EAGLE COUNTY — A Vail Resorts release of “certain ski season metrics” on Friday may have accelerated a downward trend for the company’s stock.
In Friday trading, Vail Resorts stock dropped $27.30 per share, to $187.33 per share, for a loss of 12.7 percent. The stock hit its all-time peak of $301.42 per share on Sept. 4, 2018. At the close of trading Friday, the stock was off 37.8 percent from that peak.
Also Friday, Vail Resorts released data about the ski season so far at its North American mountain resorts.
That data includes:
- Season-to-date total lift ticket revenue at the company’s North American mountain resorts, including an allocated portion of season pass revenue for each applicable period, was up 12.2 percent compared to the prior year season-to-date period.
- Season-to-date ski school revenue was up 9.5 percent and dining revenue was up 14.8 percent compared to the prior year season-to-date period. Retail/rental revenue for North American resort store locations was up 12 percent compared to the prior year season-to-date period.
- Season-to-date total skier visits for the company’s North American mountain resorts were up 16.9 percent compared to the prior year season-to-date period.
In a statement, Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz said: “It’s great to see the growth across our company…”
But, the statement added, that the company had missed its own expectations for the weeks prior to the Christmas holiday period. That has resulted in an adjustment of expectations for the company’s Resort Reported EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) to be “slightly below the low end of the guidance range we issued on Sept. 28, 2018.”
Vail Daily Business Editor Scott Miller can be reached at smiller@vaildaily.com or 970-748-2930.