United Parks (PRKS) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

DATE

Nov. 5, 2026

CALL PARTICIPANTS

• Head of Investor Relations - Matthew V. Stroud
• Chief Executive Officer - Marc G. Swanson
• Interim Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer - Jim Forrester

TAKEAWAYS

• Total Revenue -- $506.5 million, a decrease of 1.1% compared to the prior year period primarily due to lower attendance.
• Net Income -- $80.0 million, representing a 10.5% decrease driven by higher selling, general, and administrative expenses.
• Net Earnings Per Share (Diluted) -- $1.74, an 8.1% increase from $1.61 in the third quarter of 2025 despite lower net income, reflecting the impact of share repurchases.
• Adjusted EBITDA -- $205.1 million, a decrease of 5.1% compared to the prior year period.
• Attendance -- 6.5 million guests, a decrease of 4.7% primarily attributable to unfavorable weather, calendar impacts, and international headwinds.
• Total Revenue Per Capita -- $78.29, an increase of 3.8% driven by improved admissions pricing and in-park execution.
• Admission Per Capita -- $40.90, growing 3.4% because of increased realized pricing and product mix.
• In-Park Per Capita Spending -- $37.39, a record high that increased 4.4% reflecting higher guest penetration and pricing initiatives.
• 2027 Pass Product Base -- Up over 15% as of Oct. 31, 2026, indicating strong early demand for the upcoming season.
• Total Pass Sales -- Increased almost 8% during the third quarter, supported by a new dedicated strategy and team.
• Cost Savings Targets -- $50 million in gross savings for 2026, with an additional $40 million to $50 million in gross savings targeted for 2027.
• Sponsorship Revenue -- $12 million to $15 million projected for 2026, with management aiming to grow this to a $30 million line of business in the coming years.
• Share Repurchases -- $218 million year-to-date through Oct. 2026, representing approximately 12% of total outstanding shares.
• Capital Expenditures -- $69.7 million for the quarter, with the company currently expecting to spend less than $250 million for the full year.
• Net Total Leverage Ratio -- 3.55x, with approximately $75 million of total available liquidity as of Sept. 30, 2026.
• Deferred Revenue -- $152.5 million, an increase of 4.9% compared to Sept. 2025.
• International Visitation -- Remains more than 50% below 2019 levels, though recent sales revenue has increased mid-single digits.
• Weather and Calendar Impact -- Approximately 325,000 lost visits attributed to unusual headwinds, including unfavorable weather and international trends.
• Promotional Admissions Impact -- Approximately 100,000 fewer visits resulting from a planned reduction in promotional admissions products.
• Discovery Cove and Group Bookings -- Forward bookings revenue for 2027 is running up double-digit percentages compared to the prior year at the same time.

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RISKS

• Swanson stated, "If this super El Niño hangs around, it is going to be tougher obviously," regarding the difficulty of growing adjusted EBITDA in the near term if unfavorable weather persists.
• Swanson warned that recent interest rate volatility has extended the timeline of discussions with third parties regarding the valuation of the company's real estate assets.
• Swanson noted that the international business has faced a tough stretch with visitation significantly below historical levels, though he expects it to become a tailwind in 2027.

SUMMARY

United Parks & Resorts Inc. (NYSE:PRKS) reported a focus on strategic growth and cost management while navigating significant weather-related attendance headwinds during the third quarter. Management stated that excluding approximately 325,000 visits lost to unusual weather and international trends, attendance would have increased year over year. The company reported record in-park per capita spending and a positive turn in its total paid pass base as of Oct. 31. Management also highlighted ongoing progress on strategic initiatives, including real estate value realization, international expansion, and a modernization of its marketing framework to drive long-term shareholder value.

