Imax Corp

NYSE:IMAX

Q3-2025 Earnings Call

[Operator]

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Third Quarter 2025 IMAX Corporation Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Jennifer Horsley, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

[Jennifer Horsley, executive]

Good morning, and thank you for joining us for IMAX's Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. On the call today to review the financial results are Rich Gelfond, Chief Executive Officer; and Natasha Fernandes, our Chief Financial Officer. Rob Lister, Chief Legal Officer, is also joining us today. Today's conference call is being webcast in its entirety on our website. A replay of the webcast will be made available shortly after the call. In addition, the full text of our earnings press release and the slide presentation have been posted on the Investor Relations section of our site. Our historical Excel model is posted to the website as well.

I would like to remind you of the following information regarding forward-looking statements. Today's call as well as the accompanying slide deck may include statements that are forward-looking and that pertain to future results or outcomes. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to not occur or occurrences to differ. Please refer to our SEC filings for a more detailed discussion of some of the factors that could affect our future results and outcomes. Any forward-looking statements that we make on this call are based on assumptions as of today, and we undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

During today's call, references may be made to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Discussion of management's use of these measures and the definition of these measures as well as a reconciliation to non-GAAP financial measures are contained in this morning's press release and our earnings materials, which are available on the Investor Relations page of our website at imax.com. With that, let me turn the call over to Mr. Richard Gelfond. Rich?

[Richard L. Gelfond, executive]

Thanks, Jennifer, and thanks, everyone, for joining us as we review an exceptional quarter for IMAX. We delivered our highest third quarter revenue ever with $106.7 million and our best ever quarterly cash flow with $67.5 million. We drove growth of more than 30% across gross margin, net income, adjusted EBITDA and earnings per share. Our third quarter earnings exceeded those of our first and second quarters combined. The third quarter of 2025 was our highest grossing Q3 ever at the global box office with $368 million, up 50% year-over-year. Signings of new and upgraded IMAX systems surge passed our full year total for 2024 with 142 through September. and we are approaching 100 installations year-to-date. We now expect to hit the high end of our guidance of between 150 and 160 installations for the full year.

You've heard me say that IMAX has been moving into a new position that we've been steadily building something bigger. Throughout the year, we've delivered operating results that exceed expectations and transcend the broader marketplace. Early on, many thought our full year guidance of $1.2 billion in global box office would be difficult to achieve. We're now very well positioned to deliver on that guidance. Following our Q2 earnings call, our stock dipped with many noting that the Q3 Hollywood slate looks soft on paper, and we proceeded to deliver a record quarter. IMAX is quite simply a different company than it was just a few years ago. This quarter is the latest and maybe the clearest example yet on how far we've come. We're consistently delivering a diversified dynamic portfolio across Hollywood blockbusters, local language titles and alternative content, and we further separated ourselves from exhibition as a result.

In Q3, domestic box office declined 11% year-over-year. IMAX was up 29% in North America. And globally, IMAX was up 50%. In prior years, when IMAX posted big results, you could usually point to a single defining title, Avatar, Top Gun, Oppenheimer. But now our performance is increasingly driven by the full breadth of our content strategy. In the third quarter, we had a big film for IMAX Hollywood hit in F1 for which we dramatically over-indexed. But we also had a powerhouse Japanese language release in Demon Slayer, Infinity Castle. We hosted successful music events from Print and -- the Grateful Dead. We flexed our muscles in horror, not historically a genre associated with IMAX with strong openings for -- the Conjuring and weapons. We even leveraged the IMAX experience to breathe new bi into legacy titles, most notably with our successful rerelease of Jaws.

IMAX is not just a premium format. We're a platform for event content that spans genres and the globe. And that diversified portfolio and the marketing prowess of the IMAX brand as a beacon of must-see theatricality make us much more valuable to our studio and exhibition partners than ever, which continues to drive strong installation and sales activity because audiences in 89 countries and territories around the world know that for all inspiring experiences, you must see it in IMAX.

The third quarter saw the conclusion of our record run of consecutive film for IMAX blockbusters through the summer, but it also demonstrated our ability to drive success beyond releases shot with our cameras. The halo effect of IMAX extends across a wider collection of films, events and experiences than ever. F1 -- the movie was our highest grossing Hollywood release of the year with $97 million worldwide to date, more than 15% of the film's total box office on less than 1% of the screens. Our success with F1 was powered by our deep collaboration with Apple on the film, the latest example of how IMAX has emerged as a premier partner for streaming platforms. We now have 4 blockbuster openings on the year, Sinners, Mission Impossible, F1 and Tron Ares, for which we generated at least 20% of the domestic opening at just over 400 North American screens. That's a feat we've achieved less than a dozen times in our entire history, and 4 of those came in the last 6 months.

