Business

Lowe’s topped third-quarter earnings and revenue estimates on Tuesday.
The home improvement retailer raised its outlook, but still expects full-year sales to decline from the prior year.
Lowe’s rival Home Depot has said customers are deferring big projects even after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 20: The exterior sign of a Lowe’s home improvement store is seen on August 20, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The company beat fiscal second-quarter earnings expectations, but missed on sales and cut its full-year outlook blaming inflation. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
Eric Thayer | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Lowe’s beat Wall Street’s quarterly earnings expectations on Tuesday, as outdoor do-it-yourself projects, the home professional business and stronger online shopping fueled sales.
Yet even with the better-than-expected results, the home improvement retailer is projecting a year-over-year sales decline. The company updated its full-year guidance on Tuesday, and now expects total sales of between $83 billion and $83.5 billion, higher than its previous forecast for $82.7 billion to $83.2 billion. It said it expects comparable sales to decline 3% to 3.5%, slightly better than the 3.5% to 4% drop that it had previously anticipated.

Lowe’s is lapping a year-ago period when the company lowered its outlook and sales tumbled nearly 13% year over year. It also cut its full-year forecast in August, as it predicted weak home improvement demand in the back half of the year because of high interest rates.
Here’s what the company reported for the three-month period that ended Nov. 1 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $2.89 adjusted vs. $2.82 expected
Revenue: $20.17 billion vs. $19.95 billion expected

In the fiscal third quarter, Lowe’s net income fell to $1.7 billion, or $2.99 per share, compared with $1.77 billion, or $3.06 per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue dropped from $20.47 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Comparable sales declined 1.1% year over year, due to weaker demand for bigger and pricier discretionary DIY projects. That was offset, in part, by demand driven by preparation for and repairs from hurricanes Helene and Milton, along with growth in sales to home pros like contractors.
Lowe’s competitor, Home Depot, reported last week that customers are still deferring bigger projects and pricier purchases, even after two interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Home Depot beat Wall Street’s sales and earning expectations, yet posted its eighth quarter in a row of declining comparable sales. It did see some improving sales trends, however, due to hurricane-related demand, warm-weather home projects and the acquisition of SRS Distribution, a company that sells supplies to landscaping, pool and roofing professionals.

As of Monday’s close, shares of Lowe’s have risen about 22% this year. That’s less than the approximately 24% gains of the S&P 500 during the same period. The company’s stock closed on Monday at $271.77, bringing the market value of Lowe’s to $154.17 billion.
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The NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery have reached a settlement that will allow the league to move forward with Disney, Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Amazon as its media partners.
WBD’s popular NBA studio show “Inside the NBA” will continue to be produced by TNT Sports but will air on ESPN.
WBD will be able to air NBA games in certain international countries and will get free access to NBA highlights for its media properties.

A view of the NBA on TNT logo on a broadcast camera prior to the start of the third quarter of Game Four of the Western Conference Second Round Playoffs between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center on May 12, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
David Berding | Getty Images

Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to end its quest to own a package of live National Basketball Association games in the U.S. for the 2025-26 season and beyond, settling all of its legal disputes with the league.
Warner Bros. Discovery sued the NBA in July, claiming the league failed to allow the media company to use its so-called matching rights on a package of live games.

The league selected three media partners — Disney, Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video — to be its U.S. distributors of live games for 11 years beginning next season. The total value of the deal, including WNBA games, was about $77 billion, CNBC previously reported.
The settlement with Warner Bros. Discovery, announced Monday, as well as a separate agreement between WBD and ESPN, will keep the company in the mix with some NBA content, production partnerships and licensing deals. However, it officially ends Turner Sports’ 40-year relationship with the NBA as a carrier of live games in the U.S. after this season.
Turner Sports has had an NBA package since 1984, with games airing on cable network TNT since 1988. The NBA decided to move away from Warner Bros. Discovery as a media partner for several reasons, including losing faith in the long-term future of cable TV as a method for reaching a younger audience.
Disney and Comcast have broadcast networks to showcase NBA games, and Amazon’s package is exclusively streaming.
The terms of the settlement grant WBD’s TNT Sports free access to highlights for the company’s Bleacher Report digital news site and its social media platform House of Highlights for the next 11 years, according to a person familiar with the details. The deal also allows Warner Bros. Discovery to license, create, and distribute new and existing NBA content across its media assets and includes live game rights in the Nordic countries, Poland and Latin America, excluding Brazil and Mexico.

