Is Variable Pricing Coming for Movies?

Hollywood had a pretty good 2012. Movie attendance rose by around 6%, and theater revenues and average ticket prices both hit all-time highs. Curiously, the numbers also indicate that it was a pretty good year for consumers hoping to get decent value at the movies. How could consumers be paying more than ever, and yet still arguably be getting better value? Well, as Deadline.com and others have reported, the average movie ticket sold for $7.96 in 2012. Yes, that’s an all-time high. But it’s up only a smidge from the 2011 average of $7.93.

Hollywood had a pretty good 2012. Movie attendance rose by around 6%, and theater revenues and average ticket prices both hit all-time highs. Curiously, the numbers also indicate that it was a pretty good year for consumers hoping to get decent value at the movies. How could consumers be paying more than ever, and yet still arguably be getting better value? Well, as Deadline.com and others have reported, the average movie ticket sold for $7.96 in 2012. Yes, that’s an all-time high. But it’s up only a smidge from the 2011 average of $7.93.

Peter Mycroft Psaras submits: The main thrust of this analysis is concentrated in three parts. The first two parts are based on free cash flow (current and historical) and the third is based on historical price action as a gauge of investor sentiment. The three methods used in this analysis are:

ByCatalyst Investments:In just 50 years, Wal-Mart (WMT) has gone from Sam Walton's vision of putting large discount stores in underserved smaller communities to operating more than 10,000 retail outlets in all 50 states and 27 countries.

Taking a page out of JC Penney's "Every Day Low Pricing" playbook, Wal-Mart to Offer "Consistently Low Prices" Instead of Rollbacks.

AsiaInvestor submits: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Michelle Galanter Applebaum submits: Baosteel Increasing February Sheet PricesAccording to press reports, China’s price leader Baosteel announced a planned 5% price increase on flat-rolled steel for February shipments, marking the third consecutive monthly rise. With January hikes now sticking well, we expect to see further price increases announced in China as well as Europe and the US.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is trimming the online preorder prices of some upcoming DVDs following last month's price cut on books. The move led rivals Amazon.com Inc. and Target Corp. to reduce some DVD prices, which pushed Wal-Mart to take a few more cents off its offerings.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us