Churchill Downs Incorporated Reports 2026 Third Quarter Results
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (October 28, 2026) – Churchill Downs Incorporated (Nasdaq: CHDN) (the “Company,” “CDI,” “we”) today reported business results for the quarter ended September 30, 2026.
Company Highlights
- Third quarter 2026 financial results, as compared to the prior year quarter:
- Record net revenue of $696 million, up $13 million or 2%
- Record net income attributable to CDI of $80 million, up $42 million
- Excluding 3Q’25 one-time, non-cash impairment and insurance recovery, net income attributable to CDI was up $10 million or 26%
- Record Adjusted EBITDA of $264 million, up $2 million or 1%
- Excluding 3Q’25 insurance recovery, Adjusted EBITDA was up $6 million or 2%
- We announced the Thoroughbred Championship Series with the New York Racing Association (“NYRA”) beginning with the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby in 2027.
- We received approval to relocate and expand our Rosie’s Collinsville historical racing machines (“HRM”) venue to 150 HRMs within Henry County, Virginia.
- We completed the acquisition of 49% of United Tote Company (“United Tote”) from NYRA and extended NYRA’s tote services agreement with United Tote through 2035.
- We entered into a new $500 million Term Loan B due 2033 (the “2033 TLB”) and amended and extended our Revolver and Term Loan A facility at favorable rates.
- The Board of Directors declared a $0.469 per share dividend (+7%) to shareholders of record as of December 4, 2026 and payable on January 5, 2027.
- The Board of Directors approved a new $750 million share repurchase program. The new authorization includes and is not in addition to the $306 million previously remaining under the prior repurchase program authorization as of the close of trading on October 27, 2026.
- We ended the third quarter of 2026 with net bank leverage of 3.8x and returned $48 million of capital to our shareholders through share repurchases during the quarter.
| CONSOLIDATED RESULTS | |||||
| Third Quarter | |||||
| (in millions, except per share data) | 2026 | 2025 | |||
| Net revenue | $ 696 | $ 683 | |||
| Net income attributable to CDI | $ 80 | $ 38 | |||
| Diluted EPS attributable to CDI | $ 1.15 | $ 0.54 | |||
| Adjusted EBITDA(a) | $ 264 | $ 262 | |||
| (a) This is a non-GAAP measure. See explanation of non-GAAP measures below. | |||||
| SEGMENT RESULTS | |||||
The summaries below present revenue from external customers and intercompany revenue from each of our reportable segments. All comparisons are against the applicable prior year period unless otherwise noted.
Live and Historical Racing
| Third Quarter | |||
| (in millions) | 2026 | 2025 | |
| Revenue | $ 315 | $ 305 | |
| Adjusted EBITDA | 111 | 116 | |
Third quarter 2026 revenue increased $10 million due to an $11 million increase from our Kentucky HRM venues and a $1 million increase from Churchill Downs Racetrack, partially offset by a $1 million decrease from our Virginia HRM venues and a $1 million decrease from our New Hampshire venues. The Kentucky HRM increase was due to a $7 million increase from our Southwestern Kentucky venues, a $2 million increase from our Northern Kentucky venues, a $1 million increase from our Western Kentucky venues, and a $1 million increase from our Louisville venues. The Virginia HRM decrease was due to a $6 million net decrease from our Central Virginia venues primarily from increased competition, partially offset by a $4 million net increase from our Northern Virginia venues and a $1 million increase at our Western Virginia venue. The New Hampshire decrease was due to the closure of our temporary Casino Salem venue during the construction of our new Rockingham Grand Casino venue.
Third quarter 2026 Adjusted EBITDA decreased $5 million due to a $6 million decrease from our Virginia HRM venues, a $4 million decrease due to a one-time business interruption insurance recovery received in the prior year quarter for our Northern Virginia venue, and a $1 million decrease at our New Hampshire venues, partially offset by a $6 million increase from our Kentucky HRM venues. The Virginia HRM decrease was primarily due to a $10 million decrease from our Central Virginia venues that was partially offset by a $3 million increase from our Northern Virginia venue and a $1 million net increase from our Western Virginia and Southern Virginia venues. The decrease from our Central Virginia venues was primarily due to increased competition and a $5 million new tax expense related to live race days under the new racing and HRM tax structure that became effective July 1, 2026. Our Virginia HRM venues continue to benefit from a statewide HRM handle tax reduction that became effective July 1, 2025 as part of this new tax structure. The New Hampshire decrease was due to the closure of our temporary Casino Salem venue during the construction of our Rockingham Grand Casino venue. The Kentucky HRM increase was due to a $3 million increase from our Southwestern Kentucky venues, a $2 million increase from our Northern Kentucky venues, and a $1 million increase from our Louisville venues.