• Management signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with a new partner for a potential new park in the Middle East and is in active discussions with several other global partners.
• The company is exploring the application of AI, robotics, and automation across its operations to drive further cost efficiencies and labor savings.
• Swanson stated interest from multiple credible parties confirmed that the value of the company's real estate is not fully reflected in its current public market valuation.
• Marketing strategy evolution continues as the company modernizes its CRM activities and invests in reaching new audiences to generate more awareness.
• The company expects international visitation to be a tailwind for the remainder of 2026 and into 2027 as it laps prior-year headwinds.
• Management is rededicating resources to capture domestic, international, and group sales, with forward indicators for the group business showing double-digit growth for 2027.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

• Total Revenue Per Capita: The average amount of revenue generated per park guest, calculated as total revenue divided by attendance.
• Admission Per Capita: The average revenue generated from ticket sales per park guest.
• In-Park Per Capita Spending: The average amount spent by each guest on food, merchandise, and other in-park experiences.
• Adjusted EBITDA: A non-GAAP financial measure that adjusts net income for interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and other non-cash or unusual items.
• Pass Base: The total number of active annual, seasonal, or other multi-visit pass holders.
• Deferred Revenue: Payments received in advance for products or services to be provided in the future, such as advance ticket or pass sales.
• Fun Card: A promotional admission product that allows guests to pay for a day and return for the remainder of the season or year.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Operator: Hello, and welcome to United Parks and Resorts Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the conference over to Matthew V. Stroud, Head of Investor Relations. You may begin.

Matthew V. Stroud: Thank you, Sarah, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to United Parks and Resorts third quarter earnings conference call. Today's call is being webcast and recorded. A press release was issued this morning and is available on our Investor Relations website www.unitedparksinvestors.com. Replay information for this call can be found in the press release and will be available on our website following the call. Joining me this morning are Marc G. Swanson, Chief Executive Officer and Jim Forrester, Interim Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. This morning, we will review our third quarter financial results, and then we will open the call to your questions.

Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that our comments today will contain forward looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from those forward looking statements. Including those identified in the Risk Factors section of our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports filed on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These factors may be updated from time to time and will be included in our filings with the SEC that are available on our website. We undertake no obligation to update any forward looking statements.

In addition, on the call, we may reference non GAAP financial measures and other financial metrics such as adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. More information regarding our forward looking statements and reconciliations of non GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measure is included in our earnings release available on our website and can also be found in our filings with the SEC. Now I would like to turn the call over to our Chief Executive Officer, Marc G. Swanson. Marc?

Marc G. Swanson: Thank you, Matthew. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. We are pleased with the underlying performance of our business. Despite significantly unfavorable weather, calendar impacts and international headwinds during the quarter. Excluding the impact of these unusual headwinds, which amounted to approximately 325 thousand visits, our tenants would have been up. Our tenants during the quarter was also impacted by a planned reduction in promotional admissions products, which amounted to more than 100 thousand visits. We delivered another quarter of growth in total revenue per capita, driven by continued strong in park execution and improved admissions product pricing and management.

We are continuing to make progress across many of our key initiatives and continue to have significant opportunity to improve execution. Underscoring the progress we are making, our total pass sales during the third quarter were up almost 8% and our total paid pass base was positive as of October 31. what is even more encouraging are 2027 specific pass products base is up over 15% as of October 31. Despite continued brutal weather in October, our projected total revenue was up for the month and our separately ticketed Howl-O-Scream events saw meaningful year over year growth on non impacted weather days.

Looking ahead to 2027 and beyond, we see a clear path to deliver significantly higher attendance revenue, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. In addition to the encouraging trends in our admissions and in part per caps, our pass sales and pass base, 2027 forward bookings revenue for Discovery Cove and for our group business are each currently running up double digit percentages versus prior year at the same time. I am also pleased with the forward trends we are seeing in our international business, which is now and will be going forward lapping a tough stretch.

Our international sales revenue has been up mid single digits recently, we expect international visitation to be a tailwind for the rest of the year and into 2027. As we enter this upcoming holiday season, we are about to launch another year of our popular holiday event lineup, which again will feature the popular rides, attractions, and immersive exhibits that guests have come to love alongside new and improved elements across our parks. I want to thank our ambassadors for their dedication and hard work during our busy summer and Halloween seasons and their ongoing commitment to deliver another memorable holiday experience for our guests.

While this year's weather and international attendance related headwinds have been challenging, we are encouraged by our recent results and trends. And the significant opportunities we have ahead. We remain focused, well positioned, and highly confident in our ability to significantly grow the business and deliver meaningful increases in value for shareholders.¶ Let me briefly comment on the most recent market price of our publicly traded stock. While I recognize we have recently delivered financial performance meaningfully below the potential of this business, management and the board strongly believe the current value of our company is materially below the fair and reasonable value of the business.

