Vail Resorts Wows Investors Despite Loss

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 13, 4:23PM EST · Published Dec 7, 10:50AM EST

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Vail Resorts Wows Investors Despite Loss — © Thinkstock

Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) reported its fiscal first-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Monday. The company had a net loss of $1.63 per share on $174.6 million in revenue. That compared to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for a net loss of $1.75 per share on $167.81 million in revenue.

The same period from the previous year had a net loss of $1.77 per share on $128.26 million in revenue.

The company reaffirmed its guidance for fiscal year 2016 of $405 million to $430 million of resort-reported EBITDA. The consensus estimates call for $3.59 in EPS on $1.54 billion in revenue for the 2016 fiscal year.

On the books the company ended the quarter with $39.6 million in cash on hand.

Rob Katz, CEO of Vail Resorts, commented on earnings:

Our first fiscal quarter historically operates at a loss given that our U.S. based mountain resorts are not open for winter ski operations during the period. The quarter’s results are primarily driven by our summer activities, dining, retail/rental and lodging operations, administrative expenses and, for the first time, the operating results from Perisher. We were very pleased with our results in the quarter, with strong summer visitation to our U.S. mountain resorts driving increases in all of our key lines of business bolstered by the investments we have made in new summer activities. Additionally, we are very pleased with the results from Perisher’s first season under our ownership. Perisher’s results exceeded the expectations we had when we completed the acquisition due to strong visitation, in part driven by strong season pass sales following the announcement of our transaction, and strong yield growth. Our lodging results for the fiscal quarter were very encouraging with both occupancy and rate increases compared to the prior year. In particular, our properties at Grand Teton Lodge Company experienced strong visitation and spending as the park reached near record visitation levels this summer.

Shares of Vail were last seen trading up about 4% at $126.85 Monday, with a consensus analyst price target of $124.00 and a 52-week trading range of $84.55 to $129.49.
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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.