CNK vs IMAX vs AMC Stock Comparison

Cinemark Holdings, Imax and Amc Entertainment Holdings Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CNK Cinemark Holdings, Inc.
$39.02 +1.7% 1M +46.4% 1Y
Market cap
$4.52B
P/E
13.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.36B
Div. yield
0.92%
Movie Theaters Communication Services
6 wins
IMAX Imax Corp
$50.49 -10.0% 1M +54.1% 1Y
Market cap
$2.77B
P/E
67.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$416.08M
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Cinemark Holdings leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Cinemark Holdings 6, Imax 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCNKIMAXAMCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.52B $2.77B $2.15B CNK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 13.1x 67.8x -3.9x CNK
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 16.0x 22.0x — CNK
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.5% +14.8% +6.4% IMAX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.2% 9.8% -10.6% CNK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.1% 13.2% 10.3% IMAX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.6x -0.8x 5.5x IMAX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.92% — 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +46.4% +54.1% +9.6% IMAX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +15.7%/yr +21.8%/yr -61.6%/yr IMAX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 39.5% 42.9% 83.4% CNK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 63/100 53/100 CNK

Percentile Scorecard

CNKIMAXAMC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCNKIMAXAMC
Valuation 92 #2 of 13 41 #121 of 203 75 #4 of 13
Growth 40 #7 of 11 93 #15 of 188 60 #5 of 11
Profitability 80 #3 of 11 82 #34 of 184 50 #6 of 11
Financial Health 58 #6 of 13 84 #36 of 217 25 #10 of 13
Shareholder Returns – 15 #130 of 153 –
Overall 68 63 53
  • CNK ranked among 13 companies in Live Venues
  • IMAX ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • AMC ranked among 13 companies in Live Venues

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCNKIMAXAMCSPY
1 month +1.7%-10.0%-9.1% +0.9%
3 months +11.9%+3.6%+8.4% +5.9%
6 months +34.5%+35.6%+91.0% +8.5%
Year to date +67.9%+36.6%+91.0% +13.3%
1 year +46.4%+54.1%+9.6% +12.4%
3 years +151.6%+181.4%-67.4% +88.1%
3 years, per year +36.0%+41.2%-31.2% +23.5%
5 years +107.6%+167.9%-99.2% +68.2%
5 years, per year +15.7%+21.8%-61.6% +11.0%
10 years +0.5%+66.4%-99.0% +263.4%
10 years, per year +0.1%+5.2%-37.2% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureCNKIMAXAMCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 39.5%42.9%83.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 37.8%36.2%76.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.170.121.81 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.181.260.11 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -62.2%-42.3%-99.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.8%-10.4%-9.1% -0.9%
52-week high $40.15$56.35$3.28 $779.14
52-week low $21.93$32.43$0.95 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCNKIMAXAMC
P/E now vs peer median 13.1xmedian 51.6x 67.8xmedian 25.4x -3.9xmedian 51.6x
P/S now vs peer median 1.3xmedian 1.5x 6.7xmedian 1.9x 0.4xmedian 1.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 9.6xmedian 18.1x 17.8xmedian 14.3x 9.4xmedian 18.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 17.3xmedian 17.3x 21.9xmedian 21.8x -81.5xmedian 17.3x
P/B now vs peer median 2.8xmedian 2.5x 6.2xmedian 2.2x -1.5xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 0.27median 0.26 0.63median 1.41 -0.08median 0.26

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCNKIMAXAMC
Revenue $3.36B $416.08M $5.23B
Gross profit – $248.12M $3.44B
Operating income $541.50M $83.87M $228.30M
Net income $343.60M $47.12M -$554.10M
Free cash flow $261.60M $126.59M -$26.40M
R&D – $6.42M –
EPS (diluted) $2.95 $0.72 $-0.77
Cash & equivalents $1.01B $159.92M $778.40M
Total debt $3.75B $38.84M $3.85B
Shares (diluted) 116.40M 56.57M 722.02M
Enterprise value $1.14B $2.26B $239.70M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCNKIMAXAMC
P/E 13.1x 67.8x -3.9x
P/FCF 17.3x 21.9x -81.5x
P/Operating cash flow 5.7x 20.8x 9.8x
P/S 1.3x 6.7x 0.4x
P/B 2.8x 6.2x -1.5x
P/Tangible book 4.6x 6.6x -1.3x
EV/EBITDA 9.6x 17.8x 9.4x
EV/EBIT 13.4x 31.6x 22.9x
EV/Revenue 2.2x 6.4x 1.0x
EV/FCF 27.8x 20.9x -197.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 9.2x 19.9x 23.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.27 0.63 -0.08