Our long term track record are irreplaceable assets are globally recognized brands, our favorable market position, our owned underlying real estate, our proven and resilient business model, the long term cash flow generation potential, and the long term growth prospects of the business born at significantly higher valuation. Management and the board are committed to taking action and utilizing available options to close the sizable valuation gap. We expect to continue to buy back stock as long as a disconnect exists between our view of fair or reasonable value and the market price of our common equity. when we have sufficient available liquidity, when our governance documents allow, and when our board determines it is the best use of capital.

Today, this year, we have purchased $218 million of stock or approximately 12% of our total outstanding shares. While we did not purchase any shares in Q3, due to the cash flow dynamics of the business this year, we expect to return to buying our shares when we rebuild our cash balances going forward subject to the conditions previously outlined. Now let me give a brief update on some of our strategic initiatives. On real estate, as we previously reported, we have received interest from multiple highly credible parties that assign significant value to our real estate versus the implied value in the public equity market. Recent volatility in interest rates has extended the timeline of our discussions.

As you well know, there can be no assurances we will ultimately achieve terms that meet our requirements. In any event, learning the value that these parties design to our real estate has confirmed our belief that the value of our real estate is not reflected in our public market valuation. We will continue to work on these opportunities and will continue to report to you on our progress. On sponsorships, we continue to be on track to have approximately $12 million to $15 million in sponsorship revenue in 2026. We expect this business to be at least a $30 million line of business in the coming years. We are really excited for this opportunity. I am international.

We are happy to report that during Q3, we signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with a new partner for a potential new park in The Middle East and we continue to advance discussions with several other partners around the world. We look forward to sharing more on this potential new project and on other discussions as they progress. On IP partnerships, we continue to be in multiple active discussions to bring additional compelling and well recognized IP into our parks in innovative and exciting ways. We are also in discussions with potential partners about adding complementary entertainment offerings on land, we own adjacent to our parks.

We expect to have more to share related to these opportunities in 2027 and beyond. On marketing, as we have previously communicated, we have had less than stellar execution, and it is been an area that has been quite frustrating. We are making slow progress. We are continuing to evolve our strategy, our partners, and our teams. We need to continue to make investments to reach new and incremental audiences and to provide more compelling visuals and messaging and generate more awareness.

We also need to leverage our CRM much better and have made some progress to modernize our activities and increase effectiveness in this area. there is a lot more work to do and we are confident the changes we are making will help strengthen how we communicate and position us to engage a broader audience more effectively. On costs, we continue to be on pace to achieve our $50 million gross cost savings target most of which will have been realized in 2026 and some of which will be realized in 2027. And we are actively working on our 2027 objectives with an initial targeted savings of an additional $40 million to $50 million of gross cost savings.

We have spent considerable time with an in house team along with third parties on identifying and mapping plans for AI capabilities in the organization where relevant and have also invested in and are excited about the results we have seen exploring the application of robotics and automation in certain parts of our operations. Regarding capital allocation, we have discussed in the past our strong balance sheet provides us with the flexibility to allocate capital to maximize the long term value of our enterprise. As you all know, our board is focused on maximizing long term value for shareholders and will act dynamically with that objective as opportunities are presented.

We are encouraged by the clear strategic runway ahead supported by substantial capital investments and a comprehensive suite of initiatives currently underway across our organization. These deliberate actions are designed to enhance the guest experience accelerate revenue growth, and optimize our cost structure to drive long term profitability. By building a more robust and resilient enterprise, we are confident in our ability to deliver higher attendance, revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow and higher shareholder value. With that, Jim will discuss our financial results in more detail.

James W. Forrester: Thank you, Marc. During the third quarter, we generated total revenue of $506.5 million, a decrease of $5.4 million or 1.1% when compared to the third quarter of 25. The decrease in total revenue compared to the third quarter of 25 was primarily a result of a decrease in attendance, partially offset by an increase in total revenue per capita. Attendance for the third quarter of 26 decreased by 320 thousand guests or 4.7% when compared to the prior year quarter. The decrease in attendance was primarily attributable to unfavorable weather a calendar impact and a decline in international visitation compared to the same quarter in the prior year.

In the third quarter of 26, total revenue per capita increased 3.8%. Admission per capita increased 3.4% and in park per capita spending increased 4.4%. Admission per capita increased primarily due to increased realized pricing on certain emissions products, and the net impact of the admissions product mix when compared to the same prior year quarter. In park per capita spending increased primarily due to higher penetration, and the impact of pricing initiatives compared to the same prior year quarter. Operating expenses decreased $4.1 million or 1.9% when compared to the third quarter of 25. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $7.9 million or 13.1% compared to the third quarter of 25.

