I still remember the first movie theater I went to. The seats weren’t particularly comfortable, the place wasn’t fancy, and honestly, none of that mattered to me.
I was there for the big screen, the popcorn, the hype, and the chance to forget about everything else for a couple of hours.
Years later, I walked into a modern theater with reclining seats and a much more luxurious setup. It was a completely different experience, comfortable, expensive, and a little too polished. But surprisingly, a part of me still missed the simplicity of that first experience.
That gap between a great experience and a great investment is the AMC (AMC) story in 2026. On Oct. 29, 2026, during the “Mad Money” Lightning Round, Jim Cramer gave a caller his verdict.
I think that this stock should be sold.
What looks odd is the timing. AMC just had its best quarter in its 106-year history. The stock is up 97.44% year to date and 15.79% over the past year, according to Yahoo Finance. It trades at $3.08, just below its 52-week high of $3.40 set on Sept. 28, 2026.
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A record quarter that makes AMC’s sell call look strange
There is a contradiction here. In Q2 2026, AMC reported total revenue of roughly $1.6 billion, up about 14.2% year over year, according to AMC’s Q2 earnings release.
Adjusted EBITDA jumped 70% to $321.4 million, the first time it has ever crossed $300 million in a quarter. Free cash flow was $190.1 million. Adjusted EPS was $0.14.
In our 106-year history, never before has AMC had such superb results.
He added that AMC “has often been underestimated, and yet we continue to outperform.”
AMC is the world’s largest theater chain, with roughly 860 theaters and 9,600 screens. A summer box office lifted by hits such as “The Odyssey” gave it the kind of quarter exhibitors spend years hoping for.
If you judged the business on its own, Cramer’s call would be hard to defend. That is the point. His call is about the stock, not the popcorn.
Where AMC’s bear case actually lives
I covered a similar split earlier when Cramer told viewers to sell Rocket Lab after a Neutron delay: a story the market loved, and a balance sheet it could not ignore. AMC fits the pattern for different reasons. Three stand out.
First, debt. Even after reducing principal balances by about $1.7 billion since the end of 2020, AMC still carries nearly $4 billion in long-term debt.
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