Cinema Stocks Continue To Suffer As AMC Shares Fall Nearly 5%

Shares of cinema chain AMC Entertainment Holding Inc. were down as much as 4.8% during intraday trade on Thursday. The stock's move led a selloff in the cinema group, with Regal Entertainment Group , Cinemark Holdings Inc. , Marcus Corp. and Imax Corp. were all down nearly 2%. There was no news to point to for the share moves, but cinema stocks, and AMC in particular, have had a rough go of it recently as poor box office returns have dominated headlines, dragging down quarterly earnings and threats of shrinking theatrical windows and digital disruption continue to loom. Earlier this week, Walt Disney Co. , which has for a long time steered clear of certain streaming shifts, said it plans to launch its own standalone streaming service for its content in 2019 and end its current licensing deal with Netflix Inc. . "The industry is facing several issues, which is causing people to question the cyclical vs. structural issues for the industry," wrote MKM analyst Eric Handler in an email. Also this week AMC said it was selling its 50% ownership stake in Oscar-winning production studio Open Road Films, which it co-owned with Regal Entertainment. The sale was part of the theater chain's plan to monetize some of its assets and cut cost to combat box office volatility. Shares of AMC have declined more than 56% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index is up nearly 10%.