MGM Resorts Q2 2026 diluted EPS jumped to $1.11 from $0.18 on a $255M Northfield Park sale gain and a currency swing, but adjusted EPS fell 25% to $0.59 and Adjusted EBITDA fell 6% as Macau and regional profit slipped and Strip room rates dropped 4%.
Revenue
$4.5B
+1.0% YoY
Net income
$292M
+497.4% YoY
Diluted EPS
$1.11
+516.7% YoY
Operating margin
11.3%
Headline: a one-off gain lifted EPS sixfold, but the casinos earned less than a year ago
MGM Resorts' second quarter of 2026 (three months ended June 30, 2026) looks like a blowout at first glance: diluted earnings per share (EPS) were $1.11, up from $0.18, and net income attributable to MGM rose to $292 million from $49 million. Most of that jump is not from running casinos better. It comes from two accounting items that don't repeat:
A $255 million gain on selling MGM Northfield Park (the Ohio racino, sold in April 2026 for $546 million in cash). This sits inside a $287 million gain in "Property transactions, net".
The swing in currency effects on MGM China's dollar debt. A year ago, a $208 million foreign-currency loss on U.S.-dollar debt held by a foreign subsidiary pushed "Other, net" to a $161 million expense. This quarter the same line turned into a $30 million gain, so "Other, net" was $9 million of income.
Those were partly offset by a $111 million goodwill impairment at MGM Digital. Goodwill is the premium paid above an acquired business's net assets, and writing it down means the company now thinks that business is worth less than it paid. The filing ties the charge to "a reporting unit within the MGM Digital reportable segment", the LeoVegas-based international online gaming business.
Strip those items out and the picture reverses. MGM's own adjusted EPS fell to $0.59 from $0.79 (-25%), and Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA fell to $610 million from $648 million (-6%). Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and the one-off items above: a rough measure of the cash profit from operations. Revenue was up just 1%, to a second-quarter record of $4.45 billion.
Key metrics
Metric
Q2 2026
Q2 2025
YoY Change
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RevPAR (revenue per available room) is room revenue per available hotel room: occupancy times average room rate. "Drop" is the total cash and credit players exchange for chips at tables, a measure of how much gambling happened. "Win %" (or "hold") is the share of that the casino kept, which swings with luck.
Operating margin, the share of revenue left after running the business before interest and tax, rose on paper. Remove the Northfield gain and the impairment, though, and operating income was about $328 million versus $405 million a year ago, down roughly 19%. Two costs explain much of that. Depreciation and amortization rose 17% to $282 million, and general and administrative expense rose $50 million to $1.26 billion.
Segment by segment
Segment
Revenue Q2 2026
Revenue YoY
Segment Adj. EBITDAR Q2 2026
Q2 2025
EBITDAR YoY
Las Vegas Strip Resorts
$2,170M
+2.6%
$735M
$710M
+3.5%
Regional Operations
$924M
-4.2%
$280M
$309M
-9.2%
MGM China
$1,101M
-0.8%
$257M
$301M
-14.8%
MGM Digital (LeoVegas etc.)
$196M
+19.8%
-$31M
-$26M
loss widened
Segment Adjusted EBITDAR is MGM's main profit measure per segment: EBITDA before rent (the "R"). MGM leases most of its U.S. buildings from landlords like VICI, and that rent, $552 million this quarter, is charged at the corporate level instead.
Las Vegas Strip: luck at the tables covered weaker hotel pricing
Strip revenue rose 3% ($55 million), which MGM attributes to "casino revenue, which benefited from a higher table games win percentage, and food and beverage revenue, driven by an increase from catering and banquets." Strip casino revenue jumped 17% to $536 million. The volume behind it didn't grow, though. Table drop fell 2% to $1.52 billion, and slot handle (total amount bet on slots) was flat at $5.9 billion. What changed was the hold. MGM kept 29.6% of table drop versus 22.9% a year ago, so table win rose 27% to $451 million. Hold that high tends to fall back toward normal over time, so this gain shouldn't be assumed to repeat.
The hotel side, which reflects visitor demand more directly, weakened. Occupancy held at 93%, but the average daily rate fell to $242 from $252 (-4%), taking RevPAR down 4.7% to $224. Room revenue fell 2% and entertainment, retail and other fell 7% ($338M to $315M). The filing cites "a decrease in entertainment revenue from our venues." Segment EBITDAR margin still rose slightly, to 33.9% from 33.6%, "due primarily to the increase in casino revenue." In other words, the higher hold is what kept the Strip's margin up.
Over the first half, Strip EBITDAR was down 2%, and the margin fell to 34.1% from 35.5%. The filing gives two reasons. The prior year included $42 million of business-interruption insurance from the September 2023 cyberattack, against $6 million this year. Self-insurance reserves also rose by $40 million.