The agreement also extends a partnership between NBA Digital and TNT Sports for five seasons that allows the NBA to engage Warner Bros. Discovery to provide promotion and “a variety of services, including production, content development and sales operations services,” according to a statement.
The settlement gives Warner Bros. Discovery years of guaranteed revenue from the NBA. The league isn’t paying WBD any additional money for those services beyond the terms of the settlement, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked to speak anonymously because some details of the agreement are private.

‘Inside the NBA’

TNT’s popular “Inside the NBA” studio show will be licensed to Disney’s ESPN and ABC for premier NBA games in the regular season and the playoffs, including the finals. ESPN’s current NBA studio show, “Countdown,” will continue for other ESPN regular-season games.

Charles Barkley on Inside the NBA
Source: NBA on TNT

TNT Sports will continue to produce “Inside the NBA,” starring Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal. The four hosts will stay with the show for the durations of their contracts and may develop other new content for Warner Bros. Discovery’s cable and streaming platforms, including programs such as an “Inside Sports” show currently in development for next season, according to the company. ESPN has protections in the deal that would allow it to stop licensing the show if key hosts depart, according to two people familiar with the contract.
It’s unclear if “Inside the NBA” will contain TNT or ESPN branding when the show begins airing on Disney’s platforms next year, according to people familiar with the matter. While TNT Sports has full editorial control of the show, ESPN talent may collaborate with the hosts, the people said.
“The opportunity to continue the iconic and Emmy Award-winning ‘Inside the NBA’ is a huge win for basketball fans everywhere,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in a statement. “We look forward to building on our longstanding partnership with TNT Sports and working together to promote NBA content across key WBD and NBA platforms.”
Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have partnered several times in the past year, including on a streaming bundle that links WBD’s Max service to Disney+ and Disney’s Hulu, and on a sports-focused joint venture called Venu that’s currently in limbo due to antitrust concerns.
As a side part of the settlement that doesn’t involve the NBA, ESPN is allowing TNT to televise 13 Big 12 football games and 15 men’s basketball games each season, starting in 2025. The deal gives the Big 12 more linear TV exposure through TNT, as most of the games would have streamed exclusively on ESPN+, according to people familiar with the matter.
ESPN struck a similar sub-licensing deal with Warner Bros. Discovery for first round and quarterfinal College Football Playoff games earlier this year.

Consolation prize

The deal allows Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav to walk away with something after failing to reach a deal with the league during its exclusive negotiating window earlier this year.
“Together these agreements ensure fans will continue to enjoy TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’ and create tremendous value for our entire portfolio as we accelerate the growth of TNT Sports, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and our global sports business,” Zaslav in a statement.
Silver told CNBC last month that the league “absolutely” could have reached a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery but leadership on both sides never saw eye to eye.
“It wasn’t a longtime relationship with the people currently running Warner Brothers Discovery,” said Silver. “Ideally in these partnerships, people aren’t pulling out the contract and saying page eight, paragraph three. You’re saying you understand the spirit of what you were trying to accomplish, and that you’re willing to adjust based on changes that might have been unpredictable. So when you’re actually looking at the contract, that’s a sign that the partnership isn’t going as well.”
Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC and a co-owner of Hulu.

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About 1 in 5 Americans say they regularly get their news from “news influencers” on social media, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center.
While previous research found more women consume news on sites including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok than men, the new survey suggests close to two-thirds of news influencers are men.
Political stratification on social media may only increase as misinformation spreads and users flee X.

Getty Images

About 1 in 5 Americans say they regularly get their news from “news influencers” on social media, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center.
The rise of social media personalities doling out information was particularly true among the youngest users, and comes at a time of heightened polarization surrounding the U.S. presidential election.

“We thought about news influencers as sources of authority to their audiences about what’s happening in the world,” Galen Stocking, a senior computational social scientist at the Pew Research Center, told CNBC. “And one thing we found when doing that, 65% said that they found the information they got from news influencers helps them better understand the world.”
Close to 40% of adults under 30 who were included in the study said they stay informed from independent social media figures, the largest chunk of any age group.
Democratic strategist and Columbia professor Basil Smikle said that shift has been playing out since at least 2016.
“Part of it is convenience,” Smikle said. “You have access to all the information you need from your phone. So because social media is pushing information to you, the ease with which you have information at your fingertips is difficult to ignore.”
But Smikle said that convenience can turn into a habit that’s hard to break and may lead to a greater spread of misinformation.

