United Parks revenue, income and attendance down in second quarter
Posted
From the press release (PDF):
- Attendance was 6.1 million guests, a decrease of approximately 0.2 million guests or 2.9% from the second quarter of 2025.
- Total revenue was $483.3 million, a decrease of $6.9 million or 1.4% from the second quarter of 2025.
- Net income was $63.3 million, a decrease of $16.8 million or 21.0% from the second quarter of 2025.
- Adjusted EBITDA was $195.5 million, a decrease of $10.8 million or 5.2% from the second quarter of 2025.
- Total revenue per capita increased 1.5% to $79.82 compared to the second quarter of 2025. Admission per capita decreased 1.8% to $40.31 while in-park per capita spending increased 5.1% to a record $39.51 compared to the second quarter of 2025.
I would call this “stable” given the economic environment we are in with international tourism down, weather challenges, and discretionary spending having to cover gasoline and food for many families. If they would bite the bullet and get their ride operations house in order they probably could improve season pass sales and single day sales from enthusiasts adding their parks to a vacation itinerary.
The only thing I can characterize as "stable" is the flatline of returned capital spent on non-IP based coasters. The patient is unresponsive and the only thing they can do is buy stock and hope for a temporary bump of a new ride for a couple months. I don't think this is exclusive to United, but their strategy has been particularly prone to failure since the pivot from animals.
This is the best analysis I've read so far, it's well worth the read:
https://www.linkedin.com/pu...nue-j4cfe/
Ten years (into this plan), United Parks extracts 4 percent less from each guest in real terms than it did before any of this began, and real revenue per guest peaked in 2022 and has fallen every year since.... United Parks and resorts has invested about US$2.9 billion since 2010, an average of US$183 million a year.... Sixteen years, US$2.9 billion, and fewer people came.
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