Ryman Hospitality Properties (RHP) Q3 2026 earnings review
Ryman raises its hotel outlook, but showboat closure hurts entertainment
Ryman Hospitality Properties, the owner of Gaylord convention resorts and Grand Ole Opry music venues, filled more hotel rooms while profits at its entertainment venues dropped. Revenue at resorts owned a year ago rose 8% as convention guests spent 10% more per night on banquets and audiovisual gear, and same-year cancellations fell bynearly two-thirds. Chief executive Mark Fioravanti raised the full-year hotel outlook and closed the purchase of Grande Lakes Orlando, though issuing new shares and debt to buy it holds full-year cash profit per share growth to about 10%.
| Sales at hotels owned a year ago | $501.8M +8.0% from a year ago |
|---|---|
| Total revenue | $655.8M +10.7% from a year ago |
| Cash profit per share (Adjusted FFO) | $1.79 +9.8% from a year ago |
| Full-year hotel RevPAR outlook | Raised 1 pt middle of the range: 5.0% growth |
⚖️ Verdict: 🟢 Bullish
The story got better because convention demand strengthened both in the quarter and in forward bookings. Ryman raised its full-year underlying hotel cash profit plan by $10 million, and Fioravanti said booked group room revenue pace for 2027 and 2028 improved from last quarter after five straight quarters of slowing. One caution: closing the General Jackson Showboat forced a $3 million cut to the entertainment cash profit outlook, and the company still has no deal to sell a stake in its entertainment unit.
The question now is whether the sequential pickup in 2027 and 2028 group bookings is big enough to hit Ryman's 2027 profit targets without relying on last-minute corporate bookings. Either multi-year convention bookings are accelerating again as the 24-month corporate booking window opens, or the out-year book remains thin while interest and share dilution from Grande Lakes raise the hurdle. The exact 2027 booking pace on the conference call and the first 2027 outlook in February will settle it.
🐂 Bull Case
Higher Guest Spending Lifted Hotel Profit Margins
Ryman Hospitality Properties runs giant convention resorts where corporate groups book rooms, banquet halls and audiovisual equipment years in advance. Chief executive Mark Fioravanti said, "Our premium group strategy continues to produce attractive results as higher meeting attendance and increased catering and audio visual spending drove performance in the quarter." That matters because corporate guests spend more on food and events than leisure travelers do.
- Underlying hotel revenue: $501.8 million, up 8.0% from a year ago
- Banquet and audiovisual revenue per group room night: up 9.7% from a year ago
- Gaylord Opryland occupancy: up 9.6 percentage points to 73.6%
- Gaylord Texan revenue: up 8.3% as workers finished renovating its rooms
- Underlying hotel operating expenses: down 1.3 percentage points of revenue to 79.2% by our math
Because guests spent more on catering while room occupancy rose 3.0 percentage points, profit grew faster than sales. Operating income at resorts owned a year ago climbed 15.1% to $104.5 million, lifting the operating margin by 1.3 percentage points to 20.8% even though cancellation fees fell by $2.8 million.
What to watch: fourth-quarter underlying total revenue per available room (Total RevPAR), which counts both room and catering spending. By our math, the full-year outlook points to about 3.1% growth in the fourth quarter, so a higher reading would show that banquet spending stayed strong against a tough comparison.
Cancellations Dropped and Future Bookings Improved
A year ago, tariff worries and government budget cuts caused meeting planners to cancel trips or delay signing contracts. Ryman measures forward demand through definite room nights booked for all future years and tracks how many groups cancel trips scheduled within the same calendar year.
This quarter, same-year room cancellations dropped 62.7% from a year ago to 8,549 nights, while group attrition — the share of booked rooms that guests leave empty — fell 1.3 percentage points to 15.0%. Net definite room nights booked for future periods rose 9.0% to 501,109 at an estimated average daily rate of $293, a third-quarter record. Fioravanti also said that the pace of booked group room revenue for 2027 and 2028 improved from last quarter.
What to watch: the exact percentage growth for 2027 group rooms revenue on the books when executives speak on the conference call. A number above last quarter's 3.2% pace would confirm that corporate planners are booking multi-year conventions again.