We reported net income of $80 million, the third quarter compared to net income of $89.3 million in the third quarter of 25. We generated adjusted EBITDA of $205.1 million, a decrease of $11.2 million when compared to the third quarter of 25. Looking at our results for the first 9 months of 26 compared to 2025, Total revenue was $1.27 billion, a decrease of $20.9 million or 1.6%. Total attendance was 15.7 million guests, a decrease of approximately 670 thousand guests or 4.1%. Net income for the period was $109.2 million, a decrease of $44.1 million and adjusted EBITDA was $458.6 million, a decrease of $31.4 million. Now turning to our balance sheet.

Our 9/30/2026 net total leverage ratio is 3.55x and we had approximately $75 million of total available liquidity. Including approximately $26 million of cash in the balance sheet. The strong balance sheet gives us flexibility to continue to invest in and grow our business and to opportunistically allocate capital with a goal to maximize long term value for shareholders. Our deferred revenue balance as of the end of September was $152.5 million. Deferred revenue increased approximately 4.9% when compared to September 2025. As a reminder, our deferred revenue balance contains a number of products that include ticketing, vacation packages, annual and seasonal passes, and ancillary products.

We also continue to see many pass holders who have been with us for at least a year, who transition to month to month payments at the completion of their initial pass commitment. Since month to month revenue does not show up, as deferred revenue. Through October 2026, our paid pass base increased 0.3% compared to October 2025. During the quarter, we launched our new pass products for 2027, which include our best benefits ever. We have a new dedicated team a new strategy, an approach to pass that we continue to expect will lead to meaningful increases in the pass base for 2027 and beyond.

We spent $69.7 million on CapEx in the third quarter of 2020 of which approximately $47.4 million was on core CapEx and approximately $22.4 million was on expansion and our and or ROI projects. For 2026, we currently expect to spend less than $250 million of CapEx. Now let me turn the call back over to Marc, who will share some final thoughts. Marc?

Marc G. Swanson: Thank you, Jim. Before we open the call to your questions, I have some closing comments. In the third quarter of 2 thousand 26, we came to the aid of 237 animals in need, Over our history, we have helped over 43 thousand animals including bottlenose dolphins, manatees, sea lions, seals, sea turtles, sharks, birds, and more. I am really proud of the team's hard work and their continued dedication to these important rescue efforts. Looking ahead, our strategic priorities center on growing revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow and significantly growing shareholder value. Our roadmap is driven by several high impact initiatives. We have an exciting pipeline of new rides, attractions, and new or refreshed seasonal events.

We are executing in park upgrades to improve guest experience and optimize in park per capita spending. We are deploying an updated and modernized marketing framework to accelerate brand awareness and drive visitation. We are investing in resources and technology to help us manage and grow in park and admissions per capita spending. We are rededicating resources to better manage and capture domestic international and group sales. We are investing in capabilities and dedicating teams to capture sponsorship opportunities and international licensing opportunities. We are highly focused on identifying efficiencies and reducing waste and unnecessary costs through technology, capital investment, and process improvements.

We are dedicated to allocating our excess capital of care, and in a way that maximizes value for shareholders. We operate in a growing industry characterized by favorable competitive dynamics supported by our irreplaceable brand portfolio a highly cash generative business, model, and well capitalized assets. And we have high conviction in our long term trajectory and our ability to increase shareholder value. Now we can take your questions.

Operator: Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please press 1 on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, simply press 1 again. We ask that you please limit yourself to 1 question and 1 follow-up, and then rejoin the queue if necessary. Thank you. Your first question comes from Steven Wieczynski with Stifel. Your line is open.

Steven Wieczynski: So, Marc, I want to understand the October trends a little bit more. I guess you called out a significant weather headwind in October, but the month, it sounds like it is still going to be positive from a revenue perspective. So maybe can you help us think about what that revenue trend you know, would have looked like if weather was normal?

Or maybe a better way to ask that is, in the days where weather was normal, what did revenue trends look like on those days And I guess given how weather given how October trended, do you think it is possible at this point to still kind of grow EBITDA in the fourth quarter over the fourth quarter of 25?

