DraftKings reported a 5% dip in Q2 revenue and missed its EBITDA expectations, but bosses have retained their full-year 2026 target of $1bn (£743.8m) in adjusted EBITDA.
Revenue dipped from $1.5bn in Q2 2025 to $1.4bn in the latest reporting period. Adjusted EBITDA slipped from $300.6m to $114.6m.
Management said the adjusted EBITDA decline was due to “customer-friendly sport outcomes and higher-than-expected customer acquisition”.
Citizens’ analyst Jordan Bender noted the figure missed the bank’s estimate by 9% and was down around 30% against wider market consensus.
The operator also swung to a net loss during the quarter of $67.6m from a profit of $157.9m in Q2 2025.
On a vertical basis, Q2 marked the first time DraftKings included its prediction markets revenue within its sports revenue, net revenue margin and volume metrics.
DraftKings Predictions launched at the end of last year, with bosses noting the product has seen more than 600,000 users engage since the start of 2026.
Looking at the prediction markets offering, DraftKings reported:
- More than half of its predictions customers have engaged with combos, and combos are already approaching 20% of predictions consumer volume
- Annualised total volume traded grew nearly 5x from $2.3bn to $11bn
- The sports content offering was expanded by over 25x to offer more than 30 markets per MLB, NBA and WNBA game
CEO Jason Robins said: “This is only the beginning. We expect to build on this momentum as we improve our offering.”
DraftKings launched its in-house DKeX exchange in June, which was built on the acquired Railbird technology.
Management added the business would continue to build out its Super App offering ahead of NFL season.
Robins added that the Boston-based operator’s core business (online sports betting and igaming) was “firing”.
Sports betting handle was up 11% year on year (YoY), including World Cup stakes being up 6x compared to the 2022 edition of the tournament.
However, sports revenue was down 10.6% to $891.8m, while sports net revenue margin dropped from 8.7% to 6.8%.
Robins did note that around 1% of DraftKings sports betting users were also using the “the largest prediction market operator in sportsbook states [in the US]”, which the CEO said showed the platforms were attracting “fundamentally different” audiences.
Elsewhere, igaming revenue was up 7.5% YoY to $461.9m.
Across the business, monthly unique players rose 9% to 3.6 million, while average revenue per monthly unique players was down 13% to $132.
Management said this was due to “customer-friendly sport outcomes and new customer promotions impacting revenue across our sportsbook offering and Predictions offering.”
DraftKings stock was down 2.5% in post-market trading. The operator’s share price has slipped almost 38% since the start of the year.
Robins remarked: “We delivered a strong second quarter and enter the back half of the year with real momentum, as our core business grew across handle, users and engagement.
“Our Super App is now live nationwide, and Predictions is already growing faster than we anticipated.
“The similarity of Predictions customer metrics to sportsbook customer metrics, our advantaged LTV position and our playbook to innovate on a leading predictions offering all underpin our confidence that we can win the category this NFL season and beyond.”
The post DraftKings revenue dips as CEO states company “can win” prediction markets race first appeared on EGR Intel.
New York-listed operator misses adjusted EBITDA consensus among customer-friendly results and heavier investment
The post DraftKings revenue dips as CEO states company “can win” prediction markets race first appeared on EGR Intel.