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Sabre Q2 Loss Widens, Revenues Beat Estimates on Marketplace Growth
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Key Takeaways
Sabre's Q2 revenues rose 4% to $712 million as Marketplace revenues increased 6% on higher bookings.
Marketplace booking fees rose about 4% to $6.30, while hotel-related revenues advanced 11%.
Sabre raised 2026 adjusted EBITDA to about $600 million and improved its free cash flow outlook.
Sabre Corporation (SABR - Free Report) reported an adjusted loss of 17 cents per share for the second quarter of 2026, wider than the year-ago loss of 2 cents. The loss also came in wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 7 cents.
Revenues rose 4% year over year to $712 million and beat the consensus estimate of $699 million. Total Marketplace bookings increased 1% to 92 million, supported by growth in distribution activity and booking fees.
SABR's Marketplace Revenues Gain on Booking Trends
Marketplace revenues increased 6% year over year to $577 million. Transaction-based revenues rose $25 million, mainly due to higher distribution bookings and favorable rate impacts, while product-based revenues jumped $6 million.
The average booking fee climbed about 4% to $6.30. Hotel-related revenues advanced 11%, aided by a higher hotel attachment rate and continued media revenue growth. The hotel attachment rate reached approximately 35%.
Sabre Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Airline Technology revenues decreased 4% year over year to $135 million, primarily due to lower license revenues and other revenues. Passengers boarded increased 2% to 174 million during the quarter.
Management said the segment's quarterly performance can vary because roughly half of revenues are tied to passengers boarded, while the rest comes mainly from license fees and other performance deliverables. Sabre expects Airline Technology revenues of $140 million to $150 million per quarter in the third and fourth quarters.
SABR’s Margins Expand as Cost Actions Aid EBITDA
Operating income rose 4% year over year to $93 million, with revenue growth partly offset by higher incentives and other expenses. Operating margin remained unchanged at 13%.
Normalized adjusted EBITDA increased 19% to $151 million from $127 million. The normalized adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 272 basis points to 21.2%, benefiting from revenue drivers and lower labor and professional-services costs under the inflation offset program, partly offset by higher incentive expense.
Sabre's Cash Flow Improves and Liquidity Holds
Cash provided by operating activities was $36 million compared with cash used of $218 million a year earlier. Free cash flow was positive $10 million versus negative $240 million in the prior-year quarter.
Sabre ended the quarter with a cash balance of $697 million and net debt of $3.81 billion. The company also signed an agreement to extend its accounts-receivable securitization facility through September 2029, leaving no debt maturities until 2029.
SABR Raises 2026 Profit and Cash Flow Outlook
For 2026, Sabre raised its pro forma adjusted EBITDA outlook to approximately $600 million from $585 million. The company also improved its free cash flow outlook to approximately negative $65 million from negative $70 million.
SABR reaffirmed expectations for low-to-mid-single-digit year-over-year growth in both revenues and air distribution bookings. It now expects capital expenditures of approximately $90 million, up from its prior projection of $80 million.
Sabre Sees Growth in Bookings, Payments and AI
For the third quarter, Sabre expects revenues and air distribution bookings to grow in the flat-to-low-single-digit range year over year, with pro forma adjusted EBITDA of approximately $155 million. For the fourth quarter, revenues and air distribution bookings are projected to rise at a low-to-mid-single-digit pace, with pro forma adjusted EBITDA of about $125 million.
Payment Suite gross spend exceeded $6 billion, up 32% year over year. NDC represented about 5% of distribution volumes, while Sabre doubled active pilot and production partners using its Agentic APIs and Model Context Protocol Server to 60 during the quarter.
More than 400 developers participated in Sabre's Silicon Valley hackathon and submitted more than 100 projects built on its Agentic APIs and Model Context Protocol Server.
Shares of Lumentum have surged 127.4% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LITE’s fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $8.19 per share, up by 5 cents over the past 30 days, indicating an increase of 297.6% year over year.
Shares of Applied Materials have jumped 105.2% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMAT’s fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $12.17 per share, up by 3 cents over the past seven days, implying a rise of 29.2% year over year.