Grande Lakes Expands the Group Rotation Network
Ryman buys upscale convention resorts outside its Gaylord brand so corporate groups that switch cities each year stay within its portfolio. On September 1, the hotel owner bought the 1,592-room Grande Lakes Orlando Resort, "adding a turnkey asset in the nation’s top meetings market". In its first month, Grande Lakes brought in $22.0 million of revenue at a $314.64 average daily room rate, while JW Marriott Desert Ridge grew third-quarter revenue 8.2% to $39.1 million.
What to watch: multi-year rotational room nights booked across the JW Marriott and Grande Lakes properties at year-end. Rising bookings would show that meeting planners are rotating conventions into the new Orlando resort just as they did at Desert Ridge.
🐻 Bear Case
Showboat Closure Cut the Entertainment Profit Plan
Opry Entertainment Group (OEG), Ryman's live-music and venue division, runs the Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium, and country-music bars such as Ole Red and Category 10. Fioravanti said the new Category 10 venue in Las Vegas opened in mid-October, "exceeding our expectations", and noted that third-quarter venue results met internal plans.
Despite that upbeat framing, third-quarter Entertainment revenue rose only 1.5% to $93.0 million while segment operating income fell 40.9% to $7.0 million. By our math, segment operating expenses jumped 5.4 percentage points of revenue to 92.5%, pushing the operating margin down from 12.9% to 7.5%. Fioravanti cut the full-year Entertainment outlook "related primarily to the closure of the General Jackson Showboat", lowering the segment operating income plan by $6.1 million and its cash profit (Adjusted EBITDAre) plan by $3.0 million.
What to watch: fourth-quarter Entertainment Adjusted EBITDAre against the $38.6 million implied by the lowered full-year outlook. Falling short of that mark would mean new competition in downtown Nashville and Las Vegas opening costs are hurting profits beyond the showboat closure.
New Debt and Shares Hold Back Per-Share Profit
To buy Grande Lakes Orlando and upgrade its older resorts, the real estate investment trust issued 5.9 million new shares at $117.00 apiece and borrowed $700 million via 6.250% notes due 2035. It also raised the bottom of its 2026 capital spending plan by $50 million, setting the range at $450 million to $500 million.
Those moves enlarged the resort portfolio, but they also increased net debt by 23.4% from a year ago to $4.31 billion by our math and diluted existing shareholders. Even with four months of Grande Lakes earnings and a $10.0 million raise to underlying hotel cash profit, the full-year outlook for Adjusted FFO per diluted share — a real estate cash profit measure — rose just $0.21 at the middle of the range to $9.29. By our math, that leaves fourth-quarter per-share growth at 2.9%, down from 9.8% in the third quarter.
What to watch: fourth-quarter net interest expense and diluted share count in the year-end report. They will show the full quarterly financing cost that the hotel portfolio must outgrow in 2027.
Risks this quarter didn't answer
Four standing concerns from earlier quarters either lacked numbers in the earnings release or remained unresolved while projects and talks continue.
- Out-year group booking rates: Fioravanti said 2027 and 2028 revenue pace improved from last quarter, but the release omitted the exact percentages that the conference call usually provides.
- Opry Entertainment Group investor sale: Ryman "has not entered into definitive agreements with respect to a potential investment by a third party in OEG", leaving minority partner Atairos's put rights frozen and the timing of any cash proceeds open.
- Renovation disruption at JW Marriott Hill Country: room upgrades running through March 2027 pushed the resort's third-quarter occupancy down 4.1 percentage points and its operating income down 30.3% to $4.8 million.
- Marriott management fees: the release does not separate base and incentive management fees from other hotel expenses, so the quarterly filing must show whether fees are still growing faster than hotel revenue.
💲 Other KPIs
Adjusted Funds From Operations (FFO) per diluted share — cash profit after property maintenance costs and financing — rose 9.8% from a year ago to $1.79. That slowed from 17.9% growth in the second quarter and 10.5% in the first quarter because Ryman issued 5.9 million new shares in August to help pay for Grande Lakes Orlando.
Net debt — total debt of $4,659.3 million minus $348.2 million of unrestricted cash — rose 23.4% from a year ago by our math. The real estate trust issued $700 million of senior notes in August to buy Grande Lakes Orlando, while keeping $930.0 million of unused credit lines.
