Ronnie Chan: as well as a tougher comparison to the prior year fourth quarter, which benefited from approximately $13 million in client advance prepayments for advertising scheduled to run throughout 2025. Now, turning to our full year results. NCM's full year 2025 total revenue was $243.2 million, up 1% from $240.8 million in 2024. Total revenue was primarily driven by national advertising revenue, which increased 3.5% to $194.5 million. The increase in national advertising revenue was primarily due to a 21% increase in national impressions sold per attendee and a 3% increase in attendance across our network due in part to the additional week in our fiscal year 2025. As we focus on increasing utilization across our network, we continue to test price in the market to ensure we are optimizing both utilization and monetization to drive revenue growth. Based on the results we gathered, we strategically decreased national advertising CPMs by 18% year over year and are remaining mindful of our monetization rates to ensure NCM's inventory remains both competitive in the market and profitable for the company. Local and regional advertising revenue for the full year was $34.6 million. down from 39.1 million in 2024. This decrease was driven primarily by the trade-related pullback in the pharmaceutical, travel, government, and automotive categories earlier in the year, which has since normalized. This impact was partially offset by an increase in contract activity and size within the gaming, technology, beverages, retail and apparel, and healthcare categories in 2025. Full year beverage revenue increased 2.9% to 14.1 million in 2025, reflecting the increase in attendance at ESA party exhibitors across our network. Turning to our full year expenses, Total operating expenses were $257.1 million, down from $260.3 million in the prior year. This decrease reflects lower amortization expense, administrative costs, and network operating costs in the year, partially offset by higher attendance-related exhibitor fees, excluding one-time items depreciation, amortization, and non-cash share-based compensation, our adjusted operating expenses were $204.2 million up from $195.1 million in the prior year, driven by higher attendance-related exhibitor fees and a slight increase in overhead expenses. Full-year adjusted EBITDA was $39.1 million, down from $45.7 million in the prior year, primarily driven by the trade-related advertiser headwinds we saw in the first half. Turning to our consolidated balance sheet. At the end of the fourth quarter, NCM had $37.6 million of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and marketable securities. We had $12 million of total debt at quarter end, reflecting a draw on our revolver relating to the acquisition of Spotlight in the fourth quarter. Importantly, this was a deliberate and temporary use of the revolver to fund a strategic transaction. Turning to shareholder capital returns. In 2025, we returned approximately 33.6 million to shareholders, which included 11.3 million Through the dividend program, we reinstated this year and $22.3 million contributed toward our ongoing share repurchase program. Under the dividend program, we announced a quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share today, amounting to $2.8 million. This quarter's dividend will be paid on March 23, 2026, to stockholders of record as of March 9th, 2026. After a period of seasonally higher use of cash for working capital in the third quarter, NCM resumed share repurchases in the fourth quarter, bringing our full year total to 4.1 million shares repurchased in 2025 at an average price of $5.41 per share. Now, turning to our guidance. For the first quarter of 2026, it is important to keep in mind that there are several factors to consider which impact the comparability to prior periods. Since this past fourth quarter included a 53rd week, this shift in our calendar year would mean that the first quarter would not have the benefit of the week between Christmas and New Year's. Secondly, we are expecting reduced beverage revenue due to contractual adjustments and the election by an exhibitor to change the number of beverage spots. If you were to perform these changes in beverage revenue for the full year of 2025, then the implied impact to total revenue would be slightly below 2%. Lastly, The Winter Olympics this year makes February a tougher comparison as advertisers temporarily shift their focus to the quadrennial event. Importantly, our first quarter outlook does not reflect any change in underlying demand. Advertising momentum remains intact with revenue for the complete calendar month of January coming in line with the prior year, despite the loss of the holiday week. With that said, for the first quarter, we expect revenue to be between 32.5 million and 36.5 million, with adjusted EBITDA between negative 13 million and negative 10 million. In addition to the factors I just mentioned, Our adjusted OIWDA outlook reflects higher expected attendance-related expenses than the prior year driven by an increase in moviegoer activity. Looking ahead, we believe the investments we made in 2025 position NCM to capture continued growth in advertiser demand against a strong upcoming slate in 2026. Highly anticipated films, including the Super Mario Galaxy movie, The Devil Wears Prada 2, Star Wars The Mandalorian Grogu, and the live action remake of Moana are driving strong interest from advertisers. And we believe we are positioned to capture that demand as it materializes. In addition, our Acid Light model provides operating leverage that further positions NCM to drive profitable growth as audiences return for these upcoming hits. With positive momentum in our business, a strong 2026 film slate, and a continued investment in our platform, we are well positioned to continue generating strong results for our shareholders.
Investor Relations: Operator, please open the line for questions.
Operator: We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your touch tone phone. If you are using a speaker phone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw the question, please press star then two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. Our first question comes from Eric Wold with Texas Securities. Please go ahead.