“When you’re getting information through social media, how do you know how original that information is?” he said. “It’s very hard to verify that and unfortunately, the algorithm doesn’t care. It just keeps sending you the same kind of information.”
Around two-thirds of the roughly 500 accounts that Pew defined as “news influencers” for the study were active on multiple platforms between July and August.
Social media site X remained the most popular, with 85% of influencer respondents reporting they were on the site. Meta-owned Instagram took second place, while YouTube, the most popular platform for Gen Z, or people born between 1997 and 2012, came in third. TikTok sat below Meta’s Threads and Facebook as sixth-most popular among influencers.

Risk of misinformation

Questions around the influence of independent social media creators on politics erupted prior to and after the presidential election.
Both candidates utilized social media to reach younger voters, most notably when President-elect Donald Trump appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast and Vice President Kamala Harris joined the “Call Her Daddy” podcast — both podcasts with large followings on social media.

Vice President Kamala Harris sits for an interview with Alex Cooper on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
Call Her Daddy

“The ease with which you can get in front of a voter with information has increased exponentially, and I can consistently send you that information so much so that there comes a point where you’re not going to go look for it,” Smikle said.
Smikle said social media is also a much less expensive option for candidates trying to reach a larger audience, especially when you add in news influencers who can post about the candidates and their platforms.
Candidates may also have an easier time advancing their message via podcasts rather than a traditional interview on a network, according to Syracuse professor Joshua Darr. Network interviews in recent elections have tended to be more combative than those conducted on independent podcasts or social media accounts, Darr said.
“It’s probably good for the electorate to have a hard sit-down interview, but if it’s a series of rapid fire gotcha questions, I don’t know if that’s something campaigns are going to sign up for,” he said.
One result, according to Smikle, is that misinformation can spread more easily.
“There were standards that the networks used to determine what was true,” he said. “Those guardrails are gone through social media.”
Alaina Wood, one of the news influencers listed in the Pew report, said misinformation often becomes too widespread to combat until after it’s already had real impact.
Wood’s content is primarily based on climate news, particularly with her series that highlights positive climate stories. After her east Tennessee community was hit by Hurricane Helene in September, she said misinformation began to spread about people accused of stealing in the wake of the storm.
“Everyone kind of agrees that trying to get a handle on misinformation before it becomes a thing can really help,” she said. The problem, according to Wood, is that videos correcting misinformation often don’t go as viral as the original clip.

More male, conservative

Previous Pew research found more women consume news on sites including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok than men, but the new survey suggests close to two-thirds of news influencers are men.
That difference is seen most with YouTube and Facebook, where 68% and 67% of news influencers are men, respectively. On TikTok, around 50% of respondents were men, compared with 48% women and 2% who identify either as nonbinary or whose gender could not be determined.

Joe Rogan on his podcast (L) and Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion with Latino community leaders at Trump National Doral Miami resort in Miami, Florida on October 22, 2024 (R).
Getty Images

Matteo Recanatini, another influencer listed in the report who often clashes online with other creators around misinformation and national politics, said he’s noticed major differences in the gender breakdown of his audiences across different platforms as well as their political ideologies.
“On YouTube I get roasted,” he told CNBC. “That’s not going to stop me from posting what I post. But I would say the vast majority of the people that responds to my videos are very conservative. And I would say that probably YouTube is as close to MAGA as as you can get.”
Among the 52% of influencers who responded to Pew researchers with an explicit political orientation, more identified with right-leaning politics, according to the report. That difference is amplified on certain platforms, including Facebook, where three times as many respondents identified as conservative than those who identified as liberal.
Recanatini said his audience on TikTok, where he started his social media following and which remains his primary platform today, is much more liberal and primarily women.
“Most people will interact with the content that they enjoy, and that feeds the algorithm and creates echo chambers,” Recanatini said. “If you’re not aware of it, you end up thinking 100% of the people around you feel a certain way, just because you feel this affinity with the information you’re consuming.”

Creating silos

Political stratification on social media may only increase as time goes on.
X owner Elon Musk has become a close ally of Trump’s, drawing criticism from many on social media and spurring some to leave the platform altogether.
Jay Rosen, a journalism professor at New York University and one of the influencers listed in the Pew report, announced he would leave X the Monday after the election.
“For a while Twitter was a way to do journalism education in public, for a public— and for free,” he wrote on X. “I think I was effective at times in that role. I no longer know how that’s done.”
Micro-blogging startup Bluesky, which has set itself up as an alternative to X, gained more than 1.25 million new users in the week following Trump’s victory.
“I’m fully aware of the fact that people’s decision to not post on X is amplifying that echo chamber,” Recanatini said. “So it’s creating an even more radicalized audience, because that is all they’re hearing from.” More

Spirit Airlines CEO said customers can continue to book tickets on the airline.
Spirit has struggled since its failed acquisition by JetBlue Airways, a Pratt & Whitney engine recall and weaker-than-expected sales.
The company has faced mounting losses and has been against a deadline to renegotiate $1.1 billion in debt payments due next year.

