Box Office Levels in 2023 as China Reopens, Barrington Research Says
04:39 PM EST, 02/24/2023 (MT Newswires) -- Imax (IMAX) is likely to achieve its pre-pandemic box office levels of $1.1 billion in 2023 as China reopens after generating $850 million in box office in 2022, Barrington Research said in a note to clients Friday.
Barrington reaffirmed the movie theater operator's outperform rating and raised its price target by $2 to $22. It also added the company to its best ideas list.
"Avatar: The Way of Water" and "Wandering Earth 2" helped drive the box office in 2022. North American IMAX receipts were close to the 2019 level and the rest of the world was within 15% of the 2019 level. China's 2022 IMAX box office, however, was less than half of the 2019 level due to continuing COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions on Hollywood content, according to the note.
"The strong reception to reopening in China and continued stability domestically and elsewhere are very encouraging, though the ultimate receptivity of the film slate is always difficult to predict with any certainty," said Barrington analysts James Goss and Patrick Sholl.