It's also been a watershed year for our local language strategy as evidenced most recently by Demon Slayer. The global anime phenomenon has earned more than $73 million to date in IMAX. It's our biggest Japanese film of all time. It delivered our biggest September opening ever in North America and astounding feat for a foreign film, and we indexed 19% of its domestic debut. We're optimistic the film will secure release in China, too, where recent Japanese anime titles, including First Slam Dunk and Suzume have played very well for us. We've now generated more than $356 million in local language box office year-to-date, shattering our previous record of $243 million set for the full year 2023. And international films account for 36% of our global box office year-to-date, up from less than 20% last year.

As we look ahead to the stretch run of the year, the slate is significantly stronger than last year's Stripe depleted offering. November includes 2 IMAX-friendly releases in Predator Badlands and -- the Running Man. We've used our leverage to program another strong Thanksgiving slate locking in Zootopia 2 and Wicked for Good early. This put us in a position to get tickets on sale before most of the market with both titles looking strong and tracking. And we continue to round out our slate across music, sports, gaming and exclusive experiences. Building on our success with -- the Grateful Dead and Print in August, we have a concert event with Depesh Mode next week.

In December, we'll host the long-awaited rerelease of our seminal Stones at the Max, the beloved 1991 concert film, which IMAX made with the Rolling Stones and the only concert film shot entirely with IMAX film cameras. In our second year, we'll expand our offering of the League of Legends gaming tournament next weekend in China with up to 219 locations. And we partnered with Netflix on a buyout promotional event in support of Guillermo Del Toro's Frankenstein. Of course, the year concludes with Avatar Fire and Ash. Our teams have been working with Disney on the launch for a year to ensure that the brand association between IMAX and Avatar that has yielded record-breaking success for our companies continues.

With our network continuing to grow and our market share surging worldwide, we expect to deliver another strong performance with the franchise. With the carryover of Avatar, 2026 look strong right out of the gate, highlighted by Christopher Nolan, the Odyssey, Greta Gerwig's IMAX Exclusive Narnia and Star Wars: -- the Mandalorian and Grogu, Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Toy Story 5 and Dune Part 3, which will have an IMAX 70-millimeter run in select locations.

Additionally, a very compelling 27 slate continues to take shape, including Joe Kosinski's Miami Vice, which will be filmed for IMAX, Star Wars: Starfighter directed by Sean Levy from Deadpool and Wolverine; Michael B. Jordan, the Thomas Crown Affair, Avengers Secret Wars and -- the Batman 2. Our team was in London last month, visiting the filmmakers and sets of many of these upcoming releases, including Narnia and Star Wars. And it's clear these are IMAX-sized productions leaning heavily into our technology and format. Our visibility into our Hollywood slate continues to grow even as we opportunistically program local language blockbusters and alternative content events and experiences throughout the year.

Turning to our networks business. signings to date have already surpassed the number of signings we had for the full year 2024. We're having a lot of success in international markets we prioritize for growth. In Japan, we're pacing towards our single best year for network growth ever as we expect to end the year with 10 installations, representing a nearly 20% expansion of our footprint. And in Australia, we expect to install 6 new systems for the full year, more than doubling our footprint to 10 locations nationwide. Year-to-date, we completed 60% of the installations we targeted for the full year 2025.

The level of activity in the sales pipeline is also strong. We just completed an agreement for 2 new locations in Singapore. We signed multiple agreements this year across 2 priority markets, France and Germany, and are in conversations for new locations in Italy and Spain. We're in discussions regarding new locations in the Middle East, and we continue to drive opportunity with new and existing partners alike across North America, including our recent agreement with Apple Cinemas and several potential new locations across the underpenetrated Southwest region.

Given our continued sales momentum and our backlog of 470 systems worldwide, we have clear runway for strong network growth in years to come. In sum, we delivered excellent financial results in the third quarter. As the year draws to a close, we look forward to hosting an Investor Day in December and sharing our strategy for how we grow our performance over the next several years. We continue to believe the best is yet to come.

As we look ahead to a year with no less than 4 massive tentpoles, the Odyssey, Narnia, Dune Part III and the Mandalorian and Grogu, for which IMAX is at the center of the filmmaking, marketing and distribution. IMAX has never been better positioned creatively, commercially or strategically. And we're focused on strengthening our position, executing with financial discipline, continuing to provide the most immersive entertainment experience on the planet and delivering for our shareholders. Thanks. And now I'll turn it over to Natasha to walk through the financials.

