Shares of multiplex chain PVR jumped almost 10 percent over the past two weeks ahead of the release of Brahmastra Part 1 - Shiva.
PVR shares traded at Rs 1,955 on the BSE at 9.20 am on September 6, up 0.8 percent from its previous close. The shares gained for the fifth session. Inox Leisure shares rose 0.7 percent to Rs 527.
PVR has advanced 9.8 percent since August 22, and has gained 50 percent so far this year. Inox Leisure shares traded higher for the second session. In the past two weeks, it has gained almost 7 percent.
According to news reports, advance bookings for Brahmastra, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, were encouraging and about 100,000 tickets were sold on the opening day. The cast includes stars such as Amitabh Bachchan and South Indian superstar Nagarjuna. Shahrukh Khan has a cameo, too.
“Strong advance bookings for Brahmastra are a welcome sign for the industry,” analysts said.
The film is scheduled to release on September 9.
Earlier, the stocks of Inox and PVR, which are merging, were under pressure due to headwinds including the poor performance of big-budget Hindi movies amid poor content, high ticket prices, and a call on social media to boycott certain movies.
Dramatically different
While Kartik Aaryan's Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Vivek Agnihotri's The Kashmir Files did respectable business at the box office, movies such as Laal Singh Chaddha, Raksha Bandhan, Shamshera and Dobara were big flops that dampened investor sentiment on PVR and Inox.
Some analysts said with the box office collections of Hindi movies getting impacted, the current quarter is likely to remain soft.
“After a blockbuster Q1 in FY23, the onset of Q2 has been dramatically different with box office collections tapering down... Even so, there is a ray of hope for Bollywood, given the encouraging advance bookings for Brahmastra. If the content turns out to the audience's liking, it would pull them back to cinemas. The upcoming festive season and robust pipeline will strengthen the pull,” Edelweiss Securities said in a recent note.
To drive footfalls, multiplexes have joined forces to celebrate National Cinema Day on September 16 by offering tickets at an affordable Rs 75 only.
“That said, in the wake of a very weak dry run in July and August, PVR and Inox face a potential cut in full-year FY23 estimates—by us as well as the Street,” Edelweiss said.