AMC Networks Inc (AMCX)
🔔 Watch stock
Market capitalization equals 1.6 times free cash flow — one of the lowest readings our ranking finds anywhere in the United States. Add $1.2 billion of net debt and it becomes 6.0 times. Eighty-eight percent of the 2025 profit came from buying back the company's own bonds below par, and the cash flow comes from spending less on programming than it writes off. Above it all sits a family that controls 79 percent of the votes with 4 percent of the tradable shares. Not investment advice — just an attempt to finish reading a number.
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Basics
Performance
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Quality & Screener
AI Rating
ThreatenedDer Geschäftsbericht 2025 nennt generative KI in den Risikofaktoren als konkrete Gefahr für das eigene Inhaltegeschäft — sie senke die Eintrittsschwellen für Erstellung, Bündelung, Auffindbarkeit und Verbreitung von Inhalten und erschwere den Schutz vor unbefugter Nutzung eigener Werke; eine eigene KI-Erlösquelle weist das Unternehmen nicht aus.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„Additionally, new technological developments, including the development and use of generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) and large language model tools, are rapidly evolving. If our competitors gain an advantage by using such technologies to create, market, target or distribute content more efficiently or effectively, our ability to compete effectively and our results of operations could be adversely impacted."
Darüber hinaus entwickeln sich neue technische Entwicklungen rasch weiter, darunter die Entwicklung und der Einsatz generativer künstlicher Intelligenz (KI) und großer Sprachmodelle. Verschaffen sich unsere Wettbewerber mit solchen Techniken einen Vorteil, um Inhalte effizienter oder wirksamer zu erstellen, zu vermarkten, auszusteuern oder zu verbreiten, könnten unsere Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und unsere Geschäftsergebnisse beeinträchtigt werden.
„Additionally, the development and use of AI and machine learning technologies, including generative AI and large language models, in our industry are rapidly evolving, and the advantages and risks associated with their use remain uncertain. These technologies may create new competitive dynamics and lower barriers to entry for content creation, aggregation, discovery and distribution."
Zudem entwickeln sich KI- und maschinelle Lerntechniken einschließlich generativer KI und großer Sprachmodelle in unserer Branche rasch weiter, und die damit verbundenen Vorteile und Risiken bleiben ungewiss. Diese Techniken können neue Wettbewerbsdynamiken schaffen und die Eintrittsschwellen für Erstellung, Bündelung, Auffindbarkeit und Verbreitung von Inhalten senken.
„Moreover, further technological developments in the area of generative AI could impact our ability to protect against infringing uses of our content."
Überdies könnten weitere technische Entwicklungen im Bereich der generativen KI unsere Fähigkeit beeinträchtigen, uns gegen rechtsverletzende Nutzungen unserer Inhalte zu schützen.
Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2026-02-11 · 10-Q 2026-05-08 · 8-K 2026-03-13 · 8-K 2026-06-17
Rated on July 27, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Quarterly Figures
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | -6.38 | – | 599 | -11.70 | -47.50 | 58 | 38 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.32 | -69.00 | 555 | -6.90 | 3.30 | 109 | 94 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.89 | – | 600 | -4.10 | 8.40 | 103 | 96 |
| 2025: Q3 | 1.36 | 84.10 | 562 | -6.30 | 13.60 | 43 | 40 |
| 2025: Q4 | -1.26 | – | 595 | -0.80 | -9.30 | 49 | 40 |
| 2026: Q1 | -0.43 | -235.70 | 542 | -2.40 | -3.50 | 66 | 63 |
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Free cash flow was $272.4 million in 2025 (2024: $330.8 million) against a market capitalization of $430.5 million — 1.6 times. Cash rose to $552.1 million during the first quarter of 2026. Price-to-sales 0.18, price-to-book 0.45 (data as of July 24, 2026).
From drawing down the content library: in 2025 the company amortized $846.8 million of program rights but spent only $815.2 million on them. In 2023 the ratio was the other way round ($906.2 million against $1,079.9 million). Program rights fell during the first quarter of 2026 from $1,766.6 million to $1,691.6 million, and the in-production and in-development line from $333.6 million to $307.1 million.
Of $148.0 million in 2025 pre-tax income, $129.8 million came from repurchasing the company's own bonds below par — 88 percent. Without that one-off accounting gain, $18.2 million would have remained. In the first quarter of 2026 interest expense of $41.3 million exceeded operating income of $31.3 million and a net loss of $18.9 million remained.