[Natasha Fernandes, executive]

Thanks, Rich, and good morning, everyone. IMAX's third quarter was one of the best in our history, showcasing our global scale, our agility in programming and diverse content portfolio and in turn, the profit and cash incrementality in our business.

Third quarter IMAX box office of $368 million was 50% higher year-over-year and exceeded Street estimates by more than 25%. Signing for IMAX systems at the end of September was 142, already eclipsing full year 2024, and system installations are now tracking to the high end of our guidance range of 150 to 160 systems. From a profitability perspective, our operating leverage shine through in Q3 with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 48.6%, up a substantial 630 basis points year-over-year. and adjusted EPS of $0.47, up $0.12 year-over-year. Our profit incrementality flowed through, contributing to cash from operations of $67.5 million, which set a new quarterly record and was up more than 90% year-over-year.

As I said on last quarter's call, these are not just numbers. They are a direct result of growing demand by filmmakers, studios, exhibitors and consumers for the IMAX experience. Our Q3 global market share reflected that, increasing 49% year-over-year to 4.2%, marking a new IMAX high. Our goal, though, is not to just outperform the market, but to expand it, drawing more consumers to theatrical, eventizing content while opening the aperture to bring audiences more of the entertainment they seek, whether Hollywood, local language or alternative content. This works for us, but it helps our studio partners, it supports our theater customers, and it is responsive to consumer demand for the best possible experience. All of this has resulted in year-to-date performance that positions us to meet or beat every one of our full year guidance measures.

Taking a closer look at our Q3 results. Overall, we delivered revenues of $107 million, 17% growth over the prior year third quarter of $91.5 million and achieved gross margin in Q3 of $67 million, which grew 32% year-over-year. This resulted in a 63% margin, which is a 740 basis point improvement over the prior year period, reflecting high incremental profit flow-through from the stronger box office performance.

Looking at our results at the segment level, Content Solutions revenues of $45 million increased 49% year-over-year, driven by the significant growth in IMAX box office, which, as Rich described, was propelled by a diverse mix of content globally. I am especially pleased with the programming agility we demonstrated. We released 4 fewer Hollywood titles in the quarter than the prior year, and yet we were able to grow box office 50% by consistently capturing higher opening weekend market share and leaning more into local language while adeptly filling in with alternative content. Overall, this led to the third quarter global market share of 4.2% on less than 1% of screens, driven by a remarkable 6.1% share of domestic box office. And the setup for Q4 looks very positive with major titles in front of us, including Avatar Anchoring the year.

Content Solutions gross profit of $32 million showed tremendous growth, up 94% or $15.5 million year-over-year, while gross margin reached a record 71%, up a substantial 1,600 basis points from the 55% gross margin in the prior year, spotlighting the significant incrementality that results from higher levels of box office. Technology products and services revenues of $60 million was up $2.4 million year-over-year with gross profit of $35 million, resulting in a 58% margin, up approximately 250 basis points year-over-year, driven by both growth in our global box office and maintenance revenues that more than offset a lower level of systems installed under sales arrangements. System installations in the quarter of 38 systems compared to 49 in the prior year reflected in part the more balanced timing we're seeing this year with a higher level of first half installations. As of today, we are at approximately 100 system installations. And as highlighted earlier, we now expect to be at the high end of our system installation guidance for this year.

And the momentum for signings continues with 19 signings in Q3 and 142 September year-to-date, already exceeding the 130 for full year 2024. The diversity of signings is especially encouraging. We have achieved near record signings in Japan of 11 systems, many of them are in new and exciting locations in underpenetrated areas in the country, and they're performing exceptionally well since opening. We've built momentum in Germany with the successful release of our first-ever German language film in Q3 that resulted in a very strong opening weekend, and we expect we'll have 4 new German locations open by the end of the year.

We are very excited about the growth in Australia as well, where we have had signings with multiple customers and expect to exit the year with 10 open locations compared to 2 locations a year ago. And in the U.S., we expect to expand with new regional partners, including 5 signings with Apple Cinemas in the quarter with 1 in a highly desirable central area of Philadelphia. Operating expenditures, defined as research and development and selling, general and administrative expenses, excluding stock-based compensation, was $30 million in the third quarter which was consistent with the second quarter, however, increased year-over-year as the third quarter of 2024 benefited from adjustments to performance payouts related to our SCT business and from the timing of capitalization of film camera costs. We continue to focus on looking for ways to better use technology and scrutinizing work processes to find productivity opportunities across our business.

