The recovery for the multiplex industry was already starting to get wobbly for AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE: AMC) even before the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its advisory for the COVID-19 crisis. With cases surging in a growing number of markets, the CDC is now recommending that even fully vaccinated people go back to face coverings in indoor areas of high or substantial transmission.
It is a recommendation and not a requirement right now, but it's a big blow to AMC and its smaller rivals. Movie theaters need high-margin concession sales to be profitable. The rapid spread of the delta variant of the COVID-19 virus is also problematic for young moviegoers, as kids under 12 are still not cleared to take any of the three available vaccines.
Is IMAX (NYSE: IMAX) the safer and possibly smarter way to play the potential recovery of the movie theater industry? Let's skip to the feature attraction, pitting AMC against IMAX as the better investment.
For further details see:
Is It Time to Sell AMC Stock and Buy IMAX?