Six Flags stock plummets on earnings miss, cites declining park attendance
Six Flags shares are moving lower after disappointing earnings results, which the company partially attributed to spring break.
Video Transcript
ALI CANAL: My triple play is Six Flags. And I'm going to be a little cheesy here, but it is a red flag today for investors, considering the company missed on both the top and bottom lines after reporting quarterly earnings. The stock is down just around 20%.
And the company blamed the miss on weak attendance, which fell 22% year-over-year in the most recent quarter. That's a wildly different story compared to Disney, which saw its park revenue rise 70% year-over-year. Now, we've heard this narrative of revenge travel, pent-up demand, people getting back out there. Most of these other theme park operators have seen attendance back to pre-pandemic levels.
So this is a bit surprising. But Six Flags is in the midst of a pretty aggressive turnaround plan that includes price hikes and improving the overall guest experience by attracting a more higher end customer base. So that's an interesting strategy that the company has defended. They're looking for a more premium clientele. So I don't know, Rachelle, if you think that's going to work longer term, but, clearly, the stock's suffering today.
RACHELLE AKUFFO: I think it's a really interesting comparison, because I feel like Disney is one of those trips you sort of save up for, and you're really excited to go for. Six Flags is usually something you drive to. So when you factor in things like gas prices, if you're going to sort of put yourself at risk or spend a lot of money, you're probably just going to go for the big guns and probably go for Disney. So that may be why Six Flags is slipping. I'm not sure where they go from here.
All right, well that does it for Triple Play. Oh, go ahead, Ali.
ALI CANAL: Oh no, I was just going to say it was interesting too because in-park spending, that was up 23%. And you know the margins are very high on that. If you want to get a soda or a sandwich at the park, it's very high. So that was an interesting thing too.
BRIAN CHEUNG: Funnel cake at Six Flags hits different, though. It really does. That's all I have to say.
