Churchill Downs Defies Market Expectations, Posts Record Q1 2023

The company has reported strong results across its live and historical racing revenue, which have been a contributing factor to the results in the first quarter of 2023. Both profits and revenue have been able to gain new highs and send the share price soaring.

Churchill Downs Sees Stock Boost Following Strong Q1 2023 Results

At the time of writing, Churchill Downs, Inc trades at $292.53, registering a 1.83% increase as of the last trading session on April 28. Churchill Downs is also strongly positioned to reap even more benefits, with the Kentucky Derby around the corner, the company will be enjoying possibly stronger gains in the second quarter.

Churchill Downs, which operates out of Kentucky, has reported a net income of $155.7 million for the three-month period ended on March 31. This is a tremendous gain on the $42.1 million posted in Q1 2022 and marks a significant improvement across the company’s results.

The adjusted earnings per share stood at $1.96 and were way ahead of market expectations and forecasts. Even the most optimistic predictions about the company’s results fell short of the mark, failing to have a proper read into how much Churchill Downs had been able to improve over the past three months in terms of financial stability.

Adjusted EBITDA rose to $222.9 million from $128.5 million in the previous year’s quarter. Revenue for the first quarter in 2023 was also 53.7% better with $559.5 million reported by the company. Live and historical racing generated $215.8 million for the company, TwinSpires brought in another 96.3 million, and gaming was up there with $251.6 million in revenue.

Churchill Downs’ Investment Pays Off

The company also noted that the acquisition of several properties, including the Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent, Virginia, and six Rosie’s Gaming Emporium locations in six Virginia cities — Collinsville, Hampton, New Kent, Dumfries, Richmond, and Vinton have all had a contributing factor to the strong results realized during the quarter.

Presently, Churchill Downs is in the process of building a historical racing machine hub based in Dumfries, Virginia, which is just 30 miles out of Washington, D.C. The hub will feature 1,150 machines along with an adjacent 100-room hotel and is due to open in the second quarter of 2024.