Net debt of $1,197.2 million stands against $430.5 million of market capitalization — $2.80 of debt per dollar of market capitalization. The March 13, 2026 exchange lifted principal from roughly $830.6 million to roughly $884 million, the coupon from 10.25 to 10.50 percent and the maturity from 2029 to 2032. The term loan was repaid on May 12, 2026 and the revolver terminated — which also removes the maintenance covenants attached to them.
Revenue fell from $2,711.9 million (2023) through $2,421.3 million (2024) to $2,311.8 million (2025), advertising alone by 14.2 percent to $580.8 million in 2025. The first quarter of 2026 added another 2.4 percent decline. In the 2025 impairment test the fair value of the U.S. segment exceeded its carrying value by only 6 percent; the International segment took a $93.4 million write-off.
As of December 31, 2025 the Dolan Family Group held all Class B shares with ten votes each, roughly 4 percent of the Class A shares and therefore roughly 79 percent of all votes; Class A holders elect only at least 25 percent of the board. The 11,484,408 Class B shares convert one-for-one into Class A at any time — about 35 percent of the Class A count.
AMC Global Media is the metric trap in its purest form: a market capitalization of $430.5 million equals 1.6 times free cash flow of $272.4 million — and as soon as net debt of $1,197.2 million stands beside it, that becomes 6.0 times. The cash flow itself comes from spending only $815.2 million on program rights in 2025 while amortizing $846.8 million; the reported profit came 88 percent from repurchasing the company's own bonds below par. The business underneath has shed $400 million of revenue since 2023, advertising alone fell 14.2 percent in 2025, and in the first quarter of 2026 interest expense exceeded operating income. Above it all, the Dolan family holds roughly 79 percent of the votes with about 4 percent of the Class A shares. Not investment advice.
- AMC Global Media reached our research list through our in-house price-to-free-cash-flow ranking (U.S. selection). Important for context: the list had 545 U.S. hits on July 27, 2026, and AMCX sat at rank 32 with a reading of 1.74 — outside the 25 displayed places. The stock can be looked up through the stock screener (country United States, P/FCF filter "under 10", search box AMCX). It also appears in the price-to-sales and price-to-cash-flow rankings. All lists are recomputed daily.
- The data basis is the annual report 10-K for 2025 (filed February 11, 2026), the quarterly report 10-Q as of March 31, 2026 (filed May 8, 2026, the most recent periodic report) and the 8-K filings of March 13, 2026 and June 17, 2026. Market data as of July 24, 2026. Market capitalization was calculated by us: 43,927,712 shares across both classes per the quarterly report cover page (as of May 1, 2026) times $9.80. Data services that carry only the 32,443,304 Class A shares arrive at $318.0 million and land roughly a quarter too low.
- Three risks of confusion: AMC Global Media (ticker AMCX) is not the cinema chain AMC Entertainment (ticker AMC). The name AMC Networks Inc. applies only through April 3, 2026, while the SEC identifier (CIK 0001514991) stays. And the Altman Z-score of 7.13 comes from the Z-double-prime variant for non-manufacturers, whose thresholds are 1.1 (distress) and 2.6 (safe zone) — not from the original formula with 1.8 and 3.0.
About the Company
AMC Global Media Inc. , an entertainment company, distributes contents in the United States, Europe, and internationally.
| Employees | 1,675 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | New York, NY |
| Website | amcglobalmedia.com |
| IPO Date | 1. Jul 2011 |
| Next Earnings | 14. Aug 2026 |
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Kristin Aigner Dolan | CEO & Director | 1966 |
| Kimberly Kelleher | Chief Commercial Officer & President | 1972 |
| Dan McDermott | Chief Content Officer & President of AMC Studios | 1964 |
| Hozefa Shabbir Lokhandwala | Executive VP & CFO | 1975 |
| Michael J. Sherin III | Executive VP & Chief Accounting Officer | 1971 |
| Stephanie Mitchko-Beale B.Sc. | Chief Technology Officer & Global Head of Media Operations | 1966 |
| Nicholas Seibert | Senior Vice President of Corporate Development & Investor Relations | 1990 |
| Salvatore A. Romanello | Executive VP & General Counsel | 1973 |
| Georgia Juvelis | Chief Communications Officer | – |
| Kim Granito | Chief Marketing Officer | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
Data as of: July 24, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.