MoviePass Bears Licking Their Chops: Selloff Of Parent Stock Continues After Latest Resuscitation Effort
After MoviePass this morning announced drastic changes to its service, including a hike in its monthly subscription price from $10 to $15 and the exclusion of some major movies from the service, investors have pounced.
The already bloodied and battered shares in its parent company, Helios & Matheson Analytics, briefly spiked $1 to $1.81 on the resuscitation effort but soon retreated into red figures. Down 28% to 57 cents in the final stretch of the trading day, the stock is on pace for its sixth consecutive session of double-digit declines.
The reverse split that took effect a week ago briefly accomplished its goal of propping up shares above $1 and put the stock, adjusted for the 1-to-250 split, in its best shape since November 2017. The good times did not last, however, and the shares have since given up nearly 95% of their value. That brings a de-listing by the Nasdaq back into play — although, as Deadlines Anthony DAlessandro has reported, there are increasing signs that the company may not be around long enough to suffer that fate.
In a research note this morning about the strong early showing by AMCs A-List, a rival subscription service, RBC Capital Markets analyst Leo Kulp said AMC has a far better chance to profit from fixed-price movie plans. “The MoviePass news supports the view that its business model is unsustainable,” he wrote. Given the fixed price of a subscription and the need for the company to shell out hefty bulk ticket prices, “its always been hard to see how the economics work. The exhibitor subscription plans are much more economically favorable as they only have to pay the film rent portion of the ticket price and can monetize the attendance through concessions.”
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