Oscar Snub Is Applauded by SeaWorld Investors

Fans of “Blackfish,” a documentary that casts SeaWorld in a harsh light, were dismayed to learn Thursday morning that the film had not been nominated for an Academy Award.

Stock market investors, on the other hand, were overjoyed.

Shares of SeaWorld Entertainment surged 8.39 percent on Thursday to close at $33.59 a share, the stock’s highest level since August. On a day with little news about SeaWorld, based in Orlando, Fla., it’s not a stretch to suggest that the Oscar snub was fueling the stock’s rise.

“Blackfish” created a headache last year for SeaWorld, which had its debut as a public company in April. The company, taken public by the Blackstone Group, initially seemed to shrug off the early buzz surrounding the film, which focuses on an Orca whale’s fatal attack on a trainer at the company’s Orlando park.

But the stock price entered a prolonged slump in July, the month of the film’s release. SeaWorld undertook an unusually aggressive campaign against the film, sending out a detailed critique. And yet the stock languished for months, hovering just a few dollars above the I.P.O. price.

“Blackfish” wasn’t the only factor putting pressure on the stock. The company lowered ticket prices after experiencing a 9 percent drop in attendance at its theme parks in the second quarter.

The company’s chief executive, James D. Atchison, told Bloomberg TV on Wednesday that the film “hasn’t affected our performance or results.”

The film, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, makes the case that killer whales in captivity suffer physical and mental distress. In a review in The New York Times, Jeannette Catsoulis wrote that the movie “uses the tragic tale of a single whale and his human victims as the backbone of a hypercritical investigation into the marine-park giant SeaWorld Entertainment.”

Until Thursday morning, it had been widely expected to receive an Oscar nomination in the documentary feature category. A nomination alone would have brought renewed attention to the film.

Now, investors may be hoping that SeaWorld can put last year’s public relations brouhaha in the past.

Bloomberg News reported earlier on the stock price movement.

In a research note, Timothy Conder, a Wells Fargo analyst, wrote on Thursday that investors “will now likely return to solely focusing on core fundamentals.”