Passengers check in at the Spirit Airlines counter at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on February 07, 2022 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Spirit Airlines, an icon of budget air travel that reshaped the industry, has filed for bankruptcy protection after years of mounting losses, a failed merger and more demanding consumer tastes.
The carrier early Monday said it reached a prearranged deal with its bondholders including $300 million in debtor-in-possession financing to help it through the bankruptcy, which it expects to exit in the first quarter of next year. It said vendors and aircraft lessors will not be impaired. Spirit listed its assets and liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion, in a court filing.

The airline said it expects to continue operating and said customers can book tickets.
“The most important thing to know is that you can continue to book and fly now and in the future,” Spirit CEO Ted Christie said in a letter to customers on Monday. He said customers can use tickets, credits and loyalty points normally.
Spirit is the first major U.S. airline to file for Chapter 11 since American Airlines 13 years ago.
The Dania Beach, Florida-based airline had struggled with an engine recall that grounded dozens of its jets, a surge in costs after the pandemic, and the failure of its planned acquisition by JetBlue Airways, which was blocked by a federal judge earlier this year on antitrust grounds. Its shares have fallen more than 90% this year.
The airline had repeatedly pushed back a deadline with its credit card processor to renegotiate $1.1 billion in loyalty bonds due next year or risk losing the ability to process transactions.

It said Monday that it had reached a deal with bondholders for $350 million in equity and that it “will complete a deleveraging transaction to equitize $795 million of funded debt.”
Spirit filed for protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York. The company said it will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange as a result of the filing. Shares of Spirit were halted in premarket trading.
Last week, Spirit said it had to delay its quarterly filing and said it was in discussions for a deal with a majority of creditors that would not affect customers, vendors, suppliers and others, but that it would wipe out the company’s existing equity.
Spirit had said that it expects its third-quarter margins to be 12 percentage points lower than during the same period a year ago and that sales were $61 million lower than last year, while costs surged and fares slipped.

Stock chart icon

Spirit Airlines and NYSE Arca Airline index

The airline hasn’t had a profit since 2019 and lost more than $335 million in the first half of the year.
To try to make up the difference, it has sold dozens of jets to shore up cash, which has worked in its favor since planes are in short supply this year. Most recently, it sold 23 Airbus aircraft to GA Telesis to generate $519 million. Spirit has said it expects to end the year with approximately $1 billion in liquidity.
The company also plans to furlough another 330 pilots in January on top of about 200 in September as it slashed routes. But analysts expect the carrier will have to shrink further in bankruptcy to get a handle on costs.

A Spirit Airlines plane at New York’s LaGuardia Airport
Leslie Josephs/CNBC

The Spirit way

Spirit’s business model of offering rock-bottom fares and fees for everything from seat assignments to cabin baggage was a success with bargain-hunting customers, allowing it to expand over more than a decade.
Its bare-bones service became a favorite punchline for stand-up comics. A greeting card featuring one of the carrier’s yellow planes even states: “I would fly Spirit Airlines for you.”
The low-fare and add-on-fee model sparked similar offerings from larger carriers like Delta, American and United, which rolled out basic economy fares.
Spirit struggled after the pandemic, however, when costs rose throughout the industry and lifted travel restrictions sparked a surge in bookings for international trips outside of Spirit’s network. Fares fell in the oversupplied U.S. market.
Spirit this summer started offering bundled fares with seat assignments and other perks, as well as a sort of “first-class” that included larger seats at the front of the plane as many travelers have opted to pay up for more spacious seats on board.
In January, a federal judge blocked JetBlue’s $3.8 billion planned acquisition of Spirit. In early 2022, Spirit had a deal to merge with fellow budget airline Frontier before JetBlue swooped in with a bid in April of that year. Spirit shareholders backed JetBlue’s all-cash offer.
Judge William Young, who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, said the JetBlue deal would drive up fares and reduce competition. The airlines had argued it would help them better compete, especially in the U.S. where four airlines control about three-quarters of the market.
“Spirit is a small airline. But there are those who love it,” Young wrote in his ruling. “To those dedicated customers of Spirit, this one’s for you.”
Some analysts expect Frontier and Spirit to resume talks in the coming months.

