Pursuit (PRSU) Q3 2026 earnings review
Pursuit raises summer prices, and asset sales cut its debt
Pursuit, an operator of national-park lodges and sightseeing attractions, raised prices to beat a tough summer comparison while paying down debt. Sales from businesses owned a year ago grew 6%, as 9% increases in ticket prices and room revenue overcame last year's wildfire-recovery peak. Tight site cost controls lifted operating margins, and chief executive David Barry kept the full-year cash profit outlook at $133 million. By our math, the full-year plan leaves fourth-quarter reported revenue down 15% after the July sale of the Flyover ride business.
| Sales excluding acquisitions and disposals | +6% from a year ago (reported revenue +4.4%) |
|---|---|
| Same-store ticket prices and room RevPAR | +9% from a year ago on both measures |
| Profit per share, excluding one-offs | $3.03 +14% from a year ago |
| Full-year cash profit outlook | Unchanged $133M middle of the range (+14%) |
⚖️ Verdict: 🟢 Bullish
The story got better because the company cleared its peak-season weather test and used the $75 million Flyover sale to cut net debt by more than half. One caution: the biggest sightseeing upgrades in Banff and Jasper remain in permitting for completion beyond 2027, so returns from the $300 million building plan stay years away.
The question now is whether 2027 growth can stay in double digits while the company waits for those large park projects to open. Either hotel renovations and new buyouts fill the gap left by selling Flyover, or growth slows until the major tram upgrades finish after 2027. February's 2027 outlook and the third-quarter filing's visitor counts will tell.
🐂 Bull Case
Higher Prices Overcame a Tough Peak-Season Comparison
Pursuit runs sightseeing attractions and lodges in national parks across the US, Canada, Iceland and Costa Rica. The third quarter is its peak summer season, and this year the tourism operator faced a hard comparison against last year's wildfire recovery in Jasper, Canada, and near-perfect summer weather. Chief executive David Barry said the record quarter showed "exceptional execution from our team during a dynamic peak season".
- Sales excluding acquisitions and disposals: up 6% from a year ago
- Same-store revenue per available hotel room (RevPAR): up 9% from a year ago
- Same-store average ticket price at attractions: up 9% from a year ago
Total sales rose 4.4% to $251.5 million because higher ticket and room prices carried the summer. The release did not give total visitor counts, which normally appear in the quarterly filing, so the exact split between foot traffic and pricing is not yet readable. Even so, keeping underlying sales growing at 6% through the toughest comparison of the year eases the weather concern for 2026.
What to watch: same-store attraction visitor counts in the third-quarter filing. A drop in visitors would mean ticket price hikes are doing all the work to keep revenue growing.
Flyover Sale Cleared Out the Debt
Over the past two years, the hospitality group has sold off businesses outside its park lodges and sightseeing attractions while buying park resorts like Tabacón in Costa Rica. In July, Pursuit closed the sale of Flyover, its indoor flight-ride business, for about $75 million and bought Eagle Wing Tours, a whale-watching operator on Vancouver Island, for about $16 million.
Those two deals reshaped the balance sheet. Total debt fell from $250.7 million in June to $134.2 million in September, while cash rose to $64.3 million. Net debt dropped by $144.1 million in three months by our math, bringing net debt to 0.6 times annual cash profit, well below the company's 2.0 to 3.5 target range. At Tabacón, management is now adding three luxury villas and 77 outdoor terraces.
What to watch: share buybacks and new acquisition announcements in the fourth quarter. With $293.0 million of cash and credit lines available, the next deals will test management's price discipline.
Tight Cost Control Lifted the Peak Margin
Because the third quarter brings in more than half of yearly sales, full-year profit depends on keeping summer expenses down. Last quarter, Adjusted EBITDA margin — cash operating profit as a share of sales, excluding one-offs — slipped by 0.9 percentage points.
In the third quarter, that margin rose 1.2 percentage points from a year ago to 49.9%, lifting Adjusted EBITDA by 6.9% to $125.5 million. By our math, direct site operating costs fell by 1.2 percentage points of revenue to 33.7%, and overhead and marketing costs fell by 0.7 percentage points to 7.6%. Price increases flowed straight into profit because site expenses barely grew.
What to watch: fourth-quarter site operating expenses during the winter off-season. Keeping winter losses near the $10.3 million implied by the full-year outlook will show whether the cost savings last year-round.
🐻 Bear Case
Big Park Upgrades Still Await Permits
Pursuit's Vision 2030 plan aims to spend more than $300 million upgrading its lodges and attractions between 2026 and 2030, with $200 million already committed. Supporters point to early wins like the Forest Park Hotel renovation in Jasper, where phase one lifted average room rates by 22%, and the Denali wildlife safari in Alaska, which will relaunch "when park road access reopens in 2027".
However, the biggest sightseeing upgrades are moving slowly. The release lists both the Jasper SkyTram replacement and the Banff Gondola upgrades as projects expected to finish beyond 2027 and still subject to regulatory approvals. Meanwhile, full-year growth capital spending remains at $70 million to $80 million, down from the $88 million to $93 million planned at the start of the year.
