At a glance
United Parks & Resorts Inc is worth $1.41B, about 10 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue fell 3.6% to $1.66B in fiscal 2025, with 10.1% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 30.9% a year. It pays no dividend; it spent $1.57B buying back its shares over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned −39.5% over the past year with dividends reinvested, against +11.5% for the S&P 500.
The business in plain English
United Parks & Resorts, formerly SeaWorld Entertainment, runs theme parks and water parks under brands it owns or licenses, including SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Aquatica, Discovery Cove and Sesame Place. It operates 12 parks of its own across five US states, on about 2,000 acres of owned land plus 190 leased acres in San Diego. It also licenses the SeaWorld name to a 13th park in the United Arab Emirates. Many of its parks combine rides and shows with animal exhibits, and the company says it cares for one of the world's largest zoological collections.
Its guests range from families living nearby to tourists on vacation. The company makes money in two ways: selling admission, and selling food, merchandise and other items, mostly inside its parks. In fiscal 2025, which ended Dec 31, 2025, revenue was $1.66 billion. Admission brought in $883 million, or 53%, and food, merchandise and other sales brought in $779 million, or 47%.
The parks are grouped in clusters near large population centers and tourist destinations. This lets the company sell multi-park tickets and vacation packages and share marketing and overhead costs across nearby parks. A significant share of revenue has historically come from Florida, California and Virginia. Some parks open year-round, but results still rise and fall with the seasons.
Price history
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PRKS -39.5% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By product or service
| Admission | $883.4M | 53.1% |
| Food Merchandise And Other Revenue | $779.2M | 46.9% |
Latest results
- In Q2 FY2026 (ended Jun 30, 2026), revenue was $483.3M, down 1.4% from a year earlier, and net income was $63.3M (-21.0%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $1.66B (-3.6% year over year; +30.9% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 10.1% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +30.9% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 22% good |
| Free cash flow margin | 9.8% watch |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 6.4% watch |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $-2.26B weak |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $431.8M | $-312.3M | $-229.9M |
| FY2021 | $1.50B | $256.5M | $374.2M |
| FY2022 | $1.73B | $291.2M | $363.9M |
| FY2023 | $1.73B | $234.2M | $200.1M |
| FY2024 | $1.73B | $227.5M | $231.7M |
| FY2025 | $1.66B | $168.4M | $162.6M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $1.41B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 10.1 |
| Dividend yield | 0% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
United Parks & Resorts’s market value went from $3.09B at the end of 2024 to $1.41B on Oct 28, 2026, down 55%; since the end of 2025 it is down 29%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $1.41B | -29.0% |
| 2025 | $1.98B | -35.9% |
| 2024 | $3.09B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRKS price data to Oct 28, 2026 | -14.6% | -39.5% | — | — | — |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | -14.6% |
| 2025 | -35.4% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Before this security existed |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Before this security existed |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Before this security existed |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-29 to 2026-10-29 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 2 sales ($334K).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | Christopher L. Finazzo Chief Commercial Officer | sell | $293K |
| Sep 15, 2026 | James W Jr Forrester See Remarks | sell | $41K |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| BlackRock, Inc. | 7.4% | Sep 30, 2025 |
| GoldenTree Asset Management LP | 4.6% | Dec 31, 2025 |
| BARROW HANLEY MEWHINNEY & STRAUSS LLC | 4.07% | Mar 31, 2025 |
ETFs with the most weight in PRKS
| GURU Global X Guru Index ETF | 1.1% |
| LST Leuthold Select Industries ETF | 0.45% |
| QSML WisdomTree U.S. SmallCap Quality Growth Fund | 0.38% |
| FYC First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund | 0.38% |
| EES WisdomTree U.S. SmallCap Fund | 0.27% |
| SQLV Royce Quant Small‑Cap Quality Value ETF | 0.26% |
| EBIT Harbor AlphaEdge Small Cap Earners ETF | 0.23% |
| ISMD Inspire Small/Mid Cap ETF | 0.21% |
What could go wrong
- Animal welfare rules and activist pressure. Showing animals brings legal and reputational risk. Animal-welfare rules can change, and activist groups can sue or pressure regulators. Losing exhibit licenses, or infectious disease among the animals, could hurt attendance and operations.
