PLTK

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. ET Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance and Investor Relations - Elad Amit Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer - Robert Antokol Chief Financial Officer - Tae Lee Operator: Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call for Playtika. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker for today, Elad Amit, Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance and Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Elad Amit: Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for the Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call for Playtika Holding Corp. Joining me on the call today is Robert Antokol, Co-Founder, President and CEO; and Tae Lee, Chief Financial Officer. I would like to remind you that today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the company's anticipated future revenue and operating performance, including expected marketing investment activity and the impact of AI on the company's business and industry. These statements and other comments are not a guarantee of future performance, but rather are subject to risks and uncertainty, some which are beyond our control. These forward-looking statements apply as of today, and you should not rely on them as representing our view in the future. We undertake no obligation to update these statements after this call. We have posted an accompanying slide deck to our Investor Relations website, which contain information on forward-looking statements and non-GAAP measures, and we will also post our prepared remarks immediately following the call. For a more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties, please see our filings with the SEC. As a reminder, we will not be taking questions related to the strategic alternatives review. With that, I will now turn the call over to Robert. Robert Antokol: Good morning, and thank you for joining us. I want to speak directly today. There are a few questions we know are on your mind about Playtika. Can we grow? Can we launch a new hit? And when we invest to grow, does it last? These are the right questions to ask. And today, I want to answer them with results, no words. Let's start with what matters most. Our business model works. When we bring players into our games, the goal is to have them stay, not for a quarter, but for years. They keep playing, they keep spending long after we first bring them in. This is the heart of Playtika. It is what we have built since I have started this company 16 years ago. And this quarter, we clearly saw it again. Look at Disney Solitaire. In the first quarter, we increased our investment to grow this game. And you ask a fair question, what happens when you spend less? Do the player leave? How sustainable is the growth? This quarter, we have a clear answer. We brought our marketing spending down and the game still grew. This only happens when the players you have added continue to stay with you when they keep playing and they keep spending. And this is how we ask you to judge this business. This is the right way to judge a live game. It's over its full life, how long the players stay and how much they are worth over that lifetime? What matters is a long-term engagement. The players will stay for years. By this standard, Disney Solitaire has the potential to be one of the best games we have ever built. Our older game make the same point. Slotomania started this company 16 years ago, and it is still one of the most important games we have in our portfolio, not because of its size today, but because of what it proves 16 years on, it is still here, stable performance for 3 quarters and still supported by community of players who have stayed within 4 years. When a game holds its players for that long, that is not a luck. That is the model working. We told you the last quarter that our marketing spending would come down as the year went on. It did. And as it came down, our margin moved up. Our adjusted EBITDA margin this quarter was 28.2%, up from 16.8% in the first quarter. D2C is another area where we did what we said. We told you we would grow this channel and use it to protect our margins. That is exactly what we did. This quarter, D2C reached to 39.3% of revenue. This channel is the key part of our future. Let me close with this. Trust is earned. It is earned by saying what we will do and then doing it. We said the players will invest, will stay and keep spending. And this quarter, they did. We said our margin would rise and they did. We said we would grow D2C to protect margin, and we did. This is a company that does what it says. And that is how we will keep earning your trust. With that, let me hand it over to Tae to take you through the numbers. Thank you. Tae Lee: Thank you, Robert, and good morning. In the second quarter, we saw the dynamics we described last quarter play out. Our marketing expenditure stepped down materially as the year progressed. Margins increased and Super Play became a positive adjusted EBITDA contributor beginning in the second quarter. Before I walk through the numbers, I want to give you 3 points to keep in mind as you interpret our results and think about the rest of the year. First, the margin recovery this quarter was not an accident. It was the plan. We front-loaded user acquisition spend into the first half and especially the first quarter. And as that spend came down in the second quarter, the profitability of the business came through. This