What happened Shares of National CineMedia (NASDAQ: NCMI) are plunging today, down by 15.4% as of 11:34 a.m. EDT, after the cinema advertising specialist's parent company released a weak preliminary second-quarter earnings report. So what AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC) pre-announced second-quarter revenue of $1.2 billion, well below the Street's $1.3 billion consensus estimate. On the bottom line, analysts wanted to see earnings near $0.10 per share but will instead have to settle for a net loss of approximately $1.35 per share. The weak results stem from soft box office trends across the industry, and none of these metrics are likely to inspire big cinematic ad buys in coming quarters. Image source: Getty Images. Now what National CineMedia and AMC are fighting many headwinds at once. The box office receipts actually mask even weaker attendance figures because average ticket prices are rising. Lower foot traffic to the malls where you find most cineplexes isn't helping either. The same cord-cutting generation that doesn't want to pay extra for TV channels they never watch aren't really into driving down to the movie theater when an internet-connected set-top box can provide hours of high-quality entertainment right at home. AMC is doing its best to stem these negative tides with better seating, in-theater dining, and other customer-friendly improvements to the cinematic experience. Maybe that's enough to save the theater chain itself. But I'm afraid the market for in-theater advertising sales is fading fast and there may be no going back. National CineMedia is in deep trouble, and trading at fresh multiyear lows for good reason. 10 stocks we like much better than National CineMediaWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and National CineMedia wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of August 1, 2017Anders Bylund has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.