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Cineplex IncCGX.TOTOP PICKOct 29, 2015Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jun 19, 2026. Market Open.
Revenue growth is coming back a bit, with lower comparables from last year helping the year-over-year figures. Its debt levels are high, with net debt of $1.9B, and a net debt/EBITDA of 6.8X. Interest costs are $137M (last 12 months) and these will likely rise a bit with higher rates. 12-month cash flow was $116M and therein lies the problem. The debt is mostly due in the next five years. With attendance back, and a decent film slate, bankruptcy is becoming less of a concern, but it is still hard to paint a really positive picture here because of the leverage.
It is somewhat cheap (0.4X forward sales), but also has a fairly high forward P/E of 20.2X. It could become a takeover target, however, we would not place a high level of probability on that at these current levels.
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Cineplex remains a recovery story, and its beta of 2.88 signals more risk than usual. It rose 10% in Q1, but the chart was choppy. So, consider Cineplex a partial buy. After all, Covid didn’t kill cinema-going, as some expected, but deferred it. We still love the big screen. Read Dark horses: Nuvei, Cineplex, Boralex for our full analysis.
Has a great dominant franchise in terms of its branding structure. Very, very strong management and execution. A strategically managed type of company. In the near term, Q4 spilling into 2016 has a very strong line-up of movie releases. This is going to be a major boost for earnings. 2016 is expected to be the year of the blockbuster with many, many films coming out. They are diversifying into such things as amusement gaming, the entertainment & casual dining. Digital media is getting very big. VIP scheme has been very strong for them. Dividend yield of 3.07% and will grow about 5% a year over the next several years.