IMAX Q1 2026 earnings: profit up, revenue down as China box office softens
IMAX's net income rose year-over-year even as total revenue dipped, with China weakness offset by strong growth elsewhere and hits like Project Hail Mary.
| Q1 2026 | Reported |
|---|---|
| EPS | $0.07 |
| Revenue | $81.4M |
Figures as reported by the company to the SEC for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. Analyst estimates are not part of a filing, so no comparison to expectations is shown.
Key takeaways
- IMAX reported total revenue of $81.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, down from $86.7 million a year earlier, mainly because box office revenue from Greater China was weaker. Net income attributable to shareholders still rose to $4.2 million from $2.3 million a year ago, and diluted earnings per share rose to $0.07 from $0.04.
- Outside of China, business was strong: IMAX said global box office excluding Greater China grew sharply in the quarter, with North America box office up about 75% and the rest of the world (excluding China) up about 60% year-over-year, showing the weakness was regional rather than company-wide.
- The science-fiction film Project Hail Mary was a standout, earning more than $90 million at IMAX theaters worldwide, over double what the company initially expected — alongside continued box office from Avatar: Fire and Ash — helping drive the quarter’s $260 million in global IMAX box office.
- The company’s trailing-12-month gross margin (about 60%) and operating margin (about 20%) point to a business that keeps a healthy share of each revenue dollar after covering production and operating costs, a cushion that helped profit grow even as this quarter’s revenue declined.
- CEO Rich Gelfond said the breakout success of Project Hail Mary — a film made specifically for IMAX screens — “demonstrates what a well-crafted blockbuster can achieve when it leans fully into the IMAX platform,” pointing to the company’s strategy of partnering with studios on films built around its format.
- IMAX’s theater network grew to 1,865 screens worldwide as of quarter-end, with 435 more systems already contracted to open, and the company said its balance sheet remained solid with $146 million in cash and modest debt relative to earnings.
- Management reaffirmed its full-year 2026 targets: roughly $1.4 billion in global box office (which would be a record), 160 to 175 new theater system installations, and an adjusted profitability margin (EBITDA) at or above 45%, citing an upcoming slate that includes The Odyssey, Dune: Part Three, and The Mandalorian and Grogu.
- Coverage of the results framed the quarter as a story of a strong global slate offsetting a temporary China slowdown, with outlets noting the profit increase came despite the lower headline revenue figure.
Q1 2026 in context
| Metric | Mar 2026 | Mar 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $81M | $87M | -6.1% |
| Net income | $4M | $2M | +81.6% |
| Free cash flow | $2M | $5M | -64.2% |
| Diluted EPS | $0.07 | $0.04 | +75.0% |
| Gross margin | 56.3% | 61.4% | -5.1 pts |
| Operating margin | 12.2% | 19.3% | -7.1 pts |
| Net margin | 5.2% | 2.7% | +2.5 pts |
Figures for the quarter ended Mar 2026 and the quarter ended Mar 2025, as reported to the SEC.
How the stock took it
Imax Corp closed at $37.24 on Apr 29, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $36.51 on May 1, 2026, the first session after it — -2.0% across the report.
| Earlier report | Close before | Close after | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 23, 2025 | $32.06 | $31.70 | -1.1% |
Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.
Sources: company report · earnings call · Hollywood Reporter