Q2 2026 Stubhub Holdings, Inc Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- Strong Q2 performance with GMS up 34% year-over-year to $3.1 billion and adjusted EBITDA nearly doubling to $106 million.
- Significant margin expansion with adjusted EBITDA margin up 600 basis points to 18% and sales and marketing efficiency improving by 800 basis points.
- Healthy free cash flow generation of $598 million on a trailing twelve-month basis, enabling debt reduction and improved net leverage to 3x.
- World Cup success demonstrated global marketplace strength, with fans from over 150 countries and international GMS outpacing North America.
- Expansion of open distribution initiatives, including new partnerships like the American Athletic Conference and NCAA, and progress with AI-powered Distribution Manager.
- World Cup-related customer support and fulfillment issues led to incremental investments, temporarily compressing gross margins to 82%.
- Elevated G&A expenses due to regulatory environment and legal matters, increasing by 160 basis points as a percentage of revenue.
- Cautious full-year GMS guidance implies low single-digit growth in the second half, reflecting uncertainty about post-World Cup consumer spending patterns.
- Stock-based compensation expense increased significantly, with dilution expected to be in the low to mid-single-digit range for the year.
- Regulatory risks persist, with potential price caps and legislative focus on high-demand concert resales, though sports are carved out in some cases.
Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to StubHub's second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. Please note that this conference call is being recorded today, August 12, 2026.
I will now turn the call over to Jonathan Schaefer, SVP Investor Relations with StubHub. Jonathan, please go ahead.
Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us to discuss StubHub's second quarter 2026 results. For reference, our second quarter earnings release and presentation are available under the quarterly results section of our Investor Relations website at investors.stubhub.com.
Before we begin, please note that today's call will include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the company's current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance. These statements are
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