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SpringHill is merging with Fulwell 73, and SpringHill co-founder Maverick Carter will become co-CEO of the combined company, along with Fulwell managing partner Leo Pearlman.
SpringHill has largely focused on producing sports-related content, while Fulwell’s focus has been on broader entertainment, including producing “The Kardashians” and “Carpool Karaoke.”
Investors include Fenway Sports Group, RedBird Capital Partners, UC Investments, Nike and Epic Games.

LeBron James, right, and Maverick Carter participate in a Q and A after the premiere of the STARZ original series “Survivor’s Remorse” in Los Angeles.
Matt Sayles | AP

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James’ entertainment business, SpringHill Co., has agreed to a merger of equals with Fulwell 73, the British television, film and music production company behind shows including “The Kardashians” and “Carpool Karaoke.”
The deal was spearheaded by SpringHill co-founder Maverick Carter and Fulwell 73 co-founder Ben Winston, who have been friends for a decade after veteran TV producer Tom Werner introduced them, the two said in an interview with CNBC. Carter will be co-CEO of the combined company along with Leo Pearlman, Fulwell’s managing partner.

SpringHill has largely focused on sports content, producing “Starting 5,” a 10-part Netflix sports docuseries that follows James and other NBA players throughout the 2023-2024 season, and “Hustle,” a 2022 sports comedy-drama movie starring Adam Sandler. The deal will bring James’ company increased scale to strike larger deals with media companies and streaming platforms, Carter said.
“[Fulwell] makes shows we always wished we could do, and we just did not have that capability, in terms of unscripted productions around the world, fully scaled,” Carter said. “Now that jealousy goes away.”
Carter and Winston first began talking about merging about 13 months ago in a parking lot after having dinner together, said Winston, who added he always admired SpringHill’s ability to blend branding and content. The combined companies will use SpringHill’s New York-based brand consultancy firm Robot to build other business opportunities off its series and films, Winston said.
“It’s just a smart way of running an entertainment company in 2024,” Winston said of SpringHill’s blending of commerce and content.
The combined companies will be backed by investors including Fenway Sports Group, RedBird Capital Partners, UC Investments, Nike, Epic Games, Main Street Advisors and Eldridge Industries. As part of the transaction, existing shareholders will invest an additional $40 million to fuel growth initiatives, the companies said in a press release.

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The domestic box office is on the rebound, but AMC’s debt load is preventing it from fully capitalizing on the revival.
The company has more than $4 billion in long-term debt on the books and interest payments weigh heavily on its bottom line.
But, AMC is taking strides to improve its revenue and coax lapsed moviegoers back into its theaters with premium screens and specialty popcorn buckets.

Cars drive near an AMC Theater in New York City on March 29, 2023.
Leonardo Munoz | View Press | Corbis News | Getty Images

The domestic box office is on the rebound, having posted its highest third-quarter ticket sales since the pandemic. The world’s largest movie theater chain, however, isn’t on such solid footing.
AMC operates around 900 theaters and 10,000 screens globally, a larger footprint than its chief rivals Cinemark and Regal. Yet it’s struggled with a hefty debt load, even before the pandemic, that may be preventing the company from fully capitalizing on the theater industry’s revival.

CEO Adam Aron, who took the company’s helm in 2015, spent much of his early days in the job acquiring other chains and outfitting existing theaters with luxury seating. By the time the Covid pandemic shuttered theaters and shut down Hollywood, AMC was already $5 billion in the red.
Four years later, the company still has more than $4 billion in long-term debt on the books. While it has managed to refinance and extend its maturities to 2029 and beyond, interest payments continue to weigh on its bottom line.
“They’ve taken moves to reduce their debt, but they still have a lot of debt and they’re still paying pretty high interest rates on it,” said Eric Wold, analyst at B. Riley.
In the third quarter, AMC’s revenue outpaced its spending, but around $100 million in interest payments pushed the company to a nearly $21 million loss for the period.
“I don’t think it’ll be consistently profitable for a number of years,” said Wold.

In the meantime, AMC is taking strides to improve its revenue and coax lapsed moviegoers back into its theaters, analysts told CNBC. With improved and robust movie slates prepared for 2025 and 2026, the cinema chain has opportunities to leverage improving box office trends — if it can keep an eye on cash flow.

