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The end may be near for MoviePass – parent company Helios and Matheson has seen its stock fall below 10 cents this week with no sign of recovery.
Even after their one-to-250 stock split to try to revive their stock, boosting it up to $20 per share last week, they have still fallen 99 percent in the past week. After Thursday, their total market cap is a paltry $169,000. The company blames the exhibition industry for the fall of its stock, stating,
Exhibitors know that without MoviePass they will be able to continue to charge exorbitant prices for theater tickets and gouge customers with overpriced concessions. This is exactly the attitude the taxicab industry took when Uber entered their market…Furthermore, any crowing about the uptick in box office receipts this summer season should include the fact that a significant percentage of that total is directly attributable to MoviePass subscribers.
MoviePass plans to raise its prices from $10 to $15 and will limit the selection of movies. Blockbuster debuts like “Mission Impossible: Fallout” will not be available through the subscription service. The company continues,
It’s clear that because of MoviePass, more people are seeing more movies at fair prices. Instead of wishing us away, the industry, particularly the independent film producers, should be congratulating and supporting us. Absent MoviePass, exhibitors are fighting to preserve profits in a declining box office environment. That’s the doomed strategy.
Helios and Matheson can blame whomever it chooses, but at the end of the day, they will need to make changes if they want to stay listed on the Nasdaq.
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