United Parks & Resorts Inc. (PRKS) · Nov 5, 2026 · Earnings
Miss — Diluted EPS $1.74 vs ~$1.88 consensus; revenue $506.5M vs ~$511.0M
United Parks earnings missed Q3 revenue and EPS expectations as attendance fell, while pricing, in-park spending and pass sales improved.
United Parks is in a recovery-and-reinvestment phase: after a weak 2025 marked by falling attendance, revenue and EBITDA, management entered 2026 trying to improve cost control, attendance and guest spending.
The quarter missed the market’s operating bar. Diluted EPS was $1.74 versus a published consensus of about $1.88, while revenue was $506.5 million versus roughly $511.0 million expected. Revenue fell 1.1% year over year, attendance dropped 4.7%, and Adjusted EBITDA declined 5.1%, so the core demand and profit trend remained weaker than investors were looking for.
| Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Consensus | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (Financial Highlights) | $506.5M (-1.1%) | $511.9M | ~$511.0M |
| Diluted EPS (Income Statement) | $1.74 (+8.1%) | $1.61 | ~$1.88 |
| Adjusted EBITDA (Non-GAAP reconciliation) | $205.1M (-5.1%) | $216.3M | |
| Attendance (Other Data) | 6.47M (-4.7%) | 6.79M | |
| Total revenue per capita (Other Data) | $78.29 (+3.8%) | $75.39 | |
| In-park spending per capita (Other Data) | $37.39 (+4.4%) | $35.82 |
Guest monetization is working, but it is not yet replacing lost traffic. Revenue per visitor rose 3.8%, with in-park spending up 4.4% to a record, showing better pricing, product mix and on-site execution. But that improvement was not enough to offset fewer visitors, leaving revenue and EBITDA lower.
The forward indicators are better than the reported quarter, but still mostly promises. Management attributed roughly 325,000 visits to unusual weather, calendar and international headwinds, plus more than 100,000 visits to reduced promotional admissions. It also reported third-quarter pass sales up almost 8%, the 2027-specific pass base up over 15% as of October 31, and double-digit growth in forward bookings for Discovery Cove and group business. Those trends support a recovery thesis, but they have not yet translated into positive attendance or EBITDA growth in the reported period.
Cash generation is becoming more constrained as investment rises. Nine-month operating cash flow increased 9.4%, but capital expenditures rose 24.3%, leaving free cash flow down 9.2%. That matters because the company is simultaneously funding new attractions and carrying more debt, with cash falling to $26.3 million and total debt rising to $2.28 billion at September 30.
Bottom line: This was a modest earnings miss, not a collapse in the recovery plan. The business is getting more revenue from each guest and building healthier pass trends, but attendance weakness and lower EBITDA mean the turnaround has not yet reached the income statement.
Sources: filing sections and tables cited inline; external consensus cited above.
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