AMC earnings, Strategy & bitcoin, C3.ai sinks: Trending Tickers

Now time for some of today's trending tickers. We are keeping an eye on shares of AMC Strategy and C3 AI. Starting with AMC Entertainment, pairing earlier gains but still in the green after reporting second quarter earnings that beat revenue expectations. The movie theater chain is benefiting from big US blockbusters like the Minecraft movie and Lilo and Stitch, citing a 26% jump in attendance. AMC is seeing a recovering box office on the back of stronger consumer demand. Revenue grew 35% year over year, and still with me is Hope King. And Hope, I've been tracking the Hollywood movie business for some time, and it's been really interesting to see this post-pandemic recovery, but this year in particular feels like a turning point for a lot of these companies, especially with that theater attendance. I mean, 26% year-over-year jump is no joke.

No, it's no joke. Uh, that is because movies are back. So there is something to actually watch when you go. For me, the big story was premium. There was so much emphasis in their results on the premium auditoriums operating at nearly three times the occupancy of regular auditoriums. What does that mean? It costs way more these days to go to the movie theaters. So if you are going, especially here in New York, you're spending at least $50 between two people getting those seats and your popcorn, and these theaters are capitalizing on the demand for premium seating, demand for movies that you need to watch in theaters, like an F1, like these big blockbusters that you just mentioned. And so the key, I think, for these theaters going forward is to capitalize on people who can pay up and having movies again worth going to theaters for.

Yeah, I saw F1 at IMAX and it definitely was worth it. And and also, even though it's becoming a little more expensive to go to the movies, it's a relatively cheap option for families outside of some of the other types of entertainment out there. So something to continue to watch here, but moving on to another stock we have our name on, Strategy. Shares are climbing today, boosted by a surge in Bitcoin prices and some recent regulatory progress in the crypto space. The Michael Saylor-led company is the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin. The company just added another 155 tokens that brings its total holdings to nearly 629,000 Bitcoin. Crypto stocks are also getting a lift following a recent executive order from President Trump that allows 401K plans to include cryptocurrencies. And look, we know strategy is one company that continuously leans on Bitcoin. Michael Saylor, he wrote on social media, quote, "If you don't stop buying Bitcoin, you won't stop making money." So he's just continuing to be bullish on the crypto.

I mean, I think opening this market, nearly $9 trillion market for 401K plans to use crypto is giving this boost, and I think any company that has ties to crypto, to Bitcoin, to digital assets, follow the policy, you'll follow the money, you'll follow the stock. There's usually a correlation, or at least a connection between when they hit their highs and when the actual policies are announced, and when these new, really, you know, like life-changing opportunities for people who've never been able to invest on their own, giving that over to professional money managers to actually look at their portfolios and see what they can do versus having to figure it out on your figuring it out on your own. I think that's a big benefit, I think, for the entire crypto industry.

Yeah, and strategy started really aggressively buying Bitcoin around 2020, and since that time, we've just seen this cryptocurrency rip higher. So, um, potentially, maybe more bullish moves ahead. And also, C3 AI, that's plunging after reporting preliminary quarterly results set to come in 33% below its previous guidance. DA Davidson analyst Gil Luria says the results were catastrophic in a note that downgraded the once AI darling to an underperform. The company is currently working to find a new CEO following Tom Siebel stepping down due to health reasons. Luria says that leadership changes will spell more disruption for C3 AI, and like I just said, this was an AI darling. Now we're seeing the stock just absolutely take a tumble. Seems like though this could be a company specific story and not really a problem for the AI trade at large.

Yeah, I think the story here is keyman risk. And you've got the founder and CEO saying that because he wasn't as involved in selling, that that's why they've seen such dramatic decline. I think that is a warning sign to all companies. If you are founder led that you are the person setting the pace and setting the sales strategy, and setting the relationships. Uh, I can't help but think about what Salesforce did at the end of last year saying from Mark Benioff, the CEO, that they were increasing their sales force to be able to get AI products out there. If you are, you know, a C3 AI and you're going up against a sales force with a 2,000 man sales force going out there to sell AI products, you are in a lot of trouble. So it is both a company issue, but also industry wide. More people need to be out there selling AI products.

Yeah, and with the losses that we're seeing today, that brings the year-to-date decline over 50% lower, and we will be seeing full results and updated guidance on September 3rd.