Investors Question Buying Opportunity for Vail Stock — Market Talk

Dow Jones Newswires

Investors are pondering whether tough snow conditions represent a buying opportunity for Vail Resorts' stock, UBS analysts say in a note. The ski-resort operator reported season-to-date visitation down 20% through Jan. 4 at its North American resorts, a steeper decline than investors had been bracing for, and its current forecast assumes conditions return to normal in the Rockies by President's Day weekend, the analysts say. "The question on investors' mind is whether disruptive weather is an opportunity to buy MTN," they say. Beyond the current challenging ski conditions, Vail is also dealing with labor-cost inflation and challenging unit growth, the analysts say, noting they've been more cautious on the company's fundamentals. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

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Vail Resorts Says Visits Down 20% Season-to-Date — Market Talk

Dow Jones Newswires

Vail Resorts

+5.80%

Vail Resorts says that North American season-to-date skier visits were down 20% through January 4 compared with the prior year, citing historically unfavorable weather. "We experienced one of the worst early season snowfalls in the western U.S. in over 30 years, which limited our ability to open terrain and negatively impacted visitation and ancillary spending for both local and destination guests during the period," says Chief Executive Rob Katz. Snowfall at the company's western U.S. resorts for November and December was 50% below the historical 30-year average, Katz says. Vail Resorts slides 4% premarket. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)

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Snow-Starved Resorts Draw Fewer Visitors to Vail — WSJ

Dow Jones Newswires

Vail Resorts

+5.80%

By Allison Pohle

Vail Resorts said far fewer skiers have visited its mountains so far this season, in large part because of low levels of snowfall.

Season-to-date total skier visits were down 20% through Jan. 4 compared with the prior-year period, the company said Thursday. Revenue from ski school, dining and lift-ticket sales fell, too.

Snowfall at the Broomfield, Colo.-based company's Western U.S. resorts for November and December measured about 50% below the historical 30-year average, Chief Executive Rob Katz said. In the Rocky Mountains, about 11% of terrain opened this December because snowfall was nearly 60% below the historic 30-year average.

More snow fell at the company's East Coast resorts, which helped offset the effects of the Western mountains.

Vail said it expects its full-year resort-reported earnings before interest, taxes and other factors to fall just below the low end of its guidance issued in September, but there could be further downward revisions depending on conditions in the Rockies. The company's shares fell about 3.5% in premarket trading.

Katz had warned investors in September that Vail expected visits to be down slightly this season compared with last season, mainly as a result of lower sales of its season-pass product, the Epic Pass. Vail has focused more on selling individual lift tickets this season in an effort to drive visitation to the mountains.

Write to Allison Pohle at allison.pohle@wsj.com

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Vail Seen With Challenging Snow Conditions — Market Talk

Dow Jones Newswires

Vail Resorts

+5.80%

Vail Resorts' challenging snow conditions have continued, with average national snow levels tracking below last year's levels in both November and December, UBS analysts say in a note. Conditions have varied by region, though, with resorts in the west and the Rockies mostly seeing snowfall below historical levels, while those in the northeast, midwest and mid-Atlantic regions experiencing slightly better conditions year-over-year, the analysts say. At this time last year, Vail's resorts had seen a relatively good start to the season, especially in western regions, the analysts say. (kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

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Vail Resorts Seen With Weak Visitation in Early Ski Season — Market Talk

Dow Jones Newswires

Vail Resorts

+5.80%

Vail Resorts' visitation trends appear to be off to a weak start this ski season after poor snowfall in Colorado and Utah, Truist Securities analysts say in a note. Resorts in those two states are seeing the weakest early season snowfall since the 2017 to 2018 season and currently have less than 20% of terrain open, the analysts say. They point to anecdotal conversations with local business owners and industry experts, their own personal observations, and third-party data on hotel booking and visitation. However, a guidance cut isn't a sure thing, given the company has worked to lock in a greater share of annual revenue ahead of time, diversified geographically and improved its snowmaking capabilities in Colorado.(kelly.cloonan@wsj.com)

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Why Vail Resorts (MTN) Stock Is Down Today

Stock Story

Vail Resorts

+5.80%

What Happened?

Shares of luxury ski resort company Vail Resorts fell 2.8% in the afternoon session after Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on the stock and an analyst highlighted concerns about poor weather conditions.

The investment bank dropped its price objective to $151 from $153. An analyst noted that snowfall at Vail's key resorts was significantly below the previous year and historical levels, which left a much smaller share of terrain open. This situation raised concerns about lower visitor numbers and spending during a key part of the season. These worries compounded a recent financial report showing the company posted a larger net loss in its first quarter compared to the prior year.

