AMC Moviegoers Spent $8.95 on Food and Drinks in Q2 2026 Versus $5.58 in 2019, a 60% Jump Hitting Hoosiers Hard
AMC’s second-quarter 2026 earnings revealed the company made $8.95 on food and drinks per customer.
That number is an average across the U.S.
Here’s what AMC moviegoers spent on food and drinks in Q2 2026 versus 2019, with the 60% jump hitting many Hoosiers hard at the concession stand.
Note: This is general information, not financial advice. Prices and spending averages are subject to change.
The Q2 2019 Starting Point
In the second quarter (Q2) of 2019, AMC’s U.S. theaters took in $5.58 in food and beverage sales for every patron.
AMC called it a record.
The average U.S. ticket in those three months was $9.47.
The same release lists $5.29 for Q2 2018, so the 2019 figure was 5.5% higher than a year earlier.
That was a gain of 29 cents in one year.
Both 2019 figures cover April through June, the same three months as the Q2 2026 comparison.
The two figures come from AMC’s U.S. theaters, not its theaters abroad.
The Q2 2026 Figure
What did AMC’s U.S. theaters take in for every patron in Q2 2026?
The company’s July 20 results release for that quarter puts it at $8.95.
Divide $8.95 by $5.58, and you get 1.60, an increase of 60.4%.
That’s $3.37 more for every patron than in 2019.
Same quarter, seven years apart.
What AMC’s 60% Food and Drink Figure Covers
AMC’s 60.4% jump in food and drink spending covers its U.S. theaters only.
Worldwide, AMC took in $576.1 million in food and beverage revenue that quarter from 71.3 million patrons, which works out to $8.08 each.
Those two figures measure different groups of patrons, so you can’t use either figure for the other.
Indiana Theaters
The $8.95 is a U.S. average, and Indiana’s AMC theaters are part of the system it covers.
AMC had 20 theaters and 264 screens in Indiana at the end of 2025, according to its annual report.
Across its U.S. markets, the company had 533 theaters and 7,072 screens.
Among Indiana’s neighbors, only Illinois had more AMC theaters, with 44, while Ohio had 11, Michigan had 10 and Kentucky had 2.
Those four neighbors had 67 AMC theaters combined, and Illinois alone had more than twice Indiana’s total.
If you’re wondering how big a share that is, it’s under 4% of AMC’s U.S. theaters and screens.
That’s 20 of 533 theaters.
Q2 2022 Through 2024
AMC’s Q2 releases fill in some of the years between.
The U.S. figure was $7.52 in 2022, $8.22 in 2023 and $8.34 in 2024.
By Q2 2022, the figure had already risen $1.94 of the $3.37 total increase, which is more than half.
The average ticket was $11.52 in Q2 2022 and $11.78 in Q2 2023.
The figure rose 9.3% from Q2 2022 to Q2 2023, from $7.52 to $8.22, and 1.5% from Q2 2023 to Q2 2024. From Q2 2022 to Q2 2026, it rose another 19.0%.
The steps got smaller.
From Q2 2024 to Q2 2026, the figure rose 7.3%, from $8.34 to $8.95.
Tickets Versus Lobby Spending
AMC’s average U.S. ticket rose from $9.47 to $12.70 between those two quarters, an increase of 34.1%.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks prices across the economy with its all-items Consumer Price Index, which went from 256.143 in June 2019 to 333.952 in June 2026.
That’s a 30.4% increase, so a basket of goods and services that cost you $100 in June 2019 cost about $130 in June 2026.
AMC’s average ticket ran a few points ahead of prices overall.
Concessions grew about twice as fast as prices overall.
Add AMC’s average ticket to its food and beverage sales for every patron, and you get $15.05 for Q2 2019 and $21.65 for Q2 2026.
That’s a 43.9% increase.
In dollars, the average ticket rose $3.23 and the food and beverage figure rose $3.37.
Food and beverage made up $5.58 of the 2019 total and $8.95 of the 2026 total, so the lobby’s share rose from 37.1% to 41.3%.
The total adds two averages together, so it won’t match any one receipt.
Fewer Patrons, Bigger Average
AMC’s filing for Q2 2019 shows about 71.9 million patrons at its U.S. theaters.
In Q2 2026, those theaters drew about 52.5 million, a drop of 26.9%.
The average rose anyway.
If you multiply each average by that quarter’s attendance, AMC’s U.S. food and beverage sales work out to roughly $401 million in Q2 2019 and $470 million in Q2 2026.
That’s about 17% more in total, from 27% fewer patrons.
AMC’s own Q2 2019 release lists U.S. food and beverage revenue at $401.1 million, which matches the multiplication.
What the Average Includes
The $8.95 is food and beverage revenue spread across every patron, including those who skip the counter.
A patron who buys a large combo and a patron who buys nothing land in the same average.
Same average, different trips.
So your last trip to the lobby can look nothing like that number.
What patrons order, and whether they order at all, moves an average like this.
An average doesn’t show which items changed.
AMC is one chain, so nothing here speaks for Cinemark, Regal or the independent theater you may prefer.
Psst! How much do you know about movie theater snacks and history? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Movie Snack IQ
Answer these questions on movie theater snacks, drive-ins and movie history. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
According to Smithsonian magazine, by 1945, about how much of America’s popcorn was eaten at movie theaters?
Q2 2025 to Q2 2026
From Q2 2025 to Q2 2026, AMC's U.S. food and beverage figure rose 2.1%, from $8.77 to $8.95.
Spread evenly over seven years, the 60.4% jump works out to about 7% a year.
In dollars, the average rose about 48 cents a year from Q2 2019 to Q2 2026, but only 18 cents from Q2 2025 to Q2 2026.
Eighteen cents, not 48.
The average U.S. ticket went the other direction, dipping from $12.77 to $12.70.
Attendance at AMC's U.S. theaters was up 12.0% from a year earlier.
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