Eric Wold: Thanks. Good afternoon. I appreciate you taking my question. A couple questions. First off, you talked about, obviously, with regards to Q1 guidance, no change in what you're seeing in terms of advertising demand and the strength you saw in January. I guess looking further out, can you give us a sense of what you're seeing in terms of forward bookings later in the year versus maybe what you would have seen this time last year? I'm not looking for cynic numbers or guidance, but maybe kind of indications around if advertisers are booking further out in the film so they'd be more comfortable with campaigns later in the year or if they're still waiting a little bit closer to kind of planned advertising dates.
Tom Lisinski: So I think we've commented on the upfront in the past and how that's booked already going forward into this year. And our upfront was up year on year. So that's obviously a really positive sign correlated to the strength of the upcoming box office slate. As it relates to scatter, we were only really two months into the year. So it's really hard to forecast the Q1 first two months going out further. But we are seeing good signs of additional inventory being purchased in Q1. I mean, in Q2 and in Q3. So, so far, the actual demand and the actual performance on the platform looks good, especially compared to last year.
Eric Wold: Perfect. And then the follow-up question, you know, with the strong demand you're seeing, strange you're seeing with both the platinum and the post-show, especially now with AMC coming into the mix, How much of a benefit could that start to have or is having on the average revenue per impression? Does that continue to grow as a portion of revenue? How much of a tailwind could that have on that metric?
Tom Lisinski: Well, I think the AMC piece of the equation that you discussed is critical because obviously you're comparing year on year where we didn't have it. Eventually, that will even out on a comp basis. But clearly that inventory, both the post-show and the platinum part of it, are obviously much more expensive inventory. So that is definitely going to be, you know, a tailwind for us. So, you know, it was obviously one of the primary reasons we did that new agreement. So, you know, we're seeing the benefits of that. And, you know, so far this year looks really good on the platinum and on the post-show front, especially with the addition of AMC.
Conference Moderator: Perfect. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Eric.
Operator: Our next question comes from Patrick Scholl with Barrington Research. Please go ahead.
Patrick Scholl: Hi. With the fourth quarter being a little bit softer than expected, did that create any sort of issue in terms of make goods? Is there any sense on how advertisers would fulfill that over the course of the year?
Ronnie Chan: Yeah, so Pat, I think you're referring to the box office in the fourth quarter coming lower than expected. So you're right. You know, there's a few films that obviously contributed to that between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now, exiting out of the year, there was a higher amount of ADUs or make good than we traditionally had in other fourth quarters because of that. which also, by the way, is a good representation of that demand. What the tricky part is in terms of fulfilling that AD to make good for 2026 is that it's not going to be all fulfilled in the first quarter. It will be over the course of the next two to three quarters, so anywhere between the first and the third quarter.
Patrick Scholl: Okay, and can you provide any more detail, just sort of sizing out that week between Christmas and New Year's and the contribution that that provides on a regular basis, and just how you kind of view the film slate over the course of the year and creating kind of a critical mass of attendees to maintain consistent advertising demand? Thank you.
Ronnie Chan: Sure. Yeah, so what I will say about the last week is, you know, for us, this year in terms of that week between Christmas and New Year's was really strong, much stronger than the one we experienced in 2024. The total ad revenue was multiples higher for that week. What I'll also say is that if you were to look at the fourth quarter periods between 25 and 24, and you were to add that week into 24, the comparable revenue per attendee would have been up in the low double percentage area. So that should give you a sense of how strong that demand was in that last week.
Conference Moderator: Okay, thank you. You're welcome.
Operator: Our next question comes from Mike Hickey with StoneX. Please go ahead.
Mike Hickey: Hey, Tom, Ronnie Chan. Great job on 4Q here. I guess just thinking about Q2, Q3, Q4, obviously it's a pretty big expectation. I think everyone's afraid to put it in the math. I respect that. But the box office looks like we could get some real growth here this year. Just curious how correlated your ad business is, Tom, to the growth of the box. We see the box growing strong. Should we also expect your business to pick up? And I'm also curious, I mean, are you seeing it on the media buyers? Like, are they also excited for the slate, whether it's scatter or up front, wherever they buy it? Are you Are you seeing, I would imagine, that given the demo that you serve, the excitement for the slate, that their interest is picked up this year versus prior?
Tom Lisinski: Yes, so there definitely is a lot of excitement in Q2 and Q3. Obviously, it's probably the best set of movies since 2019, and we're really optimistic about the performance of those movies. That enthusiasm we have has translated into the marketplace, and advertisers are cleanly lining up you know, for the Q2 and Q3 slate. So, you know, we've been talking about the return of a really healthy slate, you know, diversified across a lot of different genres. We have that in Q2 and Q3, obviously some very well-known movies and some new ones. So I can say that, you know, the confidence that we have with the box office and with the mix of titles has translated into what we believe are really good, solid bookings in Q2 and Q3. Obviously, there's still the scatter market to play through over the next couple quarters, but we're really optimistic about what the next two quarters look like for us.
Mike Hickey: Given that backdrop, Tom, and where your stock is, do you still have the balance sheet here to be more aggressive on a buyback?