Overall, our strong operational performance led to a third quarter total consolidated adjusted EBITDA of $52 million, which increased $13 million or 34% year-over-year, driven by higher revenues, which mostly flow through to gross margin. This resulted in an impressive adjusted EBITDA margin of 48.6%, up approximately 630 basis points year-over-year and giving us a year-to-date adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 45% relative to our full year guidance of low 40s percent. Third quarter adjusted EPS was $0.47, up $0.12 year-over-year, driven fully by strong profit growth as our Q3 tax rate of 19% was a headwind of $0.03 year-over-year. Our September year-to-date tax rate is 24%, which is consistent with a normalized effective tax rate and what we would expect for the full year.

Turning to cash flow and the balance sheet. Cash flow from operations of $67.5 million set a new quarterly record. This excellent result reflects the very positive incrementality in our model as well as the timing of collections of the larger first half box office titles. September year-to-date cash flow from operations was $98 million and has already exceeded by 40% 2024 full year operating cash flows of $71 million. Year-to-date free cash flow before growth CapEx is $87 million and equates to an adjusted EBITDA conversion of 68%, a very strong result through 9 months. As previously communicated, we expected operating cash flows to show strength and growth this year. Similar to total adjusted EBITDA, the dynamics of cash flows are quite positive as box office expands, leading to incrementality, particularly considering the cash flow characteristics of our joint revenue sharing contracts, where the capital expenditure is at the beginning of an average 10-year contract term.

Turning to investing cash flows. We continue to prioritize use of our available capital to invest in the business, including $24 million spent on growth CapEx year-to-date related to partnering with exhibitor customers to grow and upgrade the IMAX network through joint revenue sharing arrangements. This represents an attractive return on investment opportunity as numerous large partners, including AMC, Wanda and Regal are ramping up investment in IMAX as they upgrade their complexes, including bringing IMAX in to replace other premium formats as they look to capture more of the market share gains IMAX is delivering through our film for IMAX program and the exceptional slate ahead of us in 2026, 2027 and beyond.

Our capital position remains very strong with a Q3 ending cash balance of $143 million, an increase of $34 million from the second quarter. In our capital structure is $230 million of debt from our convertible senior notes due in April 2026 that bear an interest rate of 0.5% per annum with a capped call leading to a $37 per share conversion price. With our strong liquidity position and available facilities, we have the ability to be opportunistic as we assess the timing of when to address these notes and the nature of the instrument, whether that be with our revolving credit facility or through new notes. Debt, excluding deferred financing costs, was $261 million, and our current available liquidity is approximately $544 million.

In conclusion, the team continues to execute well. We are successfully capitalizing on our strengthening position in the theatrical ecosystem and the growing contribution we can make to the industry. We are deepening partnerships with studios and filmmakers, programming with agility, our global commercial network of over 1,750 locations, connecting with our fan base to bring more of the Hollywood, local language and alternative content they're seeking out and partnering with existing and new exhibitors to bring the IMAX experience to more moviegoers. The model is working. The operating leverage we have discussed is coming to fruition. We are gaining market share and meeting or exceeding expectations across our guidance measures of IMAX box office, installations and adjusted EBITDA margin. But to be clear, we are not resting on our laurels, and we are focused on delivering results through the end of the year and beyond.

As we look past 2025 into 2026, there is good visibility into IMAX's future system installations as well as the film slate. We have a backlog of nearly 500 systems and an addressable market less than 50% penetrated with potential for additional zones. We also have an increasingly clear view into the film lineup for 2026 and beyond, including significant mega title catalysts on the horizon. We believe IMAX has never been in as strong a position, and we have scheduled on December 4, our first Investor Day since 2017 to share the compelling opportunity we see in front of us, how we will execute to capture it and in turn, deliver strong shareholder returns. We'll dive deeper into what we see as the next era of IMAX, expanding our global content pipeline, accelerating network growth and advancing the IMAX technology that continues to redefine the cinematic experience. With that, I will turn the call over to the operator for Q&A.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Eric Handler of ROTH Capital.

[Eric Handler, analyst]

I wonder if you could talk a little bit about your margin potential. I mean, 71% for Content Solutions off of a record box office. I'm curious, and you had 100% incremental margin off of that. So at what point does your box office-- where does the box office get to where all of a sudden you see just margins start spiking? And then as far as the costs are concerned, how stable are the costs in the Content Solutions business? And is that number going to have to grow as you continue expanding? Or is that something maybe with AI, you can keep flat or maybe even down?

