A private Imax screening of the film “First Man” at an AMC theater in New York on October 10, 2018.
Lars Niki | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
Stocks of a premium theater company IMAX surged after the closing bell Thursday following a report that it was considering a sale.
A source close to the company told CNBC that it had had “preliminary talks” through intermediaries, but no formal presentation had been made by the company.
IMAX’s longtime bankers occasionally test the waters for potential interest, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the confidential nature of the discussions.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report the potential sales process. The stock was up about 10% in extended trading.
CEO Rich Gelfond recently returned to work after taking temporary medical leave to undergo treatment for pneumonia. Gelfond told shareholders last December that he was open to a possible sale of the company.
He said at the company’s investor day that IMAX is “an incredibly valuable player, either as a fully differentiated publicly traded company or as part of a larger company with the keys to unlock even greater value and our strong business globally.”
“We’re very excited about all of these possibilities. And we’re going to manage our business to maximize value in every way possible,” Gelfond said.
IMAX has become the premier provider of premium experiences in the cinema space. Last year, the company generated a record $1.28 billion at the global box office, an increase of more than 40% from 2024 and 13% more than its previous record set in 2019.
Meanwhile, high-end large format displays, or PLFs, continue to grow in popularity. In 2025, PLF screens represented 16.3% of domestic tickets sold, averaging $16.88 each. That’s up from about 14% of tickets sold in 2021, at an average of $15.42 each, according to EntTelligence data.