front-loading was driven largely by our Super Play titles, where the structure of the earnout incentivizes concentrating investment early in the year. The result this quarter is the operating model working as designed, invest to grow and then let the profitability follow. Second, and closely related, the cadence of our marketing spend will shape the revenue trajectory for the rest of the year. Because so much of our user acquisition spend was concentrated in the first half, we expect revenue in our Super Play studio to decline on a sequential basis in the second half versus the first half, even as these titles grow year-over-year. I want to be clear about what this is. It is not a loss of momentum, and it is not the game is weakening. It is a direct result of a deliberate choice in the timing of our spend made in the context of the Super Play earnout. We would encourage you to judge these titles on their full year growth and their lifetime economics, not on the movement from one quarter to the next. Third, we saw the consumer sentiment softened as the quarter went on in Q2, and we are watching it closely. We started to observe a slowdown in the industry mid-quarter, which we attribute to weakening consumer confidence. Inflation has been a persistent pressure on the consumer this year, and we believe it weighed on discretionary spending, including our category. We think this impacted our second quarter results, and it is a key reason we're taking a measured view of the second half, which I will come back to when we discuss guidance. With that framing, let us go through the financial results. In the second quarter, we delivered total revenue of $731.1 million, down 1.8% sequentially and up 5.0% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA was $206.1 million, representing a margin of 28.2%. Net income was $48 million and adjusted net income was $53.6 million. We delivered DTC revenue of $286.9 million, down 1.7% sequentially and up 63.1% year-over-year. Now let's turn to the portfolio, starting with the performance in our top 3 revenue titles for the quarter, Bingo Blitz, Disney Solitaire and June's Journey. Bingo Blitz delivered $145.1 million of revenue this quarter, down 5.6% sequentially and 9.5% year-over-year. The revenue decline looks steeper than last quarter, but let me explain what's driving it because the composition here matters. The majority of the year-over-year decline is concentrated in players acquired within the last 12 months as we moved away from acquisition channels that brought in high volumes of short-lived incentive-driven users and toward investing in our existing long-term players, the community that's always been the foundation of this franchise. Our long-tenured players who have been with Bingo Blitz for more than 1 year generate most of the games revenue and remain the foundation of this franchise. DTC continues to support the games economics and Bingo Blitz remains the #1 Bingo title worldwide. Disney Solitaire generated $142.4 million of revenue this quarter, up 15.5% sequentially and 288.6% year-over-year. I want to spend a moment on Disney Solitaire, both on what the results tell you about the business and how you should model it for the rest of the year. The key point is this, we grew Disney Solitaire revenue this quarter while bringing our marketing spend on the title down meaningfully from the first quarter. Growing revenue on lower acquisition spend is only possible when the players you've already brought in stay and continue to engage. Now how to model it from here? Our user acquisition investment in Disney Solitaire is unusually front-loaded this year, more so than we would run a new title in the normal course. This reflects the structure of the Super Play earnout, where the studio is incentivized to grow revenue year-over-year while increasing EBITDA margins. Having concentrated that investment in the first half, we are reducing Disney Solitaire spend significantly in the back half, and that step down converts into higher EBITDA margins as the year progresses. The direct consequence is that Disney Solitaire revenue is likely to decline on a sequential basis in the second half even as it grows year-over-year. This is a function of the spend timing that I just described, not of the title's health or long-term potential. Disney Solitaire is early in its life, and we believe it will continue to scale. When our investment in the game normalizes, we would expect this trajectory to reflect that. The right way to judge this game is on its full year growth and its lifetime economics, not on the sequential movement that our spending timing creates. June's Journey revenue for the quarter was $74.7 million, down 1.7% sequentially and up 8.1% year-over-year. We continue to see strong trends in monetization driven by improvement in our events, segmentation and campaign tools. Engagement among our long-tenured players remains at elevated levels. And this past quarter, we launched a successful new IP collaboration with Agatha Christie, which was well received by the June's Journey community. June's Journey remains one of our strongest and most durable casual titles and a top revenue contributor to the portfolio. Let's turn to specific line items in our P&L. Cost of revenue was $192.9 million, down 1.5% year-over-year. Like the first quarter, the decline was primarily driven by lower platform fees resulting from the continued growth of our DTC business, partially offset by higher royalty expenses. R&D was $96.4 million, down 