What's going on?

Movie theater chain AMC Entertainment lifted the curtain on stellar quarterly earnings this week, setting the stage for some stock market drama on Tuesday.

What does this mean?

AMC�s second-quarter revenue and profit both came in ahead of investors� expectations as more filmgoers than thought flocked back to theaters. Having been hard hit by the pandemic, the world�s largest movie chain now says it�ll stop losing money by the fourth quarter of 2021 � although that�s based on total US box office revenue rising rapidly to hit $5.2 billion this year, up from hundreds of millions currently.

Still, AMC�s playing its part: under the terms of a recent deal with Warner Bros. Entertainment, the mergertastic movie studio�s new flicks next year will be available in AMC theatres for 45 days before streaming services can get their hands on them. That could bode well for future earnings � which might be why AMC�s stock price initially rose 6% on Tuesday.

Why should I care?

For markets: It�s not all smoke and mirrors.

January�s �meme stock� frenzy has helped leave AMC�s stock up over 1,500% this year � but the company�s taken advantage of this perhaps irrational increase to improve its fundamental financials (tweet this). AMC sold new shares at an elevated price in June: now, with some $2 billion in the bank, it�s better placed to bounce back as economies (and malls) reopen, potentially justifying its higher valuation after all.

The bigger picture: Doubling down on the meme theme.

AMC�s embraced its retail stock star status. Having already offered shareholders free popcorn, it recently announced plans to accept payment in bitcoin by the end of the year. The success of this approach partly depends on bitcoin�s price subsequently rising � but if its 34% increase so far this quarter can be sustained, the movie theater chain may be onto something.