Tom Cruise Film Lifts Imax to Six-Month High: Toronto Mover
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By Matt Walcoff
Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Imax Corp., the maker of giant- screen movie-projection systems, rose to a six-month high today after saying box-office revenue increased 45 percent this year through Feb. 12 from the same period in 2011.
Imax shares surged 8.5 percent to C$23.93 as of 11:54 a.m. in Toronto after the Mississauga, Ontario-based company said worldwide receipts at Imax cinemas totaled $55 million. About half of the sales came from the Tom Cruise movie Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, which has grossed $70 million at Imax theaters since its release in December.
Revenue is well ahead of our expectations, given that we are forecasting $90 million in box office for the quarter, Aravinda Galappatthige, an analyst at Canaccord Financial Corp., wrote in a note to clients. Imax has a very busy film slate in March comprising of The Lorax, John Carter and the much- awaited Hunger Games. Given this, we now believe IMAX may even reach $110! million .
Imax tumbled 33 percent last year as it missed analysts average earnings estimates for the first three quarters amid concern 3-D movies may be losing popularity. The shares have rebounded 28 percent this year. Imax rose earlier to $24, the highest intraday price since July 26.
--Editors: Stephen Kleege, Jacqueline Thorpe
To contact the reporter on this story: Matt Walcoff in Toronto at mwalcoff1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net
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