ADVERTISEMENT

MoviePass Owner Dips Below 25 Cents as AMC Debuts Rival Service

MoviePass Owner Dips Below 25 Cents as AMC Debuts Rival Service

(Bloomberg) -- If MoviePass hoped to generate some buzz by doing an “ask me anything” session with its chief executive officer on Reddit, it didn’t translate on Wall Street.

Shares of parent Helios & Matheson Analytics Inc. tumbled 15 percent to 24.6 cents on Tuesday, a new low. The rout marked the third straight day of decline on concerns that MoviePass’s business model is unsustainable.

The company, which lets subscribers pay $9.95 to watch a movie every day in the theater, is up against growing competition. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, two theater chains, have launched their own services to rival MoviePass.

With the stock trading well below $1, Helios & Matheson said it received notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market that it no longer meets listing requirements. The company has until Dec. 18 to regain compliance.

Against that backdrop, MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe ventured onto Reddit to field questions. Participants challenged the executive with questions about the company’s staying power, its cash burn and the service’s changing terms of use.

Lowe stayed upbeat, reiterating the company’s goal of stemming losses. The idea is to sign up more subscribers who don’t go to the movies quite so often, making them more profitable.

He also compared MoviePass to Spotify Technology SA, Amazon.com Inc. and Netflix Inc., noting those companies all incurred heavy losses before gaining traction.

“We plan to break even on our subscription model by the end of the year,” Lowe said. “If we get enough occasional moviegoers to offset the frequent moviegoer, everything will balance out.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Anousha Sakoui in Los Angeles at asakoui@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.