Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1963)

Some Film Stocks Ride Tide of Bui! Market, but Others Languish With the Dow-Jones industrial average on the verge of basting through the roof, how have movie shares been faring in the midst of this sensational latter 1963 rise? Examination of the comparative prices between the close of 1962 and Film BULLETIN'S charting date for this issue, Aug. 29, reveals no uniformity of performance in film company stocks. While several have been lofted far up with the tide of the market, others remain in the slough, near their lows for the year. The big gainers have been Disney, MCA, Paramount and 20th-Fox. Touted all over Wall Street, the daddy of Mickey Mouse climbed 17*4 points since the first of the year. MCA is up fractionally over 16, Paramount almost 14, and 20th, bulwarked by "Cleopatra" and "The Longest Day", stands a fraction shy of 13 points above its final quotation on last Dec. 31. At the other extreme, United Artists on Aug. 29 was 7 points under its 1962 close, a reflection of the first profit downturn after a dozen years of steady rise and the dropping of its cash dividend. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, struggling to overcome the effects of several costly failures in the past year and a half, was still almost 2 points below. Columbia, seemingly poised for a strong move, has risen 3^ above its 1962 close-out, while Filmways, the Martin Ransohoff operation, is 2*4 higher, and Cinerama ll/2. It is noteworthy that only Disney has been able to achieve the feat of reaching its '62 high (almost 5 points above it) thus far, suggesting that there is ample room for further rises in the shares of the prospering film firms. In contrast to the sharp rise of some of the production-distribution outfits, the theatre companies are languishing. The impact of the present bull market to date has been felt but little by exhibition. Stanley Warner closed Aug. 29 at 2^/4, up 214. from its price on Dec. 31, while National General has climbed almost 2 points and Trans-Lux one. Wometco, over-the-counter, appears to be the most highly regarded theatre operation currently. Bid 19 at last year's close, the figure was 281/4 last week, with a 30% ask price. Comparative prices of common stocks between Dec. 31 and Aug. 29: Film Companies Close 1962 Aug. 29, 1963 Allied Artists 3 2% Cinerama 13% 151,4 Columbia 23Vs 26% Decca 45% Disney 28% Filmways 5 MCA 48% M-G-M 31% Paramount 36 20th Century-Fox 20y4 United Artists 27% Warner Bros 14 Theatre Companies AB-PT 34 Loew's 21% National General 8 Stanley Warner 21 Trans-Lux 11% 45 45% 7V4 64% 293/4 49% 33% 20% 13% 33% 17 9% 231/ 12% 20th Net $4,760,593 for Half The comeback of 20th Century-Fox continues apace. Net earnings of $4,760,593 were reported for the first half of the year ended June 29, compared to the huge loss of $12,456,457 for the corresponding 1962 period. This represents a profit of $1.87 per share against last year's loss of $4.89. Gross income for the first six months of this year was some $2 million below the 1962 period, but expenses in the current first half were approximately $20 million lower. Virtually all of this reduction was represented in the item titled "amortization of film costs and participants' share of rentals". There also was a cut of $2 million in "selling, general and administrative expenses." President Darryl F. Zanuck expressed satisfaction with the accomplishments of his management regime in its first year, which was completed July 25, and voiced "full confidence" that the present management would attain its objective of "restoring the corporation to prosperity and a position of leadership." He told stockholders that "The Longest Day" continues to give promise of being the highest-grossing black-and-white feature in the industry's history, as well as 20th's biggest grosser to date. "Cleopatra", in its first 46 engagements, Zanuck declared, is "running well ahead of the highest grossing motion picture ever made." & THEATRE STOCKS Close Close Film Companies 8/ 7 5/63 8/29/63 Change ALLIED ARTISTS 23/4 2% % ALLIED ARTISTS (Pfd.) .... 8% 8% CINERAMA 133/4 i5i/4 +\y2 COLUMBIA 263/4 263/g % COLUMBIA (Pfd.) 82 82% + Y2 DECCA 45% 451/2 % DISNEY 441/2 45% + % FILMWAYS 6% 7y4 + % MCA 60y2 64% +4% MCA (Pfd.) 37 38y4 + 1% M-G-M 30% 293/4 % PARAMOUNT 47% 49% + 2% SCREEN GEMS 24% 24 % 20TH-FOX 31% 33% + 1% UNITED ARTISTS 19 20% + % WARNER BROS 14% 13% % Theatre Companies AB-PT 31% 33% +2% LOEW'S 16% 17 + % NATIONAL GENERAL 10% 9% 1/4 STANLEY WARNER 21% 23% +2 TRANS-LUX 12 12% + % (Allied Artists, Cinerama, Screen Gems, Trans-Lux. American Exchange; all others on New York Stock Exchange.) * * * 8/15/63 8/29/63 Over-the-counter Bid Asked Bid Asked COMMONWEALTH OF P. R.. .. 6 63/4 6 63/4 GENERAL DRIVE-IN 10% 11% 9% 10% MAGNA PICTURES 2 2% 1% 2% MEDALLION PICTURES 9% 10% 10% ll3/4 SEVEN ARTS 8 9% 8 9% UA THEATRES 14% 16 14% 15 UNIVERSAL 64 69% 64 69% WALTER READE STERLING ... 2% 3 2% 3 WOMETCO 253/4 27% 28% 30% (Quotations courtesy National Assn. Securities Dealers. Inc.) Film BULLETIN September 2, 1963 Page 23