Skiers Are Skipping the Slopes. Vail Resorts Is Paying the Price.

Vail Resorts reported full fiscal-year earnings after the market close on Monday. Its stock dropped in after-hours trading. (James MacDonald/Bloomberg)

Key Points

• Vail Resorts reported pass product sales for the upcoming ski season dropped 12% through Sept. 18.
• The company posted fiscal fourth-quarter visitations of 502,000, a 33% year-over-year decline.
• CEO Rob Katz said one of the most challenging winters in history across the western U.S. negatively affected the company’s financial performance.

Last winter was “one of the most challenging” in the history of the ski industry, according to the Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz. The company’s fourth-quarter earnings, reported Monday, signal another tough winter ahead.

Vail Reports, whose destinations portfolio includes Vail Mountain, Breckenridge, and Park City Mountain, reported that pass sales through Sept. 18 for the upcoming 2026/2027 North American ski season dropped 12%.

The company reported 502,000 visitors across its properties for the fiscal fourth quarter, well below Wall Street’s projections of 802,000 and a 33% year-over-year decline. Fiscal-year visitations dropped 13% to 15.2 million, under estimates of 15.6 million.

“This past winter was one of the most challenging winters in history across the western U.S. for the ski industry, which negatively impacted financial performance for the year,” CEO Rob Katz said in a news release.

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Vail Resorts reported an earnings loss of $5.34 a share for the quarter. Revenue rose 2.5% year over year to $278 million. Wall Street projected an earnings loss of $5.35 a share and revenue of $269 million.

The ski resorts operator posted fiscal-year earnings of $4.12 a share, down 42% year over year, falling short of analyst estimates of $4.20. Revenue fell 4.2% to $2.83 billion, just ahead of a projected $2.8 billion.

Vail Resorts issued fiscal 2027 guidance indicating attributable net income would fall between $158 million and $233 million, citing prospects of a “meaningful recovery from the weather-impacted fiscal 2026 season.” Revenue is expected to rise to $3.1 billion.

It reported net attributable income of $147.5 million for the fiscal year on Monday, representing a 47% year-over-year decline.

Vail Resorts slashed its 2026 fiscal-year guidance for a second-straight quarter in June, citing “historically challenging weather conditions” negatively affecting demand.

The company said at the time it expected net attributable income between $128 million and $162 million, below Wall Street’s forecast of $150.7 million. The bad weather disrupted consumer demand for Vail Resort’s $1,119 multi-resort Epic pass, as the company reported its first year-over-year decline in sales for the pass since 2010-11.

Vail Resorts stock fell 1.5% in after-hours trading after ending Monday’s session up 1.5% to $138.22. Shares are up 3.2% this year, but down 15% from their 52-week closing high of $161.76 set on Dec. 12, 2025, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Write to Ty Roush at tyler.roush@barrons.com

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