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCNKIMAXAMC
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.5% 14.8% 6.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 6.3% 5.8% 7.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 20.4% 5.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 9.6% 6.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 15.1% 39.8% 884.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 30.5% 42.6% 38.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 20.8% 10.6% -52.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 319.0% 79.6% 9.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 369.2% 21.7% 8.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 48.6% 107.7% 46.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 70.0% 72.7% 467.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 8.9% 40.0% 35.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 68.4% 88.4% 91.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -18.9% 44.5% 66.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCNKIMAXAMC
Gross margin – 59.6% 65.8%
EBITDA margin 22.4% 35.7% 10.6%
Operating margin 16.1% 20.2% 4.4%
Pretax margin 10.8% 15.0% -10.5%
Net margin 10.2% 9.8% -10.6%
FCF margin 7.8% 30.4% -0.5%
Operating cash flow margin 23.6% 31.9% 4.2%
Return on equity 21.7% 10.7% –
Return on assets 3.8% 5.2% -7.0%
Return on invested capital 8.1% 13.2% 10.3%
Return on capital employed 7.5% – 3.8%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.5x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x 2.8x -0.4x
Stock comp / revenue 1.0% 6.5% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCNKIMAXAMC
Debt / assets 40.7% 4.2% 47.9%
Debt / equity 2.4x 0.1x -2.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.6x -0.8x 5.5x
Debt / FCF 14.3x 0.3x -145.9x
Liabilities / assets 82.8% 51.0% 118.1%
Equity / assets 17.2% 49.0% -18.1%
Interest coverage 4.2x 11.2x 0.4x
Current ratio 0.9x – 0.5x
Quick ratio 0.7x – 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.6x – 0.4x
Altman Z-score 0.80 – -0.83

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCNKIMAXAMC
Dividend yield 0.9% – –
Net buyback yield 2.2% -0.7% -15.6%
Shareholder yield 3.1% -0.7% -15.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) 11.9% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 15.6% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) -113.6% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCNKIMAXAMC
Forward P/E 16.0xFY2026 22.0xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $2.44FY2026 $2.29FY2026 $-0.09FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +134.6%FY2026 +57.9%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +7.4% +4.4% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.46BFY2026 $497.98MFY2026 $5.37BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +11.0%FY2026 +21.4%FY2026 +10.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +2.9% -5.7% +13.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCNKIMAXAMC
Held by institutions 63.5% 91.5% 60.8%
Institutions holding 308 257 292
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.4% +4.5% +121.1%
Institutions buying 156 144 190
Institutions selling 107 69 35
Buyers to sellers 1.46 2.09 5.43

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CNKIMAXAMC
CNK 1.00 0.45 0.42
IMAX 0.45 1.00 0.17
AMC 0.42 0.17 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CNK, IMAX and AMC?

Cinemark Holdings (CNK) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cinemark Holdings (CNK) $4.52B, Imax (IMAX) $2.77B, Amc Entertainment Holdings (AMC) $2.15B.

Which stock is cheaper, CNK, IMAX and AMC?

Cinemark Holdings (CNK) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cinemark Holdings (CNK) 13.1x, Imax (IMAX) 67.8x, Amc Entertainment Holdings (AMC) -3.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Cinemark Holdings (CNK) is cheapest (Cinemark Holdings (CNK) 16.0x, Imax (IMAX) 22.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Imax (IMAX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Cinemark Holdings (CNK) +4.5%, Imax (IMAX) +14.8%, Amc Entertainment Holdings (AMC) +6.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Cinemark Holdings (CNK) has the highest net margin (Cinemark Holdings (CNK) 10.2%, Imax (IMAX) 9.8%, Amc Entertainment Holdings (AMC) -10.6%). On return on invested capital, Imax (IMAX) leads (Cinemark Holdings (CNK) 8.1%, Imax (IMAX) 13.2%, Amc Entertainment Holdings (AMC) 10.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Imax (IMAX) returned the most: Cinemark Holdings (CNK) +46.4%, Imax (IMAX) +54.1%, Amc Entertainment Holdings (AMC) +9.6%. Over five years, Imax (IMAX) compounded fastest (Cinemark Holdings (CNK) +15.7%/yr, Imax (IMAX) +21.8%/yr, Amc Entertainment Holdings (AMC) -61.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Cinemark Holdings (CNK) 0.92%, Amc Entertainment Holdings (AMC) 0.00%. Imax (IMAX) and Amc Entertainment Holdings (AMC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cinemark Holdings (CNK) has been the steadiest (Cinemark Holdings (CNK) 39.5%, Imax (IMAX) 42.9%, Amc Entertainment Holdings (AMC) 83.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CNK, IMAX and AMC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Cinemark Holdings (CNK) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.