Wagering Services and Solutions
| Third Quarter | |||
| (in millions) | 2026 | 2025 | |
| Revenue | $ 126 | $ 127 | |
| Adjusted EBITDA | 48 | 46 | |
Third quarter 2026 revenue decreased $1 million due to a decrease from our sports betting business.
Third quarter 2026 Adjusted EBITDA increased $2 million primarily due to an increase in our Horse Racing business.
Gaming
| Third Quarter | |||
| (in millions) | 2026 | 2025 | |
| Revenue | $ 273 | $ 266 | |
| Adjusted EBITDA | 128 | 123 | |
Third quarter 2026 revenue increased $7 million primarily due to increases from our wholly-owned New York, Pennsylvania, and Maine properties.
Third quarter 2026 Adjusted EBITDA increased $5 million. Our equity investments increased $3 million from strong performance at Rivers Des Plaines in Illinois and Miami Valley Gaming in Ohio. Our wholly-owned gaming properties increased $2 million primarily from our New York property.
All Other
| Third Quarter | |||
| (in millions) | 2026 | 2025 | |
| Revenue | $ 2 | $ 2 | |
| Adjusted EBITDA | (23) | (23) | |
Third quarter 2026 revenue is consistent with the prior year. All intercompany captive revenue is eliminated in consolidation.
Third quarter 2026 Adjusted EBITDA is consistent with the prior year.
| CAPITAL MANAGEMENT |
United Tote Acquisition
On August 3, 2026, the Company closed on its previously announced acquisition of 49% of United Tote Company from NYRA Content Management Solutions, LLC, a subsidiary of NYRA. Concurrent with this transaction, NYRA has agreed to extend its tote services agreement with United Tote through 2035.
Credit Agreement
On September 25, 2026, the Company closed the eighth amendment to its senior secured credit facility (the “Credit Agreement”) to (i) extend the maturity date of its Revolver and Term Loan A from July 2029 to September 2031, (ii) eliminate the 10 basis points credit spread adjustment previously applicable, and (iii) amend certain other provisions of the Credit Agreement.
The Company also entered into the $500 million 2033 TLB under its Credit Agreement. The 2033 TLB was issued at 99.875% of the principal amount and has a maturity date of September 25, 2033. The 2033 TLB bears interest at SOFR plus 175 basis points. The Company used a portion of the net proceeds from the 2033 TLB to repay indebtedness outstanding under its 2028 TLB, repay indebtedness outstanding under its 2031 Revolver, to fund related transaction fees and expenses, and for working capital and other general corporate purposes.
On October 19, 2026, the Company redeemed the 2027 Senior Notes with borrowings from the 2031 Revolver.
Annual Dividend
On October 27, 2026, the Company’s Board of Directors declared an annual cash dividend on the Company’s common stock of $0.469 per outstanding share, a seven percent increase over the prior year. The dividend is payable on January 5, 2027, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on December 4, 2026, with the aggregate cash dividend to be paid to each shareholder rounded to the nearest whole cent. This will be the sixteenth consecutive year that the Company has increased the dividend per share.
Share Repurchase Program
The Company repurchased 570,169 shares of its common stock at a total cost of $48 million in the third quarter of 2026. We had approximately $382 million of repurchase authority remaining under the July 2025 Stock Repurchase Program as of September 30, 2026.
On October 27, 2026, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a new common stock repurchase program of up to $750 million (the “October 2026 Stock Repurchase Program”). The October 2026 Stock Repurchase Program includes and is not in addition to the $306 million remaining under the July 2025 Stock Repurchase Program as of the close of trading on October 27, 2026.
| NET INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO CDI |
The Company’s third quarter 2026 net income attributable to CDI was $80 million compared to $38 million in the prior year quarter.
The following factors impacted the comparability of the Company’s third quarter 2026 net income to the prior year quarter:
- a $35 million after-tax impairment charge in the prior year quarter related to the impairment of the Chasers’ gaming rights.
This was offset by:
- a $2 million after-tax increase in other charges and recoveries, net.
Excluding the items above, third quarter 2026 adjusted net income attributable to CDI increased $9 million primarily due to the following:
- a $4 million after-tax increase in equity income from our unconsolidated affiliates;
- a $3 million after-tax increase primarily driven by the results of our operations;
- a $1 million after-tax decrease in interest expense; and
- a $1 million after-tax decrease of the portion of the Company’s income from United Tote and our facility in New Hampshire being recognized as income attributable to a noncontrolling interest.
