AMC Stock Is in the Spotlight for All the Right Reasons. Here's Why It's a Buy Now.

There is green being made on the silver screen this year. AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC) -- yes, that multiplex operator that had its meme stock glow up and blow up in 2021 -- is one of this year's more surprising winners. The shares are up 86% in 2026, naturally trouncing the market and likely your own AMC-less portfolio.

As she ascended the stairs of an empty AMC movie theater in the fall of 2021, Nicole Kidman predicted this day would happen. "We come to this place for magic," Kidman says.

After a long way down -- AMC shares are still down 99% over the past five years -- it seems as if the free-falling exhibitor is finally ready to turn around. Finally! It's the magic show that Kidman once promised.

Image source: Getty Images.

The others

AMC peers have been shining in the spotlight for years. Smaller rivals Cinemark (NYSE: CNK) and Marcus (NYSE: MCS) -- up 74% and 45%, respectively, over the last five years, which have pained the industry leader -- are now profitable and have even resumed paying quarterly dividends.

AMC isn't expected to turn an annual profit until 2028. Resuming the dividend that was suspended in 2019 might take longer. Those aren't the ticket stubs being torn here. We're finally at the point where even all of the distractions and dilution that have plagued AMC and its investors in the last several years can't stop the industry's overall momentum.

Practical magic, too

AMC stock is rallying for a good reason this year. Domestic box office receipts for multiplex operators are at their highest level since 2019. AMC should top the $5.5 billion in revenue it generated that year, largely because folks are spending more on snacks, beverages, and collectibles once they get there.

I knew I was going to face some head-shaking when I became an AMC shareholder last month. AMC CEO Adam Aron did unsophisticated investors dirty by taking advantage of the meme-stock craze to float dilutive preferred shares and dismiss his own company's operating inefficiencies as smaller rivals returned to profitability.

Despite the company's financial shortcomings, it has quietly built up an empire that is thriving under the new normal. Folks are coming back to the movies, particularly younger filmgoers who many figured would never return to the cinema experience of their parents.

Its AMC Stubs loyalty program is keeping fans close. And its AMC Stubs A-List monthly subscription plans are keeping hardcore film buffs even closer.

The studios are doing their part, putting out compelling movies that folks increasingly feel they have to experience on the largest screen available. AMC has turned to prerecorded and live concerts to bring audiences back. If it can match the nimble cost-effective operations and prudent balance sheet management of Cinemark and Marcus, this stock can double again from here by the time it finally turns an annual profit.

You don't have to like the past -- especially for those who suffered it from the inside as shareholders -- to appreciate the future. The projector's rolling again.

Rick Munarriz has positions in AMC Entertainment. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.