By our math, property spending reached $122.0 million in the third quarter, or 18.6% of revenue, bringing nine-month spending to $363.0 million. Workers finished upgrading guest rooms at Gaylord Texan while continuing room renovations at JW Marriott Hill Country and meeting space expansion at Gaylord Opryland.
🔮 Guidance
Raised. Ryman lifted the middle of its underlying room revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth plan by 1.0 percentage point to 5.00%, its third increase this year after raising it from 2.50% to 3.00% in the first quarter and to 4.00% in the second. Because nine-month growth is already 5.0%, the middle of the range points to about 5.0% growth in the fourth quarter by our math, down from 7.9% in the third quarter.
Raised. Management increased the middle of the underlying total revenue per available room outlook by 1.0 percentage point to 5.00%, also the third raise this year. With nine-month growth at 5.7%, the plan leaves about 3.1% growth for the fourth quarter by our math, as the final quarter laps last year's record catering and holiday events.
Raised. The middle of the range rose $3.9 million to $566.8 million (after adjusting the prior baseline to include $12.5 million from Grande Lakes Orlando). A $10.0 million increase in underlying hotel operating income to $497.0 million more than offset a $6.1 million cut in Entertainment to $71.0 million from the General Jackson Showboat closure.
Raised. The middle of the cash operating profit plan moved up $7.0 million to $933.5 million, or 17.5% growth from 2025 by our math, combining a $10.0 million underlying hotel raise with a $3.0 million Entertainment cut. Across 2026, Ryman has raised the middle of this outlook three times (+$12.5M, +$11.0M, +$7.0M excluding the $32.5M Grande Lakes addition). By our math, the plan leaves fourth-quarter growth at 17.8%, or 5.1% for underlying hotels.
Raised. The middle of the consolidated net income forecast increased by $10.5 million to $290.3 million. With $211.2 million earned in the first nine months, the middle of the range leaves $79.1 million for the fourth quarter by our math.
Raised. The middle of the range rose $10.5 million to $279.3 million, or $4.08 per diluted share (up $0.15 from the restated prior baseline of $3.93, though $0.03 below the $4.11 midpoint set in the second quarter before the August share offering and debt financing).
Raised. Funds From Operations (FFO) — net income with real estate depreciation added back — moved up $10.5 million at the middle of the range to $601.0 million, leaving $169.9 million for the fourth quarter by our math.
Raised. The middle of the range increased $15.3 million to $636.8 million, while the per-share outlook rose $0.21 to $9.16–9.43 (midpoint $9.29, up $0.16 from the $9.13 midpoint before the Grande Lakes deal). That represents about 10% full-year per-share growth, leaving fourth-quarter per-share growth at 2.9% by our math on a 71.1 million diluted share and unit count.
Raised. Management lifted the bottom of the range by $50 million, moving the middle of the range up $25 million to $475 million after raising it by $50 million last quarter. With $363 million spent in the first nine months, the plan leaves $87 million to $137 million for the fourth quarter by our math.
❓ Key Questions
What are the exact 2027 and 2028 group booking rates?
Fioravanti said the pace of booked group room revenue for 2027 and 2028 improved from last quarter, when 2027 stood at 3.2% and 2028 at minus 0.5%. Disclosing the exact percentages and the split between room nights and room rates will show how much 2027 demand is locked in.
Is the General Jackson Showboat closure temporary or permanent?
Ryman cut its 2026 Entertainment operating income plan by $6.1 million and its cash profit plan by $3.0 million primarily because of the showboat closure. Investors need to know whether the boat is down for repairs or retired, and whether insurance will cover any lost profit.
When will Ryman decide on an Opry Entertainment partner?
The company has marketed a minority stake in Opry Entertainment Group since June but still has no definitive agreement. Clarifying what is holding up a deal will tell investors when minority owner Atairos's put rights might unfreeze.
How did Marriott management fees trend in the third quarter?
In the second quarter, hotel management fees paid to Marriott rose 23.6%, growing faster than hotel revenue. Because the earnings release folds management fees into total hotel expenses, the quarterly filing or call must show whether fee pressure eased.