Conference Call
A conference call regarding this news release is scheduled for Thursday, October 29, 2026 at 9 a.m. ET. Investors and other interested parties may listen to the teleconference by accessing the online, real-time webcast and broadcast of the call at https://ir.churchilldownsincorporated.com/events-presentations, or by registering in advance via teleconference here. Once registration is completed, participants will be provided with a dial-in number containing a personalized conference code to access the call. All participants are encouraged to dial-in 15 minutes prior to the start time. An online replay will be available by noon ET on Thursday, October 29, 2026. A copy of the Company’s news release announcing quarterly results and relevant financial and statistical information about the period will be accessible at www.churchilldownsincorporated.com.
About Churchill Downs Incorporated
Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI”) (Nasdaq: CHDN) has created extraordinary entertainment experiences for over 150 years, beginning with the Company’s most iconic and enduring asset, Churchill Downs Racetrack, the home of the Kentucky Derby and premier races of the Thoroughbred Championship Series. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, CDI has expanded through the acquisition, development, and operation of live and historical racing entertainment venues, the growth of the online wagering businesses, and the acquisition, development, and operation of regional casino gaming properties. https://www.churchilldownsincorporated.com/
This news release contains various “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” “scheduled,” and similar words or similar expressions (or negative versions of such words or expressions), although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently.
Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include the following: the occurrence of extraordinary events, such as terrorist attacks, public health threats, civil unrest, and inclement weather, including as a result of climate change; the effect of economic conditions on our consumers’ confidence and discretionary spending or our access to credit, including the impact of inflation; changes in, or new interpretations of, applicable tax laws or rulings that could result in additional tax liabilities; the impact of any pandemics, epidemics, or outbreaks of infectious diseases, and related economic matters on our results of operations, financial conditions, and prospects; lack of confidence in the integrity of our core businesses or any deterioration in our reputation; negative shifts in public opinion regarding gambling that could result in increased regulation of, or new restrictions on, the gaming industry; loss of key or highly skilled personnel, as well as general disruptions in the labor market; the impact of significant competition, and the expectation that competition levels will increase; changes in consumer preferences, attendance, wagering, and sponsorships; risks associated with equity investments, strategic alliances and other third-party agreements; inability to respond to rapid technological changes in a timely manner; concentration and evolution of slot machine and historical racing machine manufacturing and other technology conditions that could impose additional costs; failure to enter into or maintain agreements with industry constituents, including horsemen and other racetracks; cybersecurity risk, including cybersecurity breaches, loss or misuse of our confidential information as a result of a breach including customers’ personal information, or IT system operational disruptions, could lead to government enforcement actions or other litigation; costs of compliance with increasingly complex laws and regulations regarding data privacy and protection of personal information; reliance on our technology services and catastrophic events, system failures, errors or defects disrupting our operations; inability to identify, complete, or fully realize the benefits of our proposed acquisitions, divestitures, development of new venues or the expansion of existing facilities on time, on budget, or as planned; difficulty in integrating recent or future acquisitions into our operations; cost overruns and other uncertainties associated with the development of new venues and the expansion of existing facilities; general risks related to real estate ownership and significant expenditures, including risks related to environmental liabilities; personal injury litigation related to injuries occurring at our racetracks; compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or other similar laws and regulations, or applicable anti-money laundering regulations; payment-related risks, such as risk associated with fraudulent credit card or debit card use; work stoppages and labor problems; risks related to pending or future legal proceedings and other actions; highly regulated operations and changes in the regulatory environment could adversely affect our business; restrictions in our debt facilities limiting our flexibility to operate our business; failure to comply with the financial ratios and other covenants in our debt facilities and other indebtedness; increases to interest rates, disruption in the credit markets or changes to our credit ratings may adversely affect our business; increase in our insurance costs, or inability to obtain similar insurance coverage in the future, and any inability to recover under our insurance policies for damages sustained at our properties in the event of inclement weather and casualty events; whether the objective of a strategic alternative review process will be achieved; the terms, structure, benefits and costs of any strategic transaction; the timing of any strategic transaction and whether any strategic transaction will be consummated on the terms proposed or at all; the risk that the announcement or exploration of strategic alternatives could have an adverse effect on our ability to retain key personnel and maintain relationships with partners, suppliers, employees, shareholders and other business relationships; the risk of any unexpected costs or expenses resulting from the exploration of strategic alternatives; the risk of any litigation relating to the exploration of strategic alternatives or any strategic transaction; and other factors described under the heading “Risk Factors” in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Media and Investor Contacts
Breck Thomas-Ross
Senior Director of Communications
Churchill Downs Incorporated
Phone: 502-636-4506
Email: [email protected]
Sam Ullrich
Vice President of Investor Relations
Churchill Downs Incorporated
Phone: 502-638-3906
Email: [email protected]