A boost from a blockbuster-filled slate

The domestic box office reached $2.71 billion in ticket sales during the third quarter, a little less than a percent higher than the same period last year, according to data from Comscore. The improvement, though small, is impressive considering the same time frame in 2023 featured the blockbuster cultural phenomenon known as “Barbenheimer.”
The dual release of Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” and Universal’s “Oppenheimer” took the box office by storm, generating nearly $250 million domestically on opening weekend. The pair of films went on to secure nearly $1 billion in North America as part of a nearly $2.4 billion global haul.
This year, the third quarter was aided by Disney and Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which tallied $631 million domestically between its July 26 release and September 30, alongside around $360 million from Universal’s “Despicable Me 4,” $267 million from Universal’s “Twisters,” $250 million from Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and $183 million from Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” which was released in June.
Despite the better-than-expected box office performance, AMC saw a 12% decline in attendance during the period. Cinemark, for comparison, saw just a 2.4% decrease in attendance globally during the quarter.

Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds star in Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

AMC attributed the decline to a Hollywood film slate that it says didn’t resonate as well in Europe as it did in North America, noting attendance was down 16% in the region. The majority of AMC’s theaters, around 62%, are in the U.S., while Europe accounts for around 37% of its footprint. An additional 1.4% are in Saudi Arabia, according to reports filed in February.
And, it noted, the success of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” during the same period a year prior led to more difficult comparisons.
AMC also called out a third-quarter decline in moviegoing in urban centers like New York and Los Angeles, where the company has its largest presence. Wold noted that was likely because the summer film slate was heavily populated with family-friendly films, which typically draw audiences in more suburban areas.
AMC should be in better shape in the fourth quarter as Universal’s “Wicked,” Paramount’s “Gladiator II” and Disney’s “Moana 2” battle for share of premium large format screens during the Thanksgiving holiday. Additionally, Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” arrives in December alongside Sony’s R-rated “Kraven the Hunter” and Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3.”

Wicked, Gladiator II, and Moana 2 Movie Posters.
Sources: Universal (L), Paramount (C) and Disney (R)

Looking forward, the 2025 slate and 2026 are expected to be even better as Hollywood production, which was disrupted in 2023 by dual labor strikes, returns to its normal churn of releases.
While the third quarter of 2024 saw 31 wide releases — films that opened in or eventually played in over 1,500 locations — higher than the totals in both 2023 and 2019, the number of wide releases for the full year still lags behind pre-pandemic levels.
More than half of next year’s releases are tied to existing movie franchise or to popular intellectual properties, which could lure baked-in fanbases to the theaters, but also likely means they’ll will vie for time in premium large format theaters.

The premium push

AMC theaters currently house nearly half of all IMAX’s U.S. screens and all of Dolby’s Dolby Cinema-branded U.S. screens. In total it has more than 550 premium large format screens globally.
And the company plans to invest in even more.
“From our patronage data, we know with certainty that moviegoers increasingly seek out our premium large-format screens,” Aron said during AMC’s third-quarter earnings call earlier this month. “On average, our PLF screens in the U.S., for example, do about quadruple the revenues of our non-PLF houses. You all know the saying, ‘Fish where the fish are.'”
As part of what AMC is calling its “Go Plan,” the company is set to invest between $1 billion and $1.5 billion over the next four to seven years to enhance its theaters in the U.S. and Europe. This includes adding more IMAX screens and updating existing ones with new laser projectors, increasing the number of Dolby Cinemas at AMC locations, and updating auditoriums where the screen is at least 40-feet wide to be part of its XL branding and 4K laser projection.

General atmosphere during the Imax private screening for the movie “First Man” at an Imax AMC Theater in New York City on Oct. 10, 2018.
Lars Niki | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

“As [AMC is] approaching 2025, and its really improved release slate, they’re also looking at where to spend money, where to invest in the business and enhance the business wherever they can,” said Alicia Reese, an analyst at Wedbush. “They talked a lot about new investments and upgrading their theaters and expanding their premium screens, adding XL screens. That’s a lot of money, a lot of capex. And I just think they need to approach this in a very balanced way. You know, preserving cash.”
Reese isn’t the only Wall Street analysts suggesting AMC exercise caution as it makes these upgrades.
Eric Handler at Roth Capital Markets noted that the upcoming slate of films will allow the company, which has had to be “very frugal with their cash” in recent years, to make much needed updates, but “they can’t go crazy.”
“They still got to be judicious with their cash flow,” he said.

More shares, more problems?