Marc G. Swanson: Yeah. Hey, Steven. I can take that question? So yeah, October was really impacted by a lot of weather, as I mentioned in my prepared remarks. We are dealing with this super El Niño that has been talked about quite a bit. So we saw a very meaningful impact, especially in our California park and then know, really across a number of markets, including Virginia, as well as here in Florida where we have had rain. So we just had a lot of rain on a number of weekends. And when you have rain on a weekend in a park like Williamsburg, Virginia, where they are really not open as much during the week.

You know, the weekend is where they make most of their attendance. So when we have a rainout on a big weekend day, that significantly impacts it. And we had poor weather over Columbus Day as well. And then again, these dynamics that we are seeing in California where at 1 point it was 100 degrees in San Diego which is very unusual. To where they had this tropical storm. or tropical storm/hurricane Hilary over Columbus Day weekend. And then they even had some rain on Halloween day itself. In San Diego, which is very, very unusual. So there is a lot of weather noise in the business in October.

Despite that, we did grow revenue or projected to grow revenue during the month. We did we did pick up an extra Saturday in the month, obviously, it was Halloween day, and, typically, Halloween on a Saturday is not you know, something we would prefer. A lot of people spend Halloween closer to their neighborhood or with friends or something and not necessarily a theme park. But nonetheless, we expect to grow revenue in the month of October. As far as the outlook for the rest of the year, you know, I like the setup for some of the things we talked about. For, you know, the rest of this year and into 2027 with a positive past base now.

Better trends on our per caps as we discussed. And some of the other forward indicators that really go more into 2027, obviously. But we will have to see. I mean, if this super El Niño hangs around, it is going to be tougher obviously. To grow EBITDA in the back half or in the next 2 months. 2 or 3-- we do not have an October number yet. So to grow, we will have to we will have to get a break from this super El Niño, I think. Otherwise, outside of that, when weather is normal, we feel pretty good about the business. We like the we like the opportunities we are seeing when weather is good.

We saw that a little bit in October, mentioned, with our Howl-O-Scream event, which is a separately ticketed event at night in a few of our parks. When weather was good, we saw nice results with that. So hopefully that is helpful.

Steven Wieczynski: Yeah. that is great. Thanks, Marc. And then look. I. You know, I know it is early, and you know, you guys do not give guidance anyway. But as we start to think about next year, I would assume based on some pretty easy comparisons you know, coupled with stabilization, it sounds like, the international side of things, You know, it should be a year finally of kind of getting back to the growth side of things from an EBITDA perspective. I mean, even if weather does not cooperate given the you know, the somewhat easy comparison. So I want to make sure I am kind of thinking about that the right way.

And then Marc, if you want to provide any kind of high level thoughts around how you guys are thinking about 2027, I think that would be super helpful. Thank you.

Marc G. Swanson: Sure. I absolutely agree with you that I think next year is the year to get back to growth, obviously. I would agree with what you said there. And there is a few things that give me confidence in that, obviously. 1, you know, the pass base turned positive. As you heard Jim and I talk about And we know that is a really pretty critical piece of our business. Roughly 40% of our attendance comes on some sort of past product.

So to have that come over into the positive territory now, and then those products that are specific to 2027, like our fun cards, to see the growth that we have seen here early on in that sales process. Is encouraging. So I like the pass base setup going into next year. Like you mentioned, the recent trends in per caps, getting admissions per cap in the positive territory, was good. And so if we can continue to grow both admissions and in park per cap, we like that setup. The bookings revenue for Discovery Cove and our group business is up as well and looks encouraging.

And this And this will all be supported by a lineup of new rides, attractions, events. Our goal is to have new things in our parks every year. I think, again, we will have a good lineup going forward of some mix of all those things that I just mentioned. You know, we are also making, you know, I mentioned slow progress, but progress in marketing certainly think we can do a better job of that next year. And I mentioned in my prepared remarks, the real recent trends here in international are showing growth as well. So I think we have hopefully hit the bottom there. And now going forward, we will see growth.

And that will be a tailwind for us as well. So we like that setup with all those things.

Analyst: And then if we get any sort of break with the weather, which, I am optimistic we will, I think that can drive the growth that we have been talking about.

Operator: Your next question comes from James Hardiman with Citi. Your line is open.

