Six Flags Q2: Parks Made Money, the Reported Loss Doubled

Six Flags’ new leadership is successfully reorienting the company toward repeat visitation, yet this quarter its debt cost more than its parks earned.The strategy of getting more passholders to attend more often and spend more, thereby increasing lifetime spend, is working. Revenue and attendance were up, adjusted for the divested parks, and the upcoming Halloween season, with 448 Halloween-themed experiences from coast to coast, should supercharge that strategy. Yet, while the parks made money, the company still posted a loss due to its debt.Running the parks produced $88.6 million of operating income, up from $74.5 million a year ago. Interest on the company's debt cost $102 million, and the quarter landed at a $20.1 million loss before taxes. The $203 million headline loss is mostly a $157.4 million tax charge, an accounting catch-up tied to the park sales, not a bill: Six Flags paid $4.5 million in cash taxes in the entire first half. Same-park revenue, attendance, and EBITDA all grew, pass sales are up 7%, and the stock still fell 16%.Meanwhile, Six Flags Great America announced Camp Timber Trail, a nine-attraction family land opening in 2027, led by Sky Hawk, a suspended family coaster billed as the Midwest's longest, tallest, and fastest, another build aimed at the family-together demographic that keeps spending.Listen to weekly BONUS episodes on our Patreon.