15.8% year-over-year. The steeper decline this quarter reflects the full quarter benefit of the cost actions we began earlier in the year on lower headcount and reduced outsourcing expenses, now without the severance costs that partially offset the savings in the first quarter. This is a good example of the discipline we brought to our cost structure carrying through the bottom line. Sales and marketing was $252.6 million, down 2% year-over-year and down 30% sequentially, reflecting the significant step down in marketing spend we told you to expect after our front-loaded first quarter, and we expect spend to step down further in the second half. G&A was $54.1 million, up 202.2% year-over-year. The reported year-over-year increase is not meaningful on its own because the prior year quarter included a onetime benefit from the revaluation of contingent consideration, which reduced G&A in that period. Adjusting for that item, G&A was up 2.3% year-over-year. There were no significant onetime items in the second quarter. Average daily paying users was 367,000, down 5.2% sequentially and down 2.9% year-over-year. Average daily active users was 8 million, down 7.0% sequentially and down 9.1% year-over-year. ARPDAU was up 7.4% sequentially and 16.1% year-over-year. Turning to the balance sheet. As of June 30, we had approximately $438.5 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. Turning to guidance. We are maintaining our full year revenue and adjusted EBITDA ranges. That said, based on what we see today, we expect to finish the year towards the lower end of both ranges. There are 2 factors driving this. The first is deliberate and within our control. As I described, we front-loaded our marketing investment into the first half, and we're stepping that expenditure down meaningfully in the back half. That reduces revenue in the second half by design, while supporting the margin expansion you saw this quarter. The second factor is the consumer. As I noted earlier, we saw demand soften across the industry mid-quarter, which we believe reflects the pressure that persistent inflation has placed on discretionary spending. We are taking a prudent view of how that carries into the second half. Taken together, our investment cadence decision and our measured read of the consumer are the primary drivers why we expect to land towards the lower end of our ranges for the full year. We'd be happy to take your questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Aaron Lee with Macquarie. Aaron Lee: I appreciate all the color on the call about guidance and the games. Maybe just starting with guidance. So I understand why revenue cut up in the lower end of the range just given the factors that you've laid out, the planned marketing spend reduction and consumer softening. But if the marketing spend is coming down, wouldn't that imply a benefit to EBITDA? So it's winding up in the lower end of the range. Is that just cost deleverage? Or can you help me understand that? Tae Lee: Yes, Aaron, thanks for the question. Listen, on the range, we reaffirmed it. Q2 came in ahead of consensus on revenue and adjusted EBITDA. You saw the margin uplift versus the first quarter, and you also saw Super Play turning EBITDA positive as we said it would. What we're doing is guiding you where inside the range we currently expect to land because we want to find alignment in the shape of the remaining second half of the year versus how the street may be modeling the business. Our first half came in above where the street had it, and the full year range hasn't moved since we updated the range in the past call. And we want to close that gap, and we prefer to do it now versus later in the year after the third quarter. There's a couple of different things driving the second half. The first, as we just mentioned, is sort of the biggest and it's entirely ours. We front-loaded user acquisition into the first half, especially into the first quarter, and that's largely driven by the structure of the earn-out. That spend steps down in the second half. The revenue follows spend with a lag. So second half revenue steps down sequentially from the first half. One thing to note for everyone as you model the back half of the year, that reduction is also weighted towards the third quarter. That's where the largest single step down sits and then you see more sort of even spend in the last quarter versus the third. So the second half sequential pattern, it's not linear. It's timing. It's not trajectory. The titles that we will see the biggest change in marketing spend in the first half versus second half, we expect those titles to still grow year-over-year. Now coming back to your question around some of the cost leverage, one aspect of it is also within Bingo. The decline that we reported this quarter is concentrated in players we acquired within the last 12 months following some of the mix change in marketing that we made in Q4 of last year. Now that change annualizes through the back half. So the year-over-year comparisons do get a little bit harder in the second half, not easier. And so I'd underline the other side of that, which is that our players who've been with the game for over a year were essentially flat, and they do generate the majority of the gaming revenue today. And that is part of the franchise we're managing to. But again, some of the portfolio mix shift does impact EBITDA. And in addition to that, you kind of heard us say this before, which is we reserve the right to think about how