James Hardiman: Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. So, I wanted to stay on topic here based on your previous answer and really focus on the international piece. Obviously, you know, we really have not recovered to where we were in 2019. It sounds like maybe, though, at some point, maybe starting in 2025, things took an even incremental leg down.

Maybe give us some of the whys surrounding why you think international has been so difficult for you in the last couple of years And then what is changed, to allow you to see you know, better numbers more recently, but more importantly, gives you the confidence that we are at an inflection point and that, ultimately, that is gonna be a tailwind in 2027. Thanks.

Marc G. Swanson: Yeah. James, I can take that question? And, just as a reminder, because you kind of alluded to this, I mean we are still down more than 50% versus 2019. So while that is a lot, you know, that is you know, normally, it is about 10% of our attendance internationally. In 2019, that is what it was. We are getting obviously much less than that. But it is you know, in the range of a 1 million-person opportunity if we can get back to 2019 levels with international. So it is a big opportunity, and we are aware of that. it is obviously more confined to the to the Florida market for the most part.

I think some of the some of the things, the macro headwinds related to international visitation have been discussed by us and others. So I do not know that I have a whole lot of control over that. I think 1 of the things we have tried to do more recently here is we have you know, I think a better team managing this business. We are seeing some, I think, encouraging things with some of the international resellers. We have people that go over and visit some of these markets and try to encourage people to come to our parks. So we are managing that I think better than we have in the past.

So I think we are going to do our part. We can always do better But certainly some function of this will be dependent on just the macro conditions improving primarily in Florida, which you know, hopefully they will. Like I said, I think we have come closer, have hit the bottom just based on what we are seeing And it. You know, we have a fairly easy comp going forward. So we should we should see this as a tailwind, obviously.

James Hardiman: Got it. And then, on the cost, margin side, you have outlined $4.05 billion of gross cost savings for 2027. I think pretty much every year, you have successfully identified and I think executed on you know, an impressive cost savings program, at least on the growth front. The challenge is sometimes, or most times, it seems like that has not necessarily-- translated into net savings or, I guess, more specifically, margin expansion. Maybe walk us through sort of how we should be thinking about gross to net in 2027, you know, puts and takes. Obviously, labor is a big 1.

But you know, it seems like you are pretty optimistic that we are gonna buck the last I do not know, 3- or 4-year trend of margin compression. What gives you that confidence?

Marc G. Swanson: Yeah, I can take that question, James. So first, I think 1 of the biggest impacts on margin has just been our revenue decline. So beauty of this business is any sort of attendance or per cap growth generally has a very high flow through. So if we can get just some nominal growth even and, hopefully, we are gonna do better than that, in revenue and attendance and stuff like that. It should largely flow through and help that margin. But on the cost side, specifically, I think there is a couple things. 1, as we have talked about kinda managing that adjusted EBITDA cost growth.

And by that, I mean, the cost that sit between revenue and adjusted EBITDA. We have managed that to, like, a low single digit growth level and we did that again here in Q3. So we are finding the savings, you mentioned, and they are offsetting other pressures. And I think everybody is you know, lots of companies talk about pressures and all sorts of things, whether it is utilities or insurance, whatever it may be. And we have done a, you know, reasonably decent job of offsetting a fair amount of that.

Perhaps what is changing a little bit going forward is I think there is some new tools I mentioned around AI and automation and things like that are promising. Still in, obviously, kind of mapping those out and seeing how we will deploy those. But those, I think, have the opportunity to be a little more transformative than maybe some of the things we have done in the past around in those areas.

And then we have work that is a little bit longer lead time, but we have been working on now for a good part of 2026 around you know, insurance and claims and utilities and some of that taxes Some of those things just have a longer lead time. So hopefully, we will start to see some of the benefit of those in 2027. So we like the setup to find the gross cost savings We have to do a better job, as you said, of kind of delivering that to the bottom line.

Operator: Your next question comes from Patrick Scholes of Truist Securities. Your line is open.

Charles Scholes: Hi. Good morning, everyone. Question regarding where you wrote in the release about 2027-specific past product basis up 15% as October 31. Could you be a little bit more clear or provide specifics on what specific pass product base is and what it is not? Thank you.

