Six Flags Q2 Earnings Call

[TTD03]

Today was the earnings announcement for Six Flags' second quarter of 2016, which is another for the company's record books. For the quarter, revenues were up $21 million or 5%, and attendance saw a 2% increase to 9 million. The company, like usual, held a conference call today to discuss the earnings - here are some noteworthy items:

??? Licensing revenues from international park developments was up 132% for the quarter and for the first half of the year equaled $14 million. The park in Dubai has broken ground and the company recently announced plans for another park in China, with a water park, that will be one of the largest Six Flags parks. Beyond what has been announced, there are several other deals already in the works.

??? Park operators report that the virtual reality experiences added to roller coasters at 9 of its parks have received "outstanding" responses from guests. It will soon be added to a 10th park, and plans for the other 3 parks to have it are in the works. They're also working on virtual reality "worlds" for both Halloween and Christmas events. They did note a learning curve on the capacity of virtual reality rides, but say that they are "pleased with our throughput" at this point.

??? An all season Flash Pass, for skipping attraction lines, was tested earlier this year and deemed a success, and will now be rolled out to all the parks by 2017.

??? Work is progressing on Six Flags' new water park in Mexico, planned to open in early 2017. Operators say there is a ton of interest in the park already and it will be marketed jointly with Six Flags Mexico.

??? Season Pass and Season Membership sales continues to soar for Six Flags, with overall active pass base up 11% year over year. Even with more pass holders attending the parks the per cap spending for each guest is still up 3% for the first half of 2016. All-season dining passes are also growing and resulting in increased food and beverage revenues.

??? Future growth is planned to come from four major areas: more attendance from passes and memberships, slow increases in pricing over time, even more growth from the all-season dining passes, and international developments which require no capital and have very high margins.

??? I did not hear any mention of announcements for 2017 yet, and with a new CEO I am wondering if perhaps the big announcement all on one day has been retired? Just a theory, I'm sure we will find out soon enough.
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I am absolutely ecstatic to hear this news. Six Flags has really, really changed its face, in my opinion, in the last 1 to 2 years. Every visit I have made this year--which has been 2 visits to SFMM, 2 visits to SFGAdv, and 1 visit to SFGAm--has been nothing short of outstanding. Their station operations have improved so much over years past that the amount isn't even quantifiable. Almost every roller coaster at all of those parks had crews that were running up and down the station. I remember seeing Raging Bull's countdown, which starts at +70 or +80 seconds I think, and we ended up departing at like +15 seconds. Almost every time, too, actually. One or two seasons ago it would get into the -20 to -30 range every cycle. And of course, the roller coaster quality and selection at Six Flags parks is always incredible. I would say that, in general, I would rather be at a Six Flags park than a Cedar Fair park for this sole reason (with the exception of Cedar Point, of course, but she's going downhill by the year and will continue to until they RMC Mean Streak).

I am excited to see how the Six Flags Dubai project pans out. If there are some really unique coasters that get built there, it will get me incentive to want to travel to the useless desert wasteland that is that area.

Glad to hear about the VR success. I had a feeling the public would be all about it. I have never ridden one nor been to a park that has had one installed prior to my visit so I don't know how it affects the throughput.

The all season flash pass is a phenomenal idea. If they fix it so that the pass works on all of the same rides that the regular flash passes do (including platinum level rides), it will be an outstanding success. But not until then, for me. I recall that the one for SFMM does not include X2 and that is the sole reason I would not purchase it if I lived near the park. I would buy it even if X2 was the only available ride. I hope Six Flags staffers browse these forums.

Their season pass membership idea was brilliant. I have had one for just over a year now, and paying $14 per month to get free parking, free park admission, and $5-per-head Flash Pass discounts at every property chain-wide legitimately feels like a steal.

If they continue to install RMCs and maybe even get on the Intamin bandwagon again, and continue improving customer experience as they have been, they will continue to see vibrant success.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Dubai will be inhospitable to life within 30 years. Anyone who invests in the area is an idiot.

[Paradox]

Can't wait to see how they use that money to make SFNE suck even more next year.

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

Dubai will be inhospitable to life within 30 years. Anyone who invests in the area is an idiot.

As someone who lived there for 3 years, I can say that is most definitely wrong. What will happen in around 30 years is the govt. will run out of oil money; luckily they've planned for this and have built the city up as trade and tourism center similar to London or New York (although not equal in size). It's pretty smart to build a park in Dubai because the biggest developers there, 70% of which are run by the government, are looking for more attractions.

Also sorry for going on a rant about that

[Coasterkidmwm]

CG Coasters wrote:

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

Dubai will be inhospitable to life within 30 years. Anyone who invests in the area is an idiot.

As someone who lived there for 3 years, I can say that is most definitely wrong. What will happen in around 30 years is the govt. will run out of oil money; luckily they've planned for this and have built the city up as trade and tourism center similar to London or New York (although not equal in size). It's pretty smart to build a park in Dubai because the biggest developers there, 70% of which are run by the government, are looking for more attractions.

Also sorry for going on a rant about that

Climate change. That area and the polar regions are set to warm the most and the rate and which it's happening is exceeding all estimates. They're already having heat-related issues with basic infrastructure like when the traffic signals were melting. It's a stupid investment that's going to tits up.

Hmm, I wonder if Dubai is also aiming for the world's "most water parks" record.