Cannae Holdings (CNNE) Q3 2026 earnings review
Cannae restarts share buybacks, but its soccer clubs lose money
Cannae Holdings, an investment firm shifting into sports teams, liquidated one restaurant chain and restarted share buybacks while its soccer clubs lost money. Continuing revenue fell 16% as its remaining Ninety Nine restaurant chain shrank, and the firm wrote down Ninety Nine's goodwill by another $16 million. Chief executive Ryan Caswell used cash from selling the Watkins spice business to buy back $67 million of stock, while affiliate Alight raised its full-year plan even though by our math that plan has Alight's sales dropping 12% in the fourth quarter.
| Bournemouth soccer revenue (12M, owned a year ago) | $286.6M +21% from a year ago |
|---|---|
| Continuing operating revenue | $68.1M -16% from a year ago |
| Shares bought back since Q3 start | $67M diluted shares down 23% from a year ago |
| Alight full-year revenue outlook | Raised $32M middle of the range: -6.3% from 2025 |
⚖️ Verdict: ⚪ Neutral
The story is unchanged because progress on cash returns and cost cuts was offset by a failed restaurant sale and weak soccer cash profits. On the positive side, shutting down O'Charley's stops its cash drain, headquarters expenses are down 70% over nine months, and buybacks are shrinking the share count again. The bad news: liquidating O'Charley's brought no cash proceeds, and Black Knight Football's cash profit excluding player sales fell by more than half.
The question now is whether Black Knight Football can earn cash profits from tickets and broadcasts rather than just selling player contracts. One view is that Bournemouth's expanded stadium and European games will make the club self-funding; the other is that player sales are peaking while transfer debt stays high. Next quarter's report, which covers the start of the European soccer season, will show the first reading.
🐂 Bull Case
Buybacks Restarted and Shrank the Share Count
Cannae Holdings, an investment firm shifting its portfolio into sports teams, resumed buying back its own stock after a quiet period in the spring. Chief executive Ryan Caswell said the firm bought 4.2 million shares for $67 million between the start of the third quarter and early November. That brings total repurchases this year to 111 million dollars, or 16.4% of its shares.
- Third-quarter diluted share count: 42.3 million, down 22.7% from 54.7 million a year ago
- Watkins exit proceeds: $90 million in cash collected in July from selling the spice maker
- Income tax receivable: down $47.3 million since December to $1.5 million as the tax refund arrived
The cash for those buybacks came from selling non-sports holdings and collecting a federal tax refund. In July, management also closed the sale of the Brasada Ranch resort to vice chairman William Foley, which cancelled his right to force the company to buy his shares. With fewer shares left, each remaining share owns a larger piece of the sports teams.
What to watch: the remaining share repurchase authorization in the third-quarter filing. A rapid spend-down of the $111.7 million cash balance on buybacks would show management still favors its own stock over new sports deals.
Headquarters Cost Cuts Hold as Jet Lease Ends
Cannae is spending much less to run its corporate headquarters after ending fees to its former external manager last year. Caswell said management succeeded in "decreasing holding company expenses by $58.8 million, or 70%, in the first nine months of 2026 compared to 2025." On the third-quarter income statement, personnel costs fell to $7.2 million, or 10.6% of revenue, down 3.7 percentage points from 14.3% a year ago.
Management is still finding smaller overhead cuts to lock in those savings. In November, the firm "cancelled our lease and cost sharing agreement for a portion of an aircraft", which Caswell said will save about $3 million a year. Lower headquarters overhead means asset sales can fund share buybacks instead of corporate pay.
What to watch: separate corporate holding company expenses in the quarterly filing's management discussion. Keeping that figure near or below last quarter's $8.9 million level will confirm the cost reset is permanent.
Bournemouth's Stadium and Wins Lift Soccer Sales
Black Knight Football, the multi-club soccer partnership where Cannae owns a 44.3% stake and reports results on a three-month lag, grew third-quarter revenue 33.7% from a year ago to $117.5 million. Over the twelve months ended June, revenue rose 32.1% to $312 million. Because that twelve-month total includes $25.2 million from newly acquired French club FC Lorient and Portuguese club Moreirense, sales from businesses owned a year ago at flagship English club AFC Bournemouth grew 21.4% by our math, to $286.6 million.
Cannae invested another $22 million into the soccer group in September and acquired English rugby club Exeter Chiefs for $26 million in late June. This fall, Bournemouth opened the first phase of its stadium upgrade, adding 10% more seats and doubling hospitality capacity, and won its first four European tournament games. Those extra seats and European matches bring higher ticket and broadcast revenue.
What to watch: Black Knight Football's revenue for the September quarter, which arrives in Cannae's fourth-quarter report. That period will capture the first ticket sales from the expanded stadium and European games.
🐻 Bear Case
Soccer Profits Still Rely on Selling Players
Cannae pitches Black Knight Football as an operating turnaround, but the soccer group's profits still depend on when it sells player contracts to other teams. For the lagged quarter ended June, the soccer group swung to a $42.4 million net loss from a $60.4 million profit a year earlier. Its operating cash profit excluding one-offs and player sales — Adjusted EBITDA excluding profit on player trading — fell 58.2% from a year ago to $6.6 million.
