Six Flags Entertainment Corporation this morning reported its fourth quarter and year-end financial results for 2024. However, since the company formed last July 1 from the merger of the old Six Flags and Cedar Fair companies, it's hard to draw any meaningful conclusions from the data the company reported today.
Six Flags reported attendance of 41.6 million guests in 2024, however that number includes just the legacy Cedar Fair parks for the first six months of the year and the combined Cedar Fair/Six Flags parks for the final six months. In the fourth quarter, the new company reported a total of 10.69 million guests visiting its parks - five million of them visiting the legacy Six Flags parks.
I went back and looked at the two legacy companies' old financial reports to figure out a more complete picture. Adding the 8.6 million guests that those legacy Six Flags parks reported for the first six months of 2024 in their old corporate reports, that would give the combined legacy Six Flags/Cedar Fair parks at total of 50.2 million visitors in 2024, up from a combined 48.8 million visits that the two companies separately reported in their 2023 financial reports.
The new Six Flags today also reported $687.3 million in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024, against $636.2 million in costs. With taxes and interest charges, the company reported a net loss of $264.2 million for the quarter, though a positive Adjusted EBITDA of $208.97 million.
"Our strong fourth-quarter results reflect an outstanding October performance and the incredible popularity of our fall and Halloween themed events," Six Flags President and CEO Richard A. Zimmerman said. "We ended the year as the new Six Flags on a high note, delivering on our goal of improving demand and increasing in-park guest spending levels, while operating our parks more efficiently. We successfully achieved more than $50 million in gross cost synergies and drove meaningful improvement in guest satisfaction scores and higher guest demand."
The company also said today that it is targeting Adjusted EBITDA of $1.08 billion to $1.12 billion in 2025, exclusive of any portfolio optimization efforts. The company reported Adjusted EBITDA of $875.29 million for 2024 - again reflecting the combined results for the last six months of the year and for legacy Cedar Fair only in the first six months. Six Flags also will host an Investor Day at Cedar Point on May 20 to outline its plans for 2025 and beyond.
"Our 2025 guidance reflects the strong progress we’ve made to date and our belief in the opportunities ahead as we execute our initiatives to drive higher levels of attendance and guest spending, while realizing cost synergies and maximizing operating efficiencies," Zimmerman said. "At our Investor Day in May, we will share our vision for the future of Six Flags, outlining our comprehensive strategy to build on our momentum and providing long-term performance objectives. I am so proud of everything our team has accomplished to date, and excited about the tremendous opportunities ahead for Six Flags."
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