Industry News
Vail Resorts reported its quarterly earnings for Q2 of the 2026 fiscal year ended January 31. According to the press release and 10Q filing from March 9, the company has been struggling with the historically low snowfall affecting many of its key resorts, resulting in lower quarterly earnings and lower visitation numbers.
Chief executive Rob Katz described the winter as “the most challenging across the Rockies that we have ever experienced,” citing the lowest snowfall in more than 30 years at resorts in Colorado and Utah. Limited terrain and warm temperatures reduced visits and spending across the company’s destination resorts. Robert Katz returned as CEO in May last year in a bid to boost the company’s stagnating business.
The company posted net income of $210 million for Q2 2026, down -14.1% last year. Meanwhile, Q2 2026 EBITDA fell -8.3% to $421.3 million from last year’s $459.7 million.
Revenues for Q2 declined by -4.7% year-on-year, while lift revenues were down only -2.9% despite visitation being down -12.5%, thanks to primarily increased season pass sales into the season. Harder hit were revenue from its ski schools, which fell -9.3% year-on-year, as well as ski rentals, which fell -6.8% year-on-year.
Vail Resorts also shared some season-to-date metrics through March 1, which showed that skier visits were down -11.9% compared with the same period last year. Lift revenue until March 1 declined only 3.6%, while other resort revenue, such as ski school revenues and dining were harder hit, seeing declines of -8.2% and -8.6%, respectively. The data going into March 1 shows, that even though the skier visits picked up a little, the down trend in revenues accelerated into February across its resorts.
For the financial year, the company cut its outlook to a net income of $144-190 million and EBITDA of $745-775 million. Last year, Vail Resorts was expecting an EBITDA of $859 million but then had to cut its outlook to $844 million by the end of the year. A drop in EBITDA to $745-775 million would represent a decline of -9.2% to -11.7%.
Despite the weaker season, Vail Resorts said its business model remains resilient thanks to its advance-purchase pass strategy. The company also maintained its quarterly dividend of $2.22 per share and repurchased about $45 million in stock during the fiscal year to date.
Shareholders were seemingly expecting as much as the share price has bounced slightly since the earnings announcement. The share price rose about 2.5% from $134 to $138 in the days after the release of Q2 2026 financials.