To raise cash, AMC has traditionally turned to issuing more shares.
The company raised billions during the Covid pandemic by selling new stock, which helped it to pay off its debts and stave off bankruptcy during a time when movie theaters were closed or had limited product to screen to audiences.
However, investors, including AMC’s most stalwart fans, have come to fear dilution and, in the past, have rejected the company’s efforts to issue additional stock. Currently, AMC has around 372 million shares outstanding, according to FactSet.
“They said they would consider using their equity to fund capex projects,” Handler said. “And here we are again. If you’re an equity investor, you may be further diluted down to fund these capex projects. They may issue more shares, and, you know, the number of shares are up like 20 times from pre-pandemic. So, equity shareholders have yet to really reap the benefits of the improvements in the business.”
While AMC’s stock has made some gains in the last month, shares have fallen more than 26% so far this year and are down more than 43% since the same time last year. The stock has fluctuated between $4 and $5 apiece for months.
In the meantime, AMC has been closing underperforming theaters as their leases come up for renegotiation, saving some cash for other ventures.
“They’re trying to shift the footprint so that they maintain their market share gains,” said Reese. “They continue to improve revenue per screen and revenue per attendee with merchandising and popcorn buckets and the like. So, all the metrics are going in the right direction.”
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is the distributor of “Wicked.” More

Spirit Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The budget-travel icon said it will continue to fly.
Spirit Airlines will have time and protection to restructure so it can continue flying and bringing in needed cash.

A passenger waits for assistance at the Spirit Airlines check-in counter in the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on November 13, 2024 in Austin, Texas. 
Brandon Bell | Getty Images

Spirit Airlines has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, becoming the first major U.S. passenger carrier to do so since American Airlines 13 years ago.
The budget-travel icon is not shutting down, however. The filing will buy Spirit time and protection to restructure so the carrier can continue flying and bringing in sorely needed cash.

CEO Ted Christie wrote to customers on Monday to reassure them that they can continue to book flights and use loyalty points or credits normally.
Here’s what travelers need to know:

Why did Spirit file for bankruptcy?

Spirit Airlines has been losing money since 2019, but its financial woes worsened after the pandemic, when industry costs climbed, dozens of its Airbus jets were grounded because of an engine recall and a federal judge blocked Spirit’s planned acquisition by JetBlue Airways.
The airline had struggled to renegotiate its $1.1 billion in debt payments due next year. A deadline at the end of the year tied to its credit-card processing agreement was fast approaching.
Spirit said Monday that it has reached a prearranged deal with the majority of its bondholders for a “streamlined” Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection plan. It expects to exit that process in the first quarter of 2025.

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Is my flight still happening?

Filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection doesn’t mean the airline will cease operations. Rather, it gives the airline protection to reorganize its business, which often means shedding assets or parts of its operation.
“From a consumer standpoint, you’ll need to pay attention if Spirit makes any schedule changes or if they’re going to get rid of any aircraft, lay off any pilots and flight attendants — that will affect the traveling public,” said Henry Harteveldt, founder of travel consulting firm Atmosphere Research Group.
The carrier is likely to keep as much of its schedule as possible in place for the holiday season, when airlines generate a lot of revenue during the popular travel period, but additional cuts are likely not far behind.

What am I entitled to if Spirit cancels my flight?

Under U.S. rules, airline customers are entitled to a cash refund if the airline cancels their flight and they’re not rebooked. Spirit Airlines said Monday that plans to continue flying and CEO Ted Christie tried to reassure customers, whose bookings will bring in needed cash during the peak holiday season.
However, the DOT warns that bankruptcy protection could make getting a refund harder.
“If the airline or ticket agent has filed for bankruptcy, the company may be temporarily prohibited from providing refunds and/or vouchers — for example, to conserve assets,” according to its website.
The agency says that if an airline that has filed for bankruptcy protection refuses to refund you for a canceled or significantly changed flight, your credit card could provide one under the Fair Credit Billing Act.
Even if you get a refund, however, buying a ticket last minute to replace your original flight could be costly due to high demand and scarce seats. Harteveldt recommends always buying airline tickets with a credit card, which affords customers more cancellation protections than debit cards or cash. Travelers can also book a refundable ticket on another carrier if they are worried, though that can be very costly, too.
Travel insurance might also cover pre-paid expenses if bankruptcy alters airline flights.

What happens next?