- Reliance on Florida, California and Virginia. A significant share of revenue has historically come from these three states. Natural disasters, severe weather, travel disruptions or other local problems there could hurt results across much of the company.
- Heavy debt and negative shareholder equity. As of June 30, 2026, total debt was about $2.28 billion against $19 million of cash, and liabilities exceeded assets. Debt terms limit flexibility, and variable-rate borrowing adds interest-rate risk.
- Hill Path Capital's influence over decisions. Hill Path Capital and its affiliates could significantly influence company decisions. The company's annual report warns that their interests may conflict with other shareholders'. Concentrated ownership also limits how much say smaller investors have.
- Consumer pullbacks hit a high-cost business. Theme park trips are optional spending, and much of a park's cost is fixed. In fiscal 2025, revenue fell 3.6% while net income fell 26%, a sign of how quickly profits can shrink.
- Staffing, wage and union pressures. The company reports turnover and hiring challenges in some markets and more union organizing in certain units. Higher wage and benefit costs, or labor disputes, could squeeze margins or disrupt the guest experience.
Recent events
- Executive or board change; Bylaws or fiscal year changed
- Quarterly results released
- Shareholder vote results
- Quarterly results released
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
- Executive or board change
- Executive or board change
- Quarterly results released
For income and retirement investors
United Parks & Resorts pays no dividend. It paid none from fiscal 2021 through 2025, and its dividend yield was 0% as of Oct 28, 2026. Instead, it has bought back its own shares, spending about $1.57 billion over fiscal 2021–2025. Over a similar period, the share count fell 42.7%, from 79.2 million in August 2021 to 45.3 million in July 2026. Buybacks raise each remaining share's claim on profits, but they pay no cash, so an investor wanting income would have to sell shares. The annual report warns that debt could limit future buybacks or dividends.
In fiscal 2020, the year of the COVID crash, revenue was only about $432 million and the company lost $312 million. The shares also swing widely. They fell 35.4% in 2025 and lost 39.5% in the year to Oct 28, 2026, and at one point they were 50.7% below an earlier high. A single stock carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
Does United Parks & Resorts pay a dividend?
No. United Parks & Resorts paid no dividends in fiscal 2021 through 2025, and its dividend yield was 0% as of Oct 28, 2026. Instead, it spent about $1.57 billion buying back its own shares over those five years. The company's annual report also warns that its debt could limit future dividends or buybacks. Investors seeking regular income would receive none from this stock and would have to sell shares to raise cash.
How does United Parks & Resorts make money?
Mainly from park tickets and spending inside its parks. In fiscal 2025, which ended Dec 31, 2025, revenue was $1.66 billion. Admission brought in $883 million (53%), and food, merchandise and other items brought in $779 million (47%). The company owns and operates 12 theme and water parks in the US under brands such as SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Aquatica, Discovery Cove and Sesame Place. It also licenses the SeaWorld name to a park in the United Arab Emirates.
Is United Parks & Resorts the same company as SeaWorld?
Yes. United Parks & Resorts was formerly named SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. It still runs SeaWorld parks, along with Busch Gardens, Aquatica, Discovery Cove and Sesame Place, under brands it owns or licenses. The company's history goes back more than 65 years, to the 1959 opening of its first Busch Gardens park in Tampa, Florida. Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker PRKS.
How much debt does United Parks & Resorts have?
About $2.28 billion as of June 30, 2026, against only $19 million of cash and investments. Shareholders' equity (assets minus liabilities) was negative $617 million. For scale, the stock market valued the company's shares at about $1.41 billion as of Oct 28, 2026. The annual report warns that this debt could limit the company's flexibility and make raising capital harder. It could also expose the company to interest-rate risk on any variable-rate borrowing.
How has United Parks & Resorts stock performed?
It has fallen sharply. The shares fell 35.4% in calendar 2025 and another 14.6% in 2026 through Oct 28, 2026, for a 39.5% loss over the 12 months to that date. Results have slipped too. Fiscal 2025 revenue fell 3.6% and net income fell 26%, and second-quarter fiscal 2026 net income was 21% lower than a year earlier. The price-to-earnings ratio compares the share price with a year's profit per share. It was about 10.1 on Oct 28, 2026, based on fiscal 2025 earnings.