Marc G. Swanson: Sure. Sure. I can help you with that? So we have certain products, in some of our more seasonal parks but really across all our parks that are just good for the season, But if you buy them now, 1 of the incentives is to get the rest of this year and 2027 included. And so, like, the most popular 1 would be our fun card. So whenever you buy the fun card, it is just good for you know, that year. Unless you buy it now, you get the rest of this year and 2027. But if you were to buy that in March of next year, it is it is only good for 27.

Whereas, like, our more annual passes are good generally 12 months from when you buy them, or you can go into, like, a month to month program, and they just they just continue on. So we have, you know, kind of 2 sets of products that the kind of annual pass that you can go eventually convert to month to month and then the products that are just tied to 1 specific year, which would primarily be our fun card.

Charles Scholes: But traditionally, have sold those you know, here in the third to fourth quarter for next year as an incentive, you know, buy it now, you will get all of next-- you will get the rest of this year and next year included. Think we have done a good job of supporting that better than ever with not only a good team of people executing that sale and that sales process, but more dedicated messaging and media around that. So it is encouraging. it is obviously early and early in the process. And really the next big period here is coming up pretty soon with our Black Friday sale.

We typically do sell a good amount of passes or fun cards during that time frame. So I will be able to report to you on that when we talk next. But obviously, it is, I think, a good sign and urgency. Okay. And just a quick follow-up. How much as a and as a percentage of total annual attendance do those specific types of products, typically account for? Thank you.

Marc G. Swanson: Well, we do not break it out. I mean, what I can tell you is we consider all those things generically as a pass. And so when I say our pass faces up, that includes our annual passes, our seasonal passes, our preschool passes, our teacher passes, all that we kinda consider passed. And that pass phase is up, as Jim said, as of the end of October. And that usually accounts for about 40% of our attendance over the course of the year. It can vary by park, but 40% in total for the company usually.

Operator: Your next question comes from Lizzie Dove with Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.

Elizabeth Dove: Hi. This is Nina on for Lizzie. Given some of the recent pressure at the non Orlando parks, has your view changed at all around the appropriate level of investment across the portfolio? And how do you determine which parks warrant incremental capital?

Marc G. Swanson: Yeah, thanks for the question. I can help you there. I mean, look, I mentioned earlier we are going to make investments in our parks to make sure we have new things to talk about. And that could be either rides, attractions, events, refresh venues, whatever it may be. So we will we will continue to do that. it is really a market by market opportunity there. And we do try to study what we believe will drive more visitation to those parks. So we will we will continue to support the kind of non Orlando parks like we hit. Mike we have in the past. Think we probably have the biggest opportunity in Busch Gardens, Tampa Bay.

I think not only is that a great park, it has a good breadth of rides, attractions, wonderful animal. Collection. But at the same time, I do not know that people really have a total awareness of everything it has and everything we can do. We also need to do a better job of managing kind of the experience in that part. We recently brought back 1 of our former leaders is back running that park and I think he is going to do a better job of getting that experience where we would like to going forward. But we will continue to invest in Tampa, and we have continued to invest in all of our parks going forward.

Operator: Thank you. Your next question comes from Benjamin Chaikin with Mizuho. Your line is open.

Benjamin Chaiken: Hi. This is Rita Chan on for Benjamin Chaikin. Would you mind talking a little bit more about your deferred revenue? it is up in year over year in the quarter and that includes a number of products. So we just kinda wanna understand driving the acceleration.

Marc G. Swanson: Yeah. Let me start it if Jim wants to add anything. But, yeah, I am glad I am glad you mentioned that our deferred revenue or the current portion is up almost 5% as Jim said in his prepared remarks. And there is a lot of things that make up that balance, obviously. But clearly it is it is it is advanced purchases. Right? So it is advanced purchases of you know, our tickets, our in park experiences, you know, group business, all that. So there. there is a myriad of things that go in there and that drive that.

I think the key takeaway is that it is it is positive and to be up almost 5%, think is another good indicator for where the business is headed for the foreseeable future here.

James W. Forrester: Margaret, the only thing I would like to add to that is, as you mentioned, the group business as part of that. We have some forward looking indicators that our group business is going to be substantially up next year, which gives us a lot of confidence again in some of the indicators of how 2027 might fare for us. And so that is a major part of this that we are pleased to see that growth year over year.

Operator: Great. Thank you for the color. Your next question comes from Arpine Kocharyan with UBS. Your line is open.