- Quarter player trading profit: $5.3 million, down from $80.2 million a year ago
- Twelve-month EBITDA: $117.8 million, of which $91.4 million came from player trading
- Twelve-month Adjusted EBITDA excluding player trading: a loss of $0.9 million
- Transfer fees owed to other clubs: $282.4 million, exceeding the $252.6 million owed to Black Knight
The company also changed how it calculates this profit measure, removing player loan fees from core operations, which lowered the twelve-month figure by $5.1 million. Because the clubs lose money on a cash basis before player sales and owe $29.8 million more in transfer fees than they are due to collect by our math, the partnership still requires fresh cash from Cannae.
What to watch: Adjusted EBITDA excluding player trading in the fourth-quarter report. If European games and new hospitality seats cannot push twelve-month cash profit above zero without player sales, the soccer group will keep needing capital injections.
O'Charley's Shut Down Without a Buyer
Management had been reviewing a sale of its restaurant chains, which made up almost all of Cannae's consolidated revenue. Instead of finding a buyer for O'Charley's, in September the company "closed the operations of the remaining O’Charley’s restaurants which eliminated the business’s cash burn to Cannae", Caswell said. The firm "began the wind down of O'Charley's through an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors", a state-level liquidation process, and booked a $16 million loss from discontinued operations.
That leaves the 93-store Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub chain, where Caswell said management continues to "explore potential alternatives for Ninety Nine Restaurants". Sales at Ninety Nine locations open at least a year fell 4.2% in the third quarter, pushing its Adjusted EBITDA to a $0.3 million loss from a $1.2 million profit a year ago. Cannae also wrote down Ninety Nine's goodwill by another $16.2 million, signaling lower expected sale value.
What to watch: any sale agreement or further store closures at Ninety Nine before year-end. Another quarter of negative cash profit without a buyer would mean the remaining chain is also worth little in a sale.
Alight and JANA Profits Keep Shrinking
Cannae's non-sports minority holdings are earning less money. At Alight, a provider of employee health and wealth benefits software where the company owns an 8% stake worth $26 million, third-quarter revenue fell 6.2% from a year ago to $500 million due to lower commercial activity. Alight's Adjusted EBITDA fell 37.7% to $86 million, pulling its margin down 8.7 percentage points to 17.2%.
At JANA Partners, an activist investment firm that buys stakes in public companies to push for changes and in which Cannae owns 50%, lagged second-quarter revenue fell 18.9% from a year ago to $4.3 million. JANA's net income dropped by more than half to $0.8 million, and its assets under management stayed at $2.2 billion. Weak earnings at both firms limit the cash distributions Cannae can collect to fund its sports shift.
What to watch: the carrying value of Alight on Cannae's balance sheet in the third-quarter filing. With Alight's market value down to $26 million, Cannae may have to record an accounting write-down on the stake.
👓 Other Themes
Board Shrinks and Drops Staggered Terms
Cannae is changing its board structure ahead of its December 11 annual meeting. Caswell said the company is phasing out its staggered board terms, so directors will stand for election annually, and noted that two current directors will not run for re-election. That will reduce the board to ten members as the company narrows its focus to sports.
💲 Other KPIs
Publicly traded and mark-to-market stock holdings on Cannae's balance sheet rose to $98 million at September 30, up from $1.4 million at the end of 2025. The increase follows the reclassification and revaluation of private holdings, generating $30.3 million of net recognized gains on the income statement this quarter and $105.2 million over the first nine months.
Deferred revenue — cash customers have paid upfront for restaurant gift cards or sports tickets not yet used — stood at $12.6 million, up from $9 million in December after removing O'Charley's, but down from $19.5 million in June. The drop from June reflects the liquidation of O'Charley's and seasonal use of advances.
Minden Mill, the firm's 88%-owned Nevada whiskey and spirits distillery reported on a three-month lag, sold 17.6 thousand nine-liter cases over the twelve months ended June, up 36.4% from 12.9 thousand a year ago. Third-quarter net revenue rose 25% to $1 million, led by Evil Bean coffee liqueur, narrowing its quarterly Adjusted EBITDA loss to $0.1 million.
🔮 Guidance
Raised. Alight lifted its full-year sales target by $32 million at the middle of the range, which still leaves annual sales falling 6.3% from 2025 by our math. By our math, that full-year plan leaves $575 million of revenue for the fourth quarter, a drop of 11.9% from a year ago and a steeper decline than the third quarter's 6.2% fall.
Raised. The benefits software provider increased the middle of its full-year cash operating profit outlook by $7.5 million to $415 million, a 26% drop from 2025 by our math. By our math, that leaves $133 million for the fourth quarter, down 25.3% from a year ago, with the margin recovering to 23.1% from 17.2% this quarter.
❓ Key Questions
What are the remaining lease liabilities from O'Charley's?
Cannae liquidated O'Charley's through an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors rather than a sale. Investors need to know whether the holding company guaranteed any of the chain's leases or owes cash to settle the wind-down.
Why has Exeter Rugby not yet consolidated into revenue?
Cannae bought 100% of Exeter Rugby Group on June 29, 2026, for $26 million, but third-quarter revenue only shows restaurants and $1.9 million of other revenue. Management has not confirmed whether Exeter reports on a three-month lag starting in the fourth quarter.
What is the final seat target for Bournemouth's stadium?
Earlier letters cited over 20,000 seats by the 2027/28 season. This letter says Phase 2 will reach 17,600 seats next year on one page and over an 80% expansion by 2028 on another, leaving the construction schedule and cost unclear.
When will Cannae appoint a permanent finance chief?
Brett Correia remains listed as interim chief financial officer for a second straight quarter following Bryan Coy's departure, with no update on a permanent replacement.