Ronnie Chan: I think in terms of the buyback, we've actually... you know, if you look back since the start of this program and plus the dividends that we paid, we've returned nearly $50 million of capital back to shareholders. And, you know, like every quarter and every month, we do take a look at our buyback program versus where we see, obviously, where free cash flow would be. So I think we'll continue to, you know, review that and utilize every tool at our disposal, you know, when the opportunity provides.
Mike Hickey: I think you said, Ronnie, that you took your CPM down by 18%. I'm not sure I heard that right. Was that for 25? Obviously, maintaining your rate card has been something you guys have done historically. Can you talk about, if I'm right, if I heard that right, the decision to do that and how that sort of sets you up this year as more of a value, I guess.
Ronnie Chan: Right. So, Mike, you did hear that correctly on a full-year basis. And part of that also relates to the strategy around utilizing programmatic in certain spots as well, right? So, that will affect CPM to better inventory utilization or increased inventory utilization. So that did factor into that. The other part of it is, as well, is just being opportunistic in terms of opening up different categories in advertising categories. So certain advertising categories historically have always been lower CPMs. But The truth as well is that they have larger and deeper pockets. So when we actually, you know, broaden our advertising base, you'll naturally go into different advertising categories that just, you know, have lower CPMs for that market.
Mike Hickey: Last question, Scott. It sounded like the Olympics was a negative. Is the World Cup a negative? Is the political spin anticipated here later midterms? Is that also a negative or are those positives? Thank you, guys.
Tom Lisinski: I think the political monies have the potential to be an upside for us. We've been working heavily on courting that different kind of advertiser for a while now, and we certainly have the opportunity to monetize that. I don't think the World Cup is going to be comparable in my mind in the U.S. advertising impact. The U.S. Olympic advertising and sponsorship, I think it's more pervasive and across more categories. The World Cup obviously will be popular here, but the commitment that advertisers made with the network across all of the Olympics is really substantial. Obviously, we knew it was coming. So, you know, we planned around it. We even took advantage of it to some degree. But I wouldn't suspect it will be similar on the World Cup. Certainly, the World Cup is a big deal. But the advertising impact, I think, from the Olympics is more substantial in the industry than on the World Cup in the U.S.,
Ronnie Chan: Yeah, Mike, I also add one thing to that is the Olympics happens in February in the first quarter where the total advertising demand across all markets is lower. So grabbing that extra pie or attention and trying to get that away from the Olympic event is just going to be harder versus the World Cup, which is going to be in June.
Mike Hickey: Yep. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. Good luck.
Investor Relations: You're welcome.
Operator: Our next question comes from Alicia Reese with Wedbush. Please go ahead.
Alicia Reese: Thanks guys for taking my question. I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit more about the national advertising opportunity as you shift to local. If that is incremental ad dollars from those national advertisers who wish to do more local advertising, or if there is a bit of cannibalization maybe on a different CPM rate, if you could talk a little bit more about that detail and remind us if that stays in the national bucket versus the local regional.
Ronnie Chan: Yeah, so we're definitely seeing some advertising, and it's actually situation dependent with whoever that advertiser is, but we are seeing some national advertisers that are looking on a more regional basis. So obviously that would be beneficial to local advertising. I wouldn't think about it as cannibalization of one bucket versus the other or overall in our total advertising revenue. From our perspective, we'll always do business or place advertising when it's economically beneficial. Obviously, there are some CPM differences between the local markets regional markets, and national. And in some instances, local market CPMs are actually at a premium to national CPMs. So it's going to be really dependent on what time of the year and what our advertisers are really looking for. But we believe that it's all accretive at the end of the day because it's all increasing demand throughout the show.
Alicia Reese: Perfect. Yeah, that was the implication of that, so I appreciate the clarity on it. And then for the political advertising, historically, correct me if I'm wrong, the exhibitors have not allowed political advertising. Has that changed?
Tom Lisinski: You know, I don't want to get into the specifics of it because it's a political issue. Just kidding. The truth of it is there is an interest from select exhibitors, not all, to support political. And depending on who we're talking about in particular, some we can do quite readily. In some cases, you know, there's an approval process required. But we've been working on that for, you know, a couple years now. And I think more and more people are seeing it as an opportunity that's mutually beneficial assuming it's the right kind of advertising. So we're optimistic about that. And I think in certain select markets, you know, the key markets in swing states and whatnot, that there will be a lot of demand for political for our platform.
Alicia Reese: Certainly. Yeah, that seems like a real upside opportunity for you. All right. Thanks for taking my questions. Appreciate it.
Investor Relations: You're welcome.
Operator: This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Tom Lisinski, CEO, for any closing remarks.
Tom Lisinski: Thank you for joining us today. NCM's fourth quarter results reflect the hard work of our team and our continued focus on driving higher advertiser demand and efficiently monetizing inventory across our network. As advertiser enthusiasm for our platform strengthens, we are increasingly confident in our strategy and our ability to deliver differentiated value through premium immersive cinema advertising experiences. With a robust and balanced 2026 film slate ahead, we look forward to continuing to connect brands with highly sought-after engaged audiences while strengthening our competitive position through ongoing investments in our platform.
Investor Relations: Thank you for your support.
Operator: The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.