[Natasha Fernandes, executive]

Eric, thanks for the question. We're still pleased with the operating margin in the quarter. The 71% is a high for us. And we've talked about this many times about the incrementality in our model. And I think Q3 was the perfect opportunity to display exactly what we referenced when we talk about over levels of $250 million in quarter of box office and how the incrementality flows through at essentially an 85% rate. And it could be higher. It just depends on what our costs are for -- that we choose to do for marketing and some of the discretionary costs that we have.

But there is a lot of opportunity to continue to grow our margins and especially as you hit the even higher levels of box office, which is obviously a record year that we're trending to this year with the $1.2 billion. And from a cost basis, when you look at it, we actually don't have a significant increase in costs expected just because our -- the basis of our costs are pretty stable. We remaster and we find efficiencies and leverage -- operating leverage in that because as you distribute to more countries, it doesn't cost us any more money. We're already doing versioning and marketing in all of those countries. And on the SG&A side, we've been able to keep everything relatively flat with small amounts for inflation each year. And I think we've done a really good job on that front as well. And so overall, our goal is to continue to show increases in our margins and allow the flow-through to happen all the way down to cash.

[Eric Handler, analyst]

Great. And then, Rich, as a quick follow-up. exhibitors can see that your market share is growing quite nicely. I'm just curious, as theaters see more film for IMAX movies coming, you have the halo effect raising the market share for non-FFI movies. How are -- is the volume of request for proposals just skyrocketing at this point? Or maybe you could talk about that dynamic a little bit.

[Richard L. Gelfond, executive]

Yes. I mean, as you know, we already beat last year in signings with a quarter to go. So we've actually delivered more signings. But yes, there are a lot of activity going on around the world. And I think it's not just looking backwards, Eric, what FFI was, but it's looking forward to '26 and also '27 and '28. We've never really had a backlog of films going that far forward. And I think if you're an exhibitor and you're looking at your return on investment and you look at the number of films that IMAX has coming out in the next few years. And I would even add to that, even FFI films, I don't remember the exact number. But I think for '26, we have double digits of FFI films already ready to come out and we're doing FFI films in '27 and '28. So I think the way you asked the question kind of answers itself. The fact we've done so well at '26, '27 and '28 are filling in in advance, have driven a lot of activity in the market.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from the line of Eric Wold of Texas Capital Securities.

[Eric Wold, analyst]

I guess kind of following up a little bit on the last question on kind of on the exhibitor kind of demand side, think about from the other way, I guess as you think about the limited amount of real estate for content that you have each year and understanding that, for example, '26 is mostly spoken for with content already under contract. I guess what is the best opportunity to really drive from your end or work with the exhibitors to drive greater box office revenues on that content? For example, where can you further leverage marketing to drive attendance and drive people into the theaters on that content? And I know you can't necessarily push price from your end, but why aren't we seeing more ticket price leverage for IMAX films from the exhibitors given the clear demand from moviegoers, especially given the limited runs that most of your films have in their theaters. Why aren't they taking price even more so on IMAX films?

[Richard L. Gelfond, executive]

Eric, first of all, just to put it in context, when you said there are a limited number of slots, I just want to remind you that this year, we'll have 140 pieces of content. So it's not like we can't program more things or multiple things at the same time. In slower times of the year, we could have 2 or 3 films sharing screen time, and we've been doing that. So there is room to fit more content.

And in terms of price, as you saw with the Odyssey, we put some film tickets on sale a year in advance and the ones we put on sale sold out. So that's usually a sign that under price elasticity, you can raise the price. As you correctly said, that's a decision the exhibitors have to make, but not us, but particularly in a year that's heavy in film like '26 with Odyssey and Dune and other things that will be coming out. I wouldn't be surprised to see exhibitors press it a little bit, particularly in the film area. And then finally, obviously, the name of the game is capacity utilization, which is related to market share. And this year, as our market share has grown so nicely, capacity utilization has gone up. But still, capacity utilization is relatively low as it is in a lot of entertainment businesses. And I think there's an opportunity in that area as well.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from the line of Drew Crum of B. Riley Securities.

[Andrew Crum, analyst]

So I had a couple of questions on 2026. I guess you're likely to address this at your Investor Day, but any preliminary thoughts on 1Q and your ability to grow box office as you lap a tough comp from Neha 2? And then separately, I noticed in your press release and your prepared comments, you highlighted 4 massive tentpoles. Absent from that was the Avengers, which I think historically has enjoyed success on IMAX screens. Just curious if there's anything to read into that omission.

