“But Stephen, that gives me the opportunity to ask you a question,” he said, addressing Goldman analyst Stephen Laszczyk. “Goldman has had a sell on Imax for two years. First the price target was $12, then another sell at $14, then another sell at $15. So you keep moving the price target up, and it’s always a sell…And now its price is $19 and it’s still a sell” when the company is on track to have one of its best years.<\/p>\n
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“What do we have to do to demonstrate to you and Goldman that we are not an exhibitor? And, by the way, almost every other analyst has a buy on us,” he said, calmly, but in an unusual exchange for an investor conference.<\/p>\n Laszczyk called the rating is “a function of the broader theatrical ecosystem” and Imax being an “extension” of a highly-levered and possibly structurally altered exhibition sector, but said he appreciates differences in the Imax business model, and the company’s success. “We are, I just think, more broadly more negative on the box [office] then we are on any one particular company.”<\/p>\n Gelfond kep on. “I promise, I’ll drop it after this,” he said, “but when I look at Goldman’s five-year model [for Imax], it has a 20% compound annual growth rate…and I look at other Goldman coverage…and companies that have a 20% CAGR are almost all buys.”<\/p>\n Referring to the analyst’s commeont on “structural” issues, he said the exhibition business is looking up as “Cineworld is out of bankruptcy, and AMC has just started accessing its ATM” – filing this morning to sell shares. “You don’t have to answer this, but I just don’t understand.”<\/p>\n “We can certainly discuss that,” Laszczyk said, telling attendees that “anyone interested in our position on Imax can certainly get in touch with me on that.”<\/p>\n Gelfond has long stressed that Imax is not a traditional theater chain, saying today it has “nothing to do with being an exhibitor other than that we show movies.” The comany hurts of course when theaters are closed or there’s little new content, as during Covid. But “the comparison is really misplaced,” he insisted. “We license our technology. We get a royalty. We have no leases. No leverage. We don’t sell popcorn.”<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/GettyImages-1492284590.jpg\")
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