Brightstar Lottery has reported a 7% year-on-year (YoY) drop in revenue for Q2 2026 to $584m (£434.3m), attributing the fall to UK contract transition, lower product sales and “higher service revenue amortisation”.
Despite the drop in revenue, adjusted EBITDA was up 4% YoY to $286m, while net profit for the quarter was $56m, reversing a $60m loss in Q2 2025.
Instant-ticket and draw-wager-based revenue accounted for 89% of total revenue, while the rest came from US multi-state jackpot wagers.
By geography, US and Canada revenue contributed $286m, or 49%, while Italy and the rest of the world earned $221m and $77m respectively. Italy revenue represented a 15% decrease from Q2 2025.
Looking at H1
- iLottery wagers were up 22% YoY
- US iLottery vertical rose 29%
- Net debt increased to $3.8bn, up from $2.7bn at the end 2025
Brightstar said the increase in debt reflected its final Lotto payment in Italy. In July 2025, a consortium led by Brightstar’s then-parent company IGT was awarded the licence to operate Italy’s national lottery.
The supplier was awarded a contract extension to provide technology for the UK National Lottery in January 2024 until Allwyn, announced as Camelot’s replacement in 2022, completed its technology transformation in March.
The Q2 2026 results represent Brightstar’s third earnings report since last summer’s rebrand from IGT to Brightstar and $4bn private equity purchase of its gaming division.
Remarking on the “better-than-expected” results, Brightstar CEO Vince Sandusky predicted an upturn in the near future with the Italy payments now settled.
He said: “Better-than-expected second quarter profits were driven by global same-store sales expansion and disciplined operational management, even as we invest in long-term growth initiatives.
“We achieved several important milestones with our Italy B2C expansion efforts, and global iLottery wagers continue to grow at a double-digit pace. With the final Italy Lotto license payment behind us, revenue, profit, and cash flow are poised to inflect.”
On the Q2 earnings call, Sadusky said the New York-listed firm was primarily targeting growth in its active user count.
“Our primary driver for the year is customer additions,” he told analysts. “We have a goal of significantly increasing our monthly active users.
“That is the primary goal and we believe it will have an exponential effect on digital revenue growth in Italy.”
When questioned on guidance, CFO Max Chiara said the full-year expectation of $2.5bn to $2.55bn revenue and adjusted EBITDA of $1.16bn to $1.19bn was “still logical” despite headwinds.
“Cash generation was strong in the first half of the year, funding important investments in the business,” he added.
“We’re increasing our cost savings target to $100 million by 2028 as we further optimize our organisation and operations.
“The strength of our balance sheet and financial condition supports our balanced approach to capital allocation, which included returning $140m to shareholders in the year-to-date period.”
The post Brightstar sees 7% drop in revenue but profits and iLottery climb first appeared on EGR Intel.
CFO Max Chiara says maintaining full-year guidance remains “logical” despite lower product sales and a difficult transition from the UK market
The post Brightstar sees 7% drop in revenue but profits and iLottery climb first appeared on EGR Intel.