[Richard L. Gelfond, executive]

No, dating though, typically a year in advance moves around. So it's very hard to pinpoint exactly what the movies are going to be and what dates they are. So I think we're just trying to be conservative in what the slate is looking like. And I think the point we made was that we have 4 or 5 movies next year, which include in the first quarter, the carryover of Avatar, it includes Mandalorian, it includes Odyssey, it includes Narnia and it includes Zoom. So actually, the question you asked, we had a Board meeting yesterday about the comp of [indiscernible] next year. But I just named you 5 movies that I think will exceed whatever their comp was this year.

So as you know, we're a diversified portfolio. And you can always in any year, say, well, you have this really good film. How are you going to replace it? And the answer is you look at the whole slate and you look at how it's going to come together. And we'll, at our Investor Day, talk about guidance for '26. But suffice it to say that looking at it very early, we think it will be stronger than '25.

[Operator]

And our next question comes from the line of Omar Maj of Wells Fargo.

[Omar Mejias Santiago, analyst]

Maybe just more broadly, you recently announced the first IMAX Investor Day since 2017. And I'm just curious, why is now a good time to get together and share what's ahead for IMAX? Just if you could share what you're most excited about for IMAX in the years to come, that would be great.

[Richard L. Gelfond, executive]

I mean, Omar, not to be kind of an a hole about it, but I think we have a lot to talk about in terms of how '25 performed and how '26 will perform. Then it kind of close off my answer to Eric Handler's question. I mean there's never been a film backlog the way there is now. And even like I said to the last question, I think we'll provide a lot of context around some of those movies in which we've seen a lot of them, and we know a lot about them. And I think just putting titles on a slide is different than giving a context.

But I think if IMAX is in a 1 year or a one trick pony, I mean, we think we have sustained growth going for years ahead. And I think we thought it was really important. I mean, we believe we have a new level set for IMAX. So as you probably know, films that we used to do 10% of the box office, blockbusters, we're now doing 15% of the box office. Again, a question that was just asked about the activity on the on the theater side and signings, what's going on. We just think it's the right time to put the story together and put numbers to it. And obviously, our stock has had a nice little run. But from our point of view, we think it's the beginning of the run. And I think we have a lot of data to support that.

And then I'd say one other thing would be since '17, we have a lot of new talent in management that a lot of investors have never met. And I think it's just a good idea. I know Natasha and Jen and I have met a lot of investors, but we have a pretty deep bench, and we think it's a good time to let the investors talk to that bench and get their color on things.

[Omar Mejias Santiago, analyst]

Great. And maybe just a quick follow-up on the global opportunity set. You obviously have momentum in the business and a great 4Q slate ahead that ends with Avatar Fire and Ice. What countries or regions do you think IMAX has the biggest opportunity to drive incremental installations and grow the network? And any color on that would be helpful.

[Richard L. Gelfond, executive]

So the reason that's a hard one to answer is because of my last answer, which is that there's been kind of this reset in what the box office could look like. And when you start to put in numbers in that reset, the ROIs look differently and our ability to invest in JVs and make a better return look differently. So I think we're really assessing how to generate more growth around the world. So if you look historically, this year, Japan has been very strong. Western Europe has been very strong. Even North America has been very strong, and we announced a couple of deals there. And I think there's more to come in North America. But I don't want to be constrained so much by the past, and that's the kind of thing we'll go into more detail on Investor Day because I think the performance and the numbers open up different opportunities.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] And our next question comes from the line of David Joyce of Seaport Research Partners.

[David Joyce, analyst]

In thinking about your programming strategy, how do you weigh the pros and cons along with the various economic impacts of running concert films or rerunning a recent release like Formula 1 or an old one like Jaws Grand is the 50th anniversary versus showing a new theatrical release like Jurassic World that you were not able to show earlier in the summer?

[Richard L. Gelfond, executive]

Yes. Well, just to get the facts straight, Jurassic World came out the same week as F1 did, and we had committed to F1 already. So I mean that's the first rule is that when we commit to something, we sign a legal contract and we can't change that, although we could try and fill it in from show to show. But for the core part of your question, not every week has films that are going to break out. So we try and use alternative content or local language films more in the slower periods or bring back as you asked about. So we look at our calendar for this year and next year. And for example, we know that on July 17, Odyssey is coming out. So obviously, we're not going to bring back a film or show a concert film on that weekend. But on other weekends, there's just no big releases coming. So we know that way in advance, and we'll make plans for how to fill in the schedule.

