Shares in Cineworld PLC (LON:CINE) tumbled 7.5% following a warning after hours on Friday from its US rival, Cinemark.
The UK company derives 75% of its revenues from America, so Cineworld investors closely follow the ups and downs of the market there.
The worry for investors in both companies was that Cinemark‘s attendance in the final quarter fell 6.7%, a faster pace than the year as a whole.
“Overall US market attendance was already published, so [the] news is not necessarily bad for Cineworld, but it is discouraging,” said Peel Hunt.
There is a strong roster of film releases due later in the year, kicking off with latest James Bond film, No Time to Die, followed by Maverick and West Side Story, the broker added.
“With Cineworld’s results we will be looking for evidence that it can stabilise or grow its market share,” it went on.
Peel Hunt repeated its ‘buy’ recommendation on the stock and 300p share price target. The shares would have to rise 79% to hit that target.