This remains to be seen. Spirit expects to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the first quarter of next year. Airlines can emerge from this process smaller, more cost-efficient airlines. Other airlines, short on airplanes, could scoop up some of Spirit’s assets.
Spirit had a deal to merge with fellow discounter Frontier before JetBlue swooped in with a rival bid. Frontier and Spirit could attempt a combination again, especially since some industry members think the incoming Trump administration will be relatively friendly toward deal-making. More

Restaurant executives are excited to put 2024 behind them and start the new year.
This year, restaurant bankruptcy filings soared, traffic declined and same-store sales disappointed.
But green shoots, like improving sales, have given executives hope that next year will be different.

A McDonald’s restaurant in El Sobrante, California, on Oct. 23, 2024.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

After a tough year for the restaurant industry, executives can’t wait for 2025 to start.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready for ’24 to be behind us, and I think ’25 is going to be a great year,” Kate Jaspon, CFO of Dunkin’ parent Inspire Brands, said at the Restaurant Finance and Development Conference in Las Vegas this week.

Restaurant bankruptcy filings have soared more than 50% so far in 2024, compared with the year-ago period. Traffic to restaurants open at least a year declined year over year in every month of 2024 through September, according to data from industry tracker Black Box Intelligence. And many of the nation’s largest restaurant chains, from McDonald’s to Starbucks, have disappointed investors with same-store sales declines for at least one quarter.
But green shoots have appeared, fueling tepid optimism for the future of the restaurant industry.
Sales are improving from this summer’s lows. Traffic to fast-food restaurants rose 2.8% in October compared with a year ago, according to data from Revenue Management Solutions. The firm’s data confirms anecdotal evidence from companies like Burger King owner Restaurant Brands International, which said earlier this month that its same-store sales grew in October.
Plus, interest rates are finally falling. Earlier in November, the Federal Reserve approved its second consecutive rate cut. For restaurants, lower interest rates mean that it’s cheaper to finance new locations, fueling growth. Previously, higher interest rates didn’t hurt development much because restaurants were still catching up from pandemic delays and riding the high of the post-Covid sales boom.

Shake Shack storefront with illuminated sign on a bustling street, New York City, New York, October 22, 2024.
Smith Collection | Gado | Archive Photos | Getty Images

At burger chain Shake Shack, higher interest rates in the last few years did not slow down development, according to CFO Katie Fogertey. But she’s expecting a “big boost” in consumer confidence as rates fall.

“If credit becomes cheaper, people feel like they can borrow more, even though it doesn’t make sense that it would necessarily drive a $5 burger spend. It’s just the psychology behind it,” Fogertey told CNBC.
Shake Shack has reported increasing same-store sales every quarter so far this year, even as consumers have been more cautious.
Restaurant valuations are also improving, prompting hope that the market for initial public offerings will finally defrost.
“We’re working with a number of different folks right now on getting ready,” said Piper Sandler managing director Damon Chandik at RFDC. “The window currently is not wide open … I think that just with the traffic pressure that we’ve been seeing across the industry, the bar is particularly high.”
He added that he expects to see some restaurant IPOs next year, hopefully in the first half.

A sign marks the location of a Cava restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, on May 28, 2024.
Scott Olson | Getty Images

No major restaurant company has gone public since Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava’s IPO in June of last year. While Cava’s stock has climbed more than 500% since its debut, its success hasn’t encouraged any other large private restaurant companies to take the plunge. Instead, the broader market conditions have scared off other contenders.
Nearly a year ago, Panera Bread confidentially filed to go public again, but an IPO hasn’t yet come to fruition. Inspire Brands, which is owned by private equity firm Roark Capital, is another likely candidate for a blockbuster IPO in the future. Inspire’s portfolio includes Dunkin’, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John’s, Sonic, Arby’s and Baskin-Robbins.
Still, it’s not all optimism within the industry.
“I think we’ll still see headwinds next year within the macro and within the industry,” Portillo’s CFO Michelle Hook told CNBC.
The fast-casual chain, best known for its Italian beef sandwiches, has reported falling same-store sales for three straight quarters. Portillo’s has stayed away from some of the discounts offered by others in the restaurant industry, like McDonald’s and Chili’s.
The value wars will likely continue into 2025, pressuring restaurants’ profits and intensifying the competition between chains. For example, McDonald’s plans to unveil a broader value menu in the first quarter, after extending its $5 value meal through the summer and into the winter. For some restaurants, the looming threat of bankruptcy hasn’t disappeared, particularly for the chains that are leaning on discounts to win back customers.
And while a recession looks unlikely next year, the consumer might take longer to bounce back from years of high costs than anticipated. More