Even the superhero combination of Spider-Man and Batman couldn’t save AMC Entertainment in the first quarter.

Nonetheless, after reporting a narrower-than-expected loss for the period, the movie theatre chain’s stock gained more than 4% after hours Monday.

Since the pandemic shut down all of AMC’s sites worldwide in 2020, the company has made significant progress toward recovery, although a restricted slate of new films during the first three months of the year resulted in fewer movie tickets being sold than before the outbreak.

The recent release of Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” begins off a constant stream of fresh and highly anticipated film debuts, which will help AMC’s ticket sales in the coming months.

“Our results for the first quarter of 2022 represent AMC’s strongest first quarter in two full years,” CEO Adam Aron said in a statement Monday.

“The cumulative success of ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home,’ ‘The Batman,’ ‘Sonic The Hedgehog 2’ and this past weekend’s opening of ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,’ should leave no doubt about the enduring appeal of theatrical exhibition,” he said. “When Hollywood releases films that moviegoers want to see, people flock to cinemas in huge numbers to watch movies where they were designed to be seen, in theatres, on the big screen.”

While “No Way Home” and “The Batman” had strong box office performances, and AMC saw almost 40 million visits during the quarter, revenues did not cover the roughly $1 billion in operational expenses and rent.

The movie theatre business lost $337.4 million, or 65 cents per share, compared to $567.2 million, or $1.42 per share, a year ago.

According to a Refinitiv survey, the company lost 52 cents per share excluding items, a lesser loss than the 63 cents experts had predicted for the quarter.

Revenue increased to $785.7 million from $148.3 million previous year, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $743 million.

AMC has $1.3 billion in cash on hand at the conclusion of the quarter. The stock dropped 9% on Monday as the overall market fell.

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