And one thing, another context to put it in is we recently hired someone who has experience doing programming on the exhibitor side, and they're working with our distribution team to try and maximize the box-by-box programming with our Chief Content Officer, Jonathan Fisher. And if you look at the third quarter, that's the perfect example where we plugged in a lot of things and we mix and match. So just one example because it comes to my mind is the weekend with weapons open, we played weapons a lot, but not everywhere, and it did really well. But Formula 1 still had a lot of gas in the tank and to use a bad analogy. But that's now close to $100 million. So we're able to mix and match a little bit more and particularly in the periods where there's no obvious winner. And Q3 was the perfect example of that. That's what really drove the outstanding box office.

[David Joyce, analyst]

And is there a margin differential? Like is there marketing on some sorts of content that tilts the scale for you one way or the other?

[Richard L. Gelfond, executive]

Not really because, for example, we brought back Jaws, but we timed it to the 50th anniversary of Jaws. So we didn't have to put up a lot of the marketing. The studio put it up in connection with the 50th anniversary. This weekend, we're playing on the Springsteen concert. And what we did was that was timed to the theatrical release of the Springsteen movie. So it comes with a lot of marketing. So as we try and figure out what slots to put them in, one of our considerations is not having to put up significant incremental costs.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from the line of David Karnovsky of JPMorgan.

[David Karnovsky, analyst]

Maybe just 2 quick ones for Natasha. The full year guide implies a little bit lighter of margin in Q4. Just wanted to understand the puts and takes there in terms of install mix, box office or whether there's any kind of marketing consideration for Avatar. And then just similarly for working capital, how should we think about the balance of the year given those big titles sitting in the final weeks?

[Natasha Fernandes, executive]

Sure. David, I'm not sure I heard the first part of your question, but I think the second part was about SG&A and then box office, correct?

[David Karnovsky, analyst]

No. The question was basically about margin in Q4, the guide implying that being down a little bit from what you've done year-to-date. Just wanted to understand the puts and takes there and then the outlook for working capital given Avatar is sitting late in the year.

[Natasha Fernandes, executive]

Yes. So our guidance for EBITDA margin was updated to low 40s in last quarter. Year-to-date, we're at just under 45% at 44.9%. And the first half was at about 43%. So I think the individual quarters, obviously, we see they drive different margins. But we have said this before that Q4's margin, we expect that we'll have incremental dollars for Avatar marketing, which we will spend in Q4, but the Avatar box office will come in not only in Q4, but then we'll get it in Q1 as well. So you'll have lower cost in Q1 with respect to marketing on Avatar. And then -- from a cost perspective, we'll hold a few more events versus Q3, for instance. We obviously attend several conferences along with our Investor Day that we're planning in Q4. But other than that, there would be nothing that significantly hinders the margin from continuing along its pace towards our guidance of low 40s percent.

[David Karnovsky, analyst]

Working capital?

[Natasha Fernandes, executive]

And on working capital, I mean, from a cash flow perspective, this was a record quarter for us. And as we look at cash flow, and we've talked about this before, but when you look at cash flow on an annual basis, that's essentially what we're aiming towards continuing to grow that conversion rate and hitting at above 50% and continuing to grow that on an annual basis is essentially where we keep moving, and I'm sure we will work towards updating and providing more insights and guidance into our cash flows in the future as well at Investor Day.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of Mike Hickey of -- the Benchmark Company.

[Michael Hickey, analyst]

Rich, Natasha, Jennifer, congratulations guys on a great Q3. First question from us, just looking at your market share here year-to-date, Slide 11 in your deck, 3.8%, definitely setting a record. It looks like domestic 5.2%; China, 5.3% and rest of world, 2.4%. So I guess the question, Rich, is how you're thinking about rest of world market share gains relative to your forward growth targets. It seems like rest of world could be a great unlock opportunity for you. Or is there something structural holding you back from achieving sort of the market share that you're seeing in the U.S. and China? And then I have a follow-up.

[Richard L. Gelfond, executive]

The only thing holding us back, Mike, is more theaters. So obviously, in growth markets like Vietnam and Indonesia and places like that, we have much less penetration in India. So you have lots of screens, big populations and not as high a percentage of IMAX theaters. So obviously, we'll target those, which ties to an earlier question and try and build up the theaters. But there's nothing endemic about those markets, just there's not as many IMAX theaters. And by the way, it a little bit goes the other way because as we double down on local language films like we've had local language in Malaysia, in Indonesia, in Saudi Arabia, as we step up our local language, that will obviously increase our market share in those territories. So there's nothing broken. It's just an opportunity that we need to fill in more.

[Michael Hickey, analyst]

And then last question, I promise I'm not being a wise guy here, Rich, just on your installation growth potential for '26. Curious your thoughts there just given the extreme success you guys have had in 2025, which might be slightly a pull forward or not. But just curious your confidence here on '26 and the signings have been very strong.

