Boyd Gaming targets $150 million in quarterly buybacks despite lower earnings
Key Facts
Boyd Gaming reaffirmed its target of repurchasing $150 million of shares each quarter alongside cash dividends, despite a decline in third-quarter adjusted earnings per share. Chief Executive Keith Smith said during the earnings call on October 22, 2026, that the company continues to target a pace of "$150 million each quarter," according to the call transcript published by Investing.com. The company actually repurchased $164 million of shares during the third quarter, according to its earnings release. The repurchases thus exceeded the quarterly pace management aims to maintain as part of its capital returns to shareholders. At the end of September, the company had $387 million remaining under its share repurchase authorization as it continued to develop the Norfolk resort project.
Reported results showed adjusted earnings per share of $1.67 in the third quarter of 2026, according to the company's October 22 statement. That was down from $1.72 per share in the corresponding period of 2025, marking a year-on-year decline in adjusted earnings. The result also missed an analyst estimate of $1.70 per share cited by Investing.com in its coverage of the earnings call. On a GAAP basis, net income attributable to Boyd Gaming totaled about $124.9 million during the quarter. GAAP earnings per share were $1.71 for the same period, according to the release. GAAP earnings per share were therefore higher than adjusted earnings per share in the third-quarter results.
Boyd Gaming reported revenue of $990.5 million in the third quarter of 2026, according to its earnings statement. Revenue in the corresponding period a year earlier was about $1.0 billion, using the company's rounded figure for the annual comparison. The company attributed pressure on its results to weaker activity among visitors to Las Vegas, particularly at the Orleans property. It added that disruptions from renovation work at the Suncoast property also weighed on performance during the period. Its management business, meanwhile, benefited from higher fees associated with the Sky River property following its expansion, according to the company. Its online casino business also continued to grow, leaving quarterly results reflecting mixed performance between operations affected by weaker visitation and those benefiting from expansion and online growth.
On operating profitability, total adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and rent were $319.6 million in the third quarter of 2026. That compared with $321.8 million in the same period of 2025, according to Boyd Gaming's statement. The measure thus declined alongside year-on-year falls in revenue and adjusted earnings per share. Against the backdrop of its capital return policy, the company had $297.2 million in cash on September 30, 2026. Total debt stood at $2.7 billion on the same date, according to the earnings release, while the company continued to combine cash dividends with share repurchases.
On expansion, Boyd Gaming lists the cost of the Norfolk resort project at $750 million on its official website. Management said during the October 22 call that the project was on schedule and on budget. According to its update, the company expects to top out the project's structure by the end of the current year. That construction phase represents the next milestone management identified in the resort's development. As for the targeted opening, management said the project remained "on schedule and on budget to open in November 2027."