The Summer Olympics, while a ratings boon for NBC, pulled millions of viewers’ eyeballs away from movie theaters and movie rentals, say many Hollywood insiders. That pent-up demand for movies released during the Games will result in a flood of fourth quarter movie rentals when the films hit Redbox, according to one analyst.

B. Riley & Co. analyst Eric Wold, who is one of Redbox’s staunchest supporters in the industry, says that the kiosk renter’s parent company Coinstar will see a jump in its share price due to surging demand for fall disc releases that hit theaters during the summer months.

Comparing a drop and then uptick in Coinstar shares during and after the 2008 Olympics, Wold said the following:

“Therefore, we view this potential [Q4] boost as a solid safety cushion in a period of uncertainty,”

Wold also claims that Coinstar shares are set to jump on the imminent release of Redbox Instant by Verizon, the joint streaming venture between the two companies. Wold expects the announcement of the service’s launch within the next 30-45 days. Said Wold:

“We continue to believe that consumers are clamoring for an effective combo subscription product … with pricing that could be 50% to 60% lower than the similar offering from Netflix, we could see a path to profitability that is quicker than most are currently expecting . . . We view this announcement as [another] positive trigger for Coinstar shares.”

Is this just typical Redbox cheerleading by Wold, or will the analyst’s predictions come to pass?

[via Home Media Magazine]