[Richard L. Gelfond, executive]

So let me be clear. There's no pull forward there. It's a result, the reason at the high end is we had really good signings here, and we have such a good slate and good slate ahead of us in '26. that I feel very good about where we are this year. Obviously, we raised the range of our guidance. And for next year, Mike, if you look at the correlation between film slate, film for IMAX and the large movies, it should be a positive year. Again, however, we're in the middle of our budgeting process. And hopefully, by Investor Day, we'll be able to give you more concrete guidance.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from the line of Pat Scholl of Barrington Research.

[Patrick Sholl, analyst]

I just had a question on alternative content. I mean you laid out your visibility for the broader Hollywood sleep. Can you maybe just talk about the visibility that you have into the alternative content to sort of even out those box office periods?

[Richard L. Gelfond, executive]

We have some visibility, but a lot of it arises in a couple of months before it comes out. And we're doing -- I think it was in my script, I don't recall, but we're doing the League of Legends in China, which came about. It got finalized, I don't know, 2 weeks ago, and we're doing over 220 theaters for the finals and then we're doing the semis in the quarters. So it's both. Some things will be -- like we have a music, 2 music projects, one in February and one in May, which we're in the middle of documenting right now. But on the other hand, there will be other projects that will come up more or last minute and some of the live events where directors speak around those -- their movies, that tends to come together a little bit later. On the sporting things, I think, come a little bit later. The music -- especially the music docs, they come more in advance because the studios know when they're being released. So it's a combination of the type of content.

[Operator]

We have time for one last question. And our last question comes from the line of Steven Frankel of Rosenblatt.

[Steven Frankel, analyst]

Rich, you guys have pointed out that local language has consistently been over 50% of the box office mix in China over the last couple of years. Do you think that's a permanent change that your penetration into Tier 3 and Tier 2 markets means more local language? And can you do things to kind of accelerate that local language growth in China going forward if you think maybe Hollywood has peaked as part of the mix there?

[Richard L. Gelfond, executive]

Yes. I mean I wouldn't get pinned down to an exact percentage, Steven. But I do think that local language is permanently going to be a bigger part of the box office than it was before. And I think you put your finger on one of the answers, which is because of 2 or 3 and 4 markets and our increased penetration there. And I also think, and this is important, that we've done a better job of penetrating the local markets there. So our CEO there, Daniel Manwaring, is extremely connected in the film industry there, and our team has done a very good job, and the results speak for themselves. With that said, I wouldn't give up on Hollywood box office.

So for example, Avatar traditionally does very well in China. It's getting in the same day as it got in the U.S. So I would expect to see strong results there. Zootopia at Disneyland in Shanghai, there's a separate part of it called Zootopia Land. So it's a very big franchise over there, looking into '26. The Nolan movies do very well. And obviously, the Odyssey is a very high profile one. Dune has done well there in the past. So again, that's why I'm not sure about particular numbers and percentages, but I do feel like local language will continue to be strong, but don't give up on Hollywood quite yet. I mean -- and you should just be reminded in that context that our take rate on local language is higher than our take rate on Hollywood films in China, and that's because of the theatrical split. It's not an IMAX anomaly. It's just Hollywood films get a lower split than local language. So financially, that's a pretty good thing for us to keep in mind.

[Operator]

This concludes the question-and-answer session. I'd now like to turn it back to Rich Gelfond for closing remarks.

[Richard L. Gelfond, executive]

Yes. Thank you very much, operator, and thank you all for joining us today. I met some pre-pandemic was on a tremendous growth curve. And as you know, '19 was our best year ever at that point. And then unfortunately, not just for IMAX, but a lot of the world, the pandemic slowed it down. And we've been using the time since the pandemic to build up a lot of different pillars for future growth, and they include things like local language content, different ways of looking at marketing, alternative content, not just local language in one country, but across many countries, rationalizing our cost structure. And I think in 2025, I mean, we saw good years in '23 and '24, but all that really came together. And we kind of broke out. And I think if you want to find a quarter that epitomizes that more than anything else, it's the third quarter we just finished.

And I said this during my remarks, but I think you can't summarize it any better than to say the North American box office was down 11% in the third quarter and the IMAX box office globally was up 50% in the third quarter. So if that doesn't show how we've separated ourselves from people in different businesses that some people confuse, I think this quarter painted a very clear picture. And as you could tell from Vikash and my tone on the call, when you look at the slate and you look at a number of other factors, I think we're very optimistic that we can maintain kind of that momentum going forward. So thank you all very much, and we'll talk to you -- hopefully see many of you at Investor Day.

[Operator]

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.