United Parks & Resorts Inc. (NYSE:PRKS) reported weaker second-quarter results Tuesday, as lower attendance weighed on revenue and earnings, causing both to miss Wall Street expectations despite higher guest spending.

United Parks Earnings And Margins

Revenue fell 1.4% year over year to $483.3 million, missing the $492.12 million estimate.

GAAP diluted EPS declined to $1.34 from $1.45 and missed the $1.74 estimate. Net income fell 21% to $63.3 million. The company did not report adjusted EPS.

Adjusted EBITDA decreased 5.2% to $195.5 million as lower revenue and higher operating expenses weighed on results.

Operating income fell 16.6% to $117.1 million, while total costs and expenses rose 4.7% to $366.2 million.

Attendance And Per-Capita Spending

Attendance declined 2.9% to 6.06 million guests, primarily due to the Easter calendar shift and lower international visitation.

United Parks said attendance would have been flat after adjusting for those factors.

Total revenue per capita increased 1.5% to $79.82. Admission per capita fell 1.8% to $40.31, while in-park spending per capita rose 5.1% to a quarterly record of $39.51, driven by higher penetration and pricing initiatives.

Admissions revenue decreased 4.6% to $244.1 million. Food, merchandise and other revenue increased 2% to $239.2 million.

Cash Flow And Balance Sheet

Operating cash flow declined 6.2% to $170 million. Free cash flow fell 20.5% to $101.5 million as capital expenditures increased 28% to $68.6 million.

United Parks ended June with $19.1 million in cash and cash equivalents and $2.29 billion in long-term debt, including current maturities.

The company repurchased about 3.3 million shares for nearly $125 million during the quarter. First-half repurchases totaled 5.9 million shares, or 12.1% of shares outstanding as of Feb. 24, for $217.7 million.

First-Half Trends And Outlook

For the first six months, revenue declined 2% to $761.6 million, diluted EPS fell to 60 cents from $1.15, and adjusted EBITDA decreased 7.4% to $253.4 million.

Attendance dropped 3.6% amid unfavorable weather, lower international visitation and the Easter shift.

First-half operating cash flow rose 14.4% to $236.8 million, while free cash flow increased 2.3% to $98.6 million despite a 25.1% rise in capital expenditures.

"Looking ahead, we continue to see strength in our forward indicators for Discovery Cove and our group business with advanced bookings revenue for both up double-digits versus prior year," CEO Marc Swanson said.

United Parks did not provide formal financial guidance. Early ticket sales for its Howl-O-Scream events were running ahead of last year.

United Parks Price Action

PRKS Price Action: United Parks & Resorts shares were up 2.29% at $46.55 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Photo courtesy of United Parks & Resorts