Analog Devices shares have rallied 39.1% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ADI’s fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $12.42 per share, up by 10 cents over the past 30 days, indicating an increase of 59.4% year over year.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
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Sabre Q2 Loss Widens, Revenues Beat Estimates on Marketplace Growth
Key Takeaways
Sabre Corporation (SABR - Free Report) reported an adjusted loss of 17 cents per share for the second quarter of 2026, wider than the year-ago loss of 2 cents. The loss also came in wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 7 cents.
Revenues rose 4% year over year to $712 million and beat the consensus estimate of $699 million. Total Marketplace bookings increased 1% to 92 million, supported by growth in distribution activity and booking fees.
SABR's Marketplace Revenues Gain on Booking Trends
Marketplace revenues increased 6% year over year to $577 million. Transaction-based revenues rose $25 million, mainly due to higher distribution bookings and favorable rate impacts, while product-based revenues jumped $6 million.
The average booking fee climbed about 4% to $6.30. Hotel-related revenues advanced 11%, aided by a higher hotel attachment rate and continued media revenue growth. The hotel attachment rate reached approximately 35%.
Sabre Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Sabre Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Sabre Corporation Quote
Sabre's Airline Technology Revenues Decline
Airline Technology revenues decreased 4% year over year to $135 million, primarily due to lower license revenues and other revenues. Passengers boarded increased 2% to 174 million during the quarter.
Management said the segment's quarterly performance can vary because roughly half of revenues are tied to passengers boarded, while the rest comes mainly from license fees and other performance deliverables. Sabre expects Airline Technology revenues of $140 million to $150 million per quarter in the third and fourth quarters.
SABR’s Margins Expand as Cost Actions Aid EBITDA
Operating income rose 4% year over year to $93 million, with revenue growth partly offset by higher incentives and other expenses. Operating margin remained unchanged at 13%.
Normalized adjusted EBITDA increased 19% to $151 million from $127 million. The normalized adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 272 basis points to 21.2%, benefiting from revenue drivers and lower labor and professional-services costs under the inflation offset program, partly offset by higher incentive expense.
Sabre's Cash Flow Improves and Liquidity Holds
Cash provided by operating activities was $36 million compared with cash used of $218 million a year earlier. Free cash flow was positive $10 million versus negative $240 million in the prior-year quarter.
Sabre ended the quarter with a cash balance of $697 million and net debt of $3.81 billion. The company also signed an agreement to extend its accounts-receivable securitization facility through September 2029, leaving no debt maturities until 2029.
SABR Raises 2026 Profit and Cash Flow Outlook
For 2026, Sabre raised its pro forma adjusted EBITDA outlook to approximately $600 million from $585 million. The company also improved its free cash flow outlook to approximately negative $65 million from negative $70 million.
SABR reaffirmed expectations for low-to-mid-single-digit year-over-year growth in both revenues and air distribution bookings. It now expects capital expenditures of approximately $90 million, up from its prior projection of $80 million.
Sabre Sees Growth in Bookings, Payments and AI
For the third quarter, Sabre expects revenues and air distribution bookings to grow in the flat-to-low-single-digit range year over year, with pro forma adjusted EBITDA of approximately $155 million. For the fourth quarter, revenues and air distribution bookings are projected to rise at a low-to-mid-single-digit pace, with pro forma adjusted EBITDA of about $125 million.
Payment Suite gross spend exceeded $6 billion, up 32% year over year. NDC represented about 5% of distribution volumes, while Sabre doubled active pilot and production partners using its Agentic APIs and Model Context Protocol Server to 60 during the quarter.
More than 400 developers participated in Sabre's Silicon Valley hackathon and submitted more than 100 projects built on its Agentic APIs and Model Context Protocol Server.
SABR’s Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Sabre currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector are Lumentum (LITE - Free Report) , Applied Materials (AMAT - Free Report) and Analog Devices (ADI - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Shares of Lumentum have surged 127.4% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LITE’s fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $8.19 per share, up by 5 cents over the past 30 days, indicating an increase of 297.6% year over year.
Shares of Applied Materials have jumped 105.2% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMAT’s fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $12.17 per share, up by 3 cents over the past seven days, implying a rise of 29.2% year over year.
Analog Devices shares have rallied 39.1% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ADI’s fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $12.42 per share, up by 10 cents over the past 30 days, indicating an increase of 59.4% year over year.