Regional Operations: flat once you remove the sold property
Reported regional revenue fell 4%, and EBITDAR fell 9%, to $280 million. Both declines come from the Northfield Park sale. On a same-store basis, which excludes the sold property, revenue rose 2.8% to $904 million, which MGM calls its best-ever regional quarter. Same-store EBITDAR was flat at $271 million. Growth came from "same-store casino revenue primarily driven by slot handle." One side effect of the sale is lower rent: the VICI master lease was amended to cut annual cash rent by $53 million. That partly offsets the EBITDAR given up.
MGM China: higher hold, lower volume, and a bigger internal fee
MGM China's revenue was essentially flat at $1.10 billion. Main-floor table drop fell 6.6% to $3.8 billion, and casino revenue fell $21 million "primarily due to a decline in table games volume, partially offset by the increase in main floor table games win percentage" (27.2% vs 25.0%). EBITDAR fell 15%, to $257 million, and margin fell to 23.3% from 27.1%.
Part of that drop isn't a real economic loss for MGM shareholders. MGM China now pays the parent company a $40 million quarterly branding license fee, up from $19 million, under a new long-term agreement. That fee "eliminates in consolidation": the parent books it as income while MGM China books it as a cost. Adding back the $21 million increase, MGM China's EBITDAR decline is closer to 8% than 15%. The remaining decline is due to higher payroll and lower casino volume. MGM received about 56% of MGM China's latest dividend ($96 million of $171 million), so a fee paid from MGM China to the parent shifts some profit away from MGM China's outside shareholders.
Digital: growing revenue, but still losing money
MGM Digital, which is LeoVegas and other consolidated online gaming subsidiaries (mainly Europe and Brazil), grew revenue 20% to $196 million "due primarily to growth within the digital business to consumer offerings." Its EBITDAR loss widened to $31 million from $26 million, "due primarily to an increase in marketing expenses and gaming taxes." The same segment took the $111 million goodwill write-down. So in the same quarter that revenue grew 20%, MGM cut the book value of a business it bought. Growth is not yet turning into profit here.
The U.S. online business, BetMGM, is a 50/50 joint venture that isn't consolidated into MGM's revenue. MGM's share of its operating income was $23 million, versus $22 million a year ago. For the first half it was $30 million, versus $7 million.
Balance sheet and capital returns
Cash: $2.5 billion at June 30, 2026 ($514 million of it at MGM China), against $6.1 billion of debt principal ($2.3 billion at MGM China). The corporate revolver was undrawn. On top of the debt, MGM owes about $1.8 billion a year in triple-net lease rent to landlords. That is effectively debt-like, and it is the main reason EBITDAR, not EBITDA, is the segment metric.
Buybacks: 4 million shares were repurchased for $164 million in Q2, and $253 million in the first half, down from $711 million in the first half of 2025. Diluted share count fell 6.5% year over year to 258 million, which helps per-share earnings. $1.4 billion remains on the April 2025 authorization.
Cash flow: First-half operating cash flow was $1.13 billion, versus $1.19 billion. Capex was $396 million, versus $496 million, spent mainly on room remodels and IT. The Northfield sale brought in $507 million net.
Tax: The effective tax rate rose to 21.9% from 11.7%, partly because the goodwill impairment isn't tax-deductible. The quarter also included a $14 million charge from a higher valuation allowance on foreign tax credits.
Takeaway: The $1.11 EPS is mostly a property-sale gain and a currency swing. The underlying business earned less: adjusted EPS fell 25% to $0.59, and Adjusted EBITDA fell 6%. Even the Strip's 3% profit growth relied on an unusually high 29.6% table hold, while its hotel rates fell 4%.
Outlook
MGM gave no numerical financial guidance in the release or the 10-Q. Management's commentary looks further out. The CEO says MGM Osaka, described as the largest integrated resort in the world, is "on track for 2030 opening." The CFO points to growth capital at "our Las Vegas luxury offerings." The 10-Q's forward-looking statements also flag an acquisition proposal from People Incorporated. MGM describes it only as a proposal it is considering, with no agreement and no guarantee of a deal. The filing gives no terms, so this report doesn't speculate on them.
Our read: Three things to watch in Q3.
Strip room rates. A 4% ADR decline at 93% occupancy suggests MGM is filling rooms by cutting price. If the rate decline continues without the unusually high table hold seen this quarter, Strip EBITDAR will likely fall year over year.
MGM China volume. Main-floor drop fell 7% even as hold improved. Watch whether volume recovers, and judge margins with the branding fee in mind.
Digital losses. The goodwill write-down means management already expects less from LeoVegas. The segment's losses should narrow before its revenue growth counts for much.
Buybacks and the $53 million lower rent from the Northfield sale support per-share results. Before one-offs, though, this quarter's earnings were lower than a year ago, not higher.
Source: MGM Resorts International Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 (filed July 29, 2026), with adjusted EPS and branding-fee detail from the same-day earnings release (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1).