Arpine Kocharyan: Hi. Thank you for taking my question. I was hoping you could clarify the past product growth for 2027. What portion of that is actually pricing versus unit increase? And then I. there is a small clarification question I have on per cap increases for the quarter. It seems like you were saying the sponsorship revenue will pick up in the back half of the year. Year over year, how that adding to per cap growth if you could clarify that? And then I have a quick follow-up.

Marc G. Swanson: Yeah. So on the 2027 pass comment, that is a I was quoting the base. So the base would be number of units. So people who have a product. Right? So the total pass base, Jim mentioned, is positive as of October 31. And those 2027-specific products are more positive, but that would be the number of units, which I think is a good thing. Right? The more the more people that have a unit or a pass hopefully that translates into a visit and then on the. I think your question on sponsorship revenue, I mean, certainly, we have seen that as an opportunity. We talked about that for a while now.

We continue to execute on some of those things. We think over the coming years, that will continue to be an area that we can grow. And that will contribute to some of the growth here.

James W. Forrester: I think even in the back half of this year, right? Yes. there is still some additional opportunity at the back half of the year, and then we continue to find new opportunities that will materialize in 2027.

Arpine Kocharyan: Okay. that is great. Thank you. that is helpful. And then my first question was actually related to, like, how much pricing you have taken in the past product, if you are able to shed any light on that. But it is combined with my follow-up question, which is really on 2027. I guess I am trying to better understand what gives you the confidence in projecting EBITDA growth for 2027. Is that just a function of this strong pay. Past base that you are looking at better group business, it seems like. But then I was hoping you could talk a little bit more on the OpEx side of things. What gives you confidence there?

As it relates to stuff that you can actually control, like what underlying inflation are you factoring in today? When you talk about growth in EBITDA for 2027?

Marc G. Swanson: Okay. Yeah. there is there is a couple things there. So let me start and then Jim can add maybe some stuff on the cost. But like the I think part of your question was about what gives me confidence for next year and 1 of them 1 of the things you have you have already alluded to it is just the pass base and the fact that it is up and positive And that. that is a good thing. I mean, if we have not been able to talk about a positive past space in a little while, So to have that positive should obviously support more visitation from that group on a go forward basis.

And we will continue to I do not want to get into it too much for competitive reasons, but we will we will continue to kinda optimize how we sell our product and we can test and learn and optimize from there. So our goal is obviously to drive total revenue. And there is the times we are gonna do things that you know, that we want to test and learn from. So we will we will continue to look to sell more passes more fun cards, those type of things on a go forward basis. That will help support the 2027 growth potential along with, you know, kind of some of the other things I talked about.

You know, with the lineup of new things we have got coming to our parks, next year and whether it is new rides or events. Or enhanced venues. We will have, I think, a better marketing kind of strategy and execution around that. We should have international growth going forward as I already alluded to The Discovery Cove and group business looks very encouraging for next year. And then, you know, more recently here, the per cap trends on admissions per cap And then we continue, obviously, to deliver on the impart, which we have for some time now. So you know, I guess the obvious other thing is if we would expect to get some better weather.

We got to get through this super El Niño thing but I am optimistic that weather, like, you know, the majority of next year should hopefully be improved from this year, which was really unfortunately bad. So that is kind of how we think about next year.

James W. Forrester: On the cost, I think you had a question around kinda inflation and our assumptions. So Generally, we would assume that we are going to do everything we can to flatten the curve, continue in 2027 for cost at maximum extremely low single digit, but again, aiming for flat to. We see those net savings materialize to go under. We have got confidence in there because of our current investments in technology whether that is directly replacing things that reduces cost, for example, or to implement some ideas in the labor scheduling area that will allow us to better schedule and reduce labor costs there.

And then we also are being much more judicious in our use of marketing funds to be very much more targeted and to allow us to see the benefits there as well.

Operator: This concludes the question-and-answer session. I will turn the call to Marc G. Swanson for closing remarks.

Marc G. Swanson: Yes. Thank you, Sarah. On behalf of Jim and the rest of the management team at United Parks and Resorts, I want to thank you for joining us this morning. As you heard us today, we are confident in our long term strategy. Which we believe will drive improved operating and financial results and long term value for stakeholders. We invite everyone to join us at our parks, to experience the energy and excitement we are offering. Thank you, and we look forward to speaking with you next quarter.

Operator: This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect.

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