After the initial drop the shares shed some of the losses and rose to $142.48, down 3.4% from previous close.

What Is The Market Telling Us

Vail Resorts’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 8 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 12 days ago when the stock gained 7.9% on the news that the company reported its third-quarter 2025 results, and reaffirmed its full-year guidance.

The ski resort operator's revenue of $271.0 million and its loss of $5.20 per share both came in slightly below Wall Street's expectations for the seasonally slow quarter. More importantly for investors, the company maintained its outlook for the full fiscal year, projecting net income between $201 million and $276 million. Vail Resorts also signaled confidence by declaring a quarterly cash dividend of $2.22 per share and noted it had repurchased approximately $25 million worth of its shares. While the company noted that North American season pass sales units were down about 2%, the revenue from those sales increased by 3%, helped by a price increase, showing resilient pricing power.

Vail Resorts is down 18.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $142.48 per share, it is trading 25.6% below its 52-week high of $191.55 from December 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Vail Resorts’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $521.01.

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Leisure Facilities Stocks Q3 Recap: Benchmarking Xponential Fitness (NYSE:XPOF)

Stock Story

United Parks & Resorts

+6.53%

Xponential Fitness

-0.35%

As the craze of earnings season draws to a close, here’s a look back at some of the most exciting (and some less so) results from Q3. Today, we are looking at leisure facilities stocks, starting with Xponential Fitness .

Leisure facilities companies often sell experiences rather than tangible products, and in the last decade-plus, consumers have slowly shifted their spending from "things" to "experiences". Leisure facilities seek to benefit but must innovate to do so because of the industry's high competition and capital intensity.

The 11 leisure facilities stocks we track reported a satisfactory Q3. As a group, revenues missed analysts’ consensus estimates by 0.7% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 0.6% below.

Thankfully, share prices of the companies have been resilient as they are up 5.3% on average since the latest earnings results.

Xponential Fitness

Owner of CycleBar, Rumble, and Club Pilates, Xponential Fitness is a boutique fitness brand offering diverse and specialized exercise experiences.

Xponential Fitness reported revenues of $78.82 million, down 2.1% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 3.9%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter for the company with a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates and an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

“Over my first 90 days, I’ve gained a much clearer picture of our strengths and opportunities ahead. This time has only reinforced my confidence in both the power of our brands and the commitment of our franchisees,” said Mike Nuzzo, CEO of Xponential Fitness, Inc.

Interestingly, the stock is up 25.9% since reporting and currently trades at $7.93.

Best Q3: AMC Entertainment

With a profile that was raised due to meme stock mania beginning in 2021, AMC Entertainment operates movie theaters primarily in the US and Europe.

AMC Entertainment reported revenues of $1.3 billion, down 3.6% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 6.3%. The business had an exceptional quarter with a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

AMC Entertainment scored the biggest analyst estimates beat among its peers. Although it had a fine quarter compared its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 32.1% since reporting. It currently trades at $1.71.

Weakest Q3: United Parks & Resorts

Parent company of SeaWorld and home of the world-famous Shamu, United Parks & Resorts is a theme park chain featuring marine life, live entertainment, roller coasters, and waterparks.

United Parks & Resorts reported revenues of $511.9 million, down 6.2% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 5.2%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a miss of analysts’ visitors estimates and a significant miss of analysts’ revenue estimates.

As expected, the stock is down 24.7% since the results and currently trades at $34.80.

Read our full analysis of United Parks & Resorts’s results here.

Vail Resorts

Founded by two Aspen, Colorado ski patrol guides, Vail Resorts is a mountain resort company offering luxury experiences in over 30 locations across the globe.

Vail Resorts reported revenues of $271 million, up 4.1% year on year. This print came in 1.2% below analysts' expectations. Zooming out, it was a mixed quarter as it also logged an impressive beat of analysts’ skier visits estimates but a slight miss of analysts’ revenue estimates.

The stock is up 4.5% since reporting and currently trades at $148.00.

Read our full, actionable report on Vail Resorts here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Planet Fitness

Founded by two brothers who purchased a struggling gym, Planet Fitness is a gym franchise that caters to casual fitness users by providing a friendly and inclusive atmosphere.

Planet Fitness reported revenues of $330.3 million, up 13% year on year. This result beat analysts’ expectations by 2%. It was a strong quarter as it also put up a solid beat of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates and a narrow beat of analysts’ same-store sales estimates.

The stock is up 21.5% since reporting and currently trades at $111.39.

Read our full, actionable report on Planet Fitness here, it’s free for active Edge members.

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