The F1 Movie’s Success May Be Helping Apple Stock. But Here Are the Bigger Winners.

Damson Idris and Brad Pitt star in Apple Original Films’ F1 The Movie. (Courtesy Apple TV)

Apple investors may be taking a victory lap following the box office success of F1 The Movie, produced by Apple Original Films, in its opening weekend.

According to Warner Bros. Pictures, which distributed the movie starring Brad Pitt, the F1 film has grossed $57 million in the U.S. and $146.3 million worldwide so far. That’s ahead of Hollywood’s expectations.

The movie has gotten strong reviews from critics and positive buzz from audiences as well, according to Rotten Tomatoes. That should bode well for the film’s future box office and could also lure more fans to sign up for Apple TV, the movie’s eventual streaming home.

“We’re thrilled by the global response to ‘F1’ and grateful to the audiences who’ve embraced the film with such enthusiasm,” said Jamie Erlicht, head of worldwide video for Apple in a statement to Barron’s.

Shares of Apple were up 3% Monday, The company could use some good news, after a tough first half of 2025. The stock is down nearly 20% this year. Apple needs more than a hit movie to get back to the top of the podium on Wall Street.

Apple is facing legitimate concerns about whether iPhone sales have peaked and worries that Apple is behind Magnificent Seven rivals such as Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Alphabet in the artificial intelligence arms race.

But several other companies have more direct ties to the popularity of F1. The class A and class C shares of Formula One, the tracking stocks of John Malone’s Liberty Media, which owns the racing circuit, are now up nearly 15% this year and trading near record highs.

The movie’s box office triumph is just the latest good news for Formula One. The sport’s popularity has led to solid ratings for race telecasts on Disney’s ESPN in the U.S.

The ESPN deal ends at the end of this year though, and analysts widely expect that F1 will be able to negotiate for an even more lucrative multiyear contract with a new media partner. F1 is reportedly looking for annual fees of about $150 million, up from the current level of $90 million.

Apple, Netflix, which streams the popular F1 reality show “Drive to Survive,” Amazon and Comcast’s NBC could all be in the running for the broadcast rights, as Disney is said to be not inclined to renew its ESPN deal. A spokesperson for ESPN declined to comment.

But Formula One investors may not be the only winner from the success of the movie. Warner Bros. Discovery also might be getting a boost from the healthy F1 box office too. Shares were up 1% Monday and the stock has gained about 8% this year.

The movie’s solid debut failed to lift shares of theater owners though. Meme stock darling AMC, Cinemark and Marcus were all flat. And these three are all down year to date despite a healthy start to the year for the movie business.

IMAX was up a bit Monday too, and it has gained nearly 9% this year. IMAX said Monday that it had $28 million in box office sales from the F1 movie globally, nearly 20% of the film’s worldwide opening weekend take.

And there is hope for even better days ahead for all the theater chains. The strong box office trends could continue in July, with Jurassic World Rebirth, Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps all due out. The blockbuster box office numbers for F1 The Movie show that consumers are still willing to watch summer action flicks on the big screen.

Write to Paul R. La Monica at paul.lamonica@barrons.com