What to watch: full-year 2026 growth capital spending in the fourth-quarter report, and 2027 spending plans. Another delay in construction starts would push the expected cash return past 2028.
Selling Flyover Leaves a Fourth-Quarter Revenue Drop
Barry said the company is "reaffirming our full year 2026 Adjusted EBITDA midpoint expectation of $133 million and narrowing our guidance range to $130 million to $136 million". Full-year revenue remains planned at $485 million at the middle of the range, or $460 million without Flyover.
With nine-month revenue already at $436.7 million, that full-year plan leaves $48.3 million of revenue for the fourth quarter by our math, down 15.3% from $57.1 million a year ago. The drop happens because Flyover left the business after July 31, while its fourth-quarter sales from last year stay in the comparison base. That missing revenue will also weigh on reported growth through the first সাত months of 2027.
What to watch: the initial 2027 outlook in February. It will show whether new rooms and Eagle Wing Tours can offset the lost $7 million of annual Flyover cash profit.
Risks this quarter didn't answer
Five standing concerns and watch items got no new numbers in the earnings release.
- Acquisitions needed for 2030 targets: management still gives no split between internal projects and future buyouts for its $265 million cash profit goal.
- Same-store visitor counts and room occupancy: omitted from the press release; the quarterly 10-Q filing will show them.
- Canadian dollar exposure: the fourth-quarter outlook holds the exchange rate at $0.71 per Canadian dollar; currency shifts on lease debt swung pre-tax profit by $1.8 million this quarter.
- Debt target versus loan limit: the company still states a 2.0 to 3.5 leverage target without explaining how that fits a 3.0 credit-facility cap.
- Legacy liabilities: the release gives no update on the 2020 Ice Explorer accident claims or guarantees on sold businesses, which await the 10-Q footnote.
👓 Other Themes
Pursuit Proposed a New Glacier Tram
On October 1, the company submitted a bid to the US Forest Service to build and run the Glacier View Tram, "a proposed year-round sightseeing attraction near Glacier National Park" in Montana. The tram would carry two 100-passenger cabins up 3,000 vertical feet near Pursuit's existing 600 hotel rooms. It sits outside the current 2030 spending plan and requires federal environmental review and permits before any construction.
💲 Other KPIs
Tickets, rooms and transport brought in $186.3 million, up 4.6% from a year ago, while food, drinks and retail shops brought in $65.3 million, up 3.8%. Both lines slowed from the first half as the Flyover sale took effect in August. Direct product costs stayed flat at 31.5% of food and retail sales by our math.
Reported pre-tax profit rose 7.0% from a year ago. One-off items clouded the comparison: this quarter included a $2.8 million loss on the Flyover sale, while last year included $4.2 million of wildfire insurance payouts. Excluding both items, pre-tax profit grew 14.1% by our math, aided by a $0.8 million drop in net interest expense.
Average diluted shares fell 1.5% from a year ago because of stock buybacks completed in late 2025 and the first half of 2026. Compared with the second quarter, basic shares stayed flat at 27.70 million, showing the tourism group paused buybacks during the third quarter while closing the Flyover sale.
🔮 Guidance
Unchanged. The plan calls for 7.2% total growth this year, or 11.2% growth at $460 million when excluding Flyover from both years. By our math, that leaves $48.3 million of revenue for the fourth quarter, down 15.3% from a year ago because Flyover was sold on July 31. Management raised this target by $20 million last quarter after holding it in the first quarter.
Unchanged at the middle of the range. Pursuit narrowed the band by $2 million on each side, keeping the midpoint at $133 million, or 13.5% growth. Excluding Flyover, the plan is $123 million to $129 million, up 12.6% at the midpoint by our math. That implies a seasonal fourth-quarter cash loss of $10.3 million, compared with a $12.4 million loss last year.
Unchanged. Spending on new and upgraded lodges and attractions will nearly double from $41.6 million in 2025. Management cut this range from $88 million to $93 million in the first quarter because construction bills shifted into 2027, and has held it steady for two quarters.
Unchanged. Routine upkeep on existing hotels, boats and trams stays near 7% of full-year revenue at the middle of the range, matching the $33.4 million spent in 2025. Total capital spending, which combines growth and routine projects, also remains unchanged at $103 million to $114 million.
❓ Key Questions
Did same-store attraction visitor traffic grow in Q3?
Same-store ticket prices rose 9%, while underlying revenue across the company grew 6%. The earnings release left out visitor counts and hotel occupancy, which will show whether high ticket prices are starting to turn guests away.
When will Parks Canada approve the SkyTram and Banff upgrades?
The project list places the Jasper SkyTram and Banff Gondola overhauls in the beyond-2027 bucket, still awaiting permits. Investors need to know when construction starts and whether either attraction will close during a summer season.
How much of the 2030 profit goal requires future buyouts?
Pursuit aims to more than double Adjusted EBITDA to over $265 million by 2030, with internal upgrades adding over $40 million. Management still has not said how much of the remaining gap must come from buying new businesses.
Why did Pursuit stop buying back stock in Q3?
Basic share count held flat from the second quarter even as the Flyover sale brought in $75 million and cut net debt to 0.6 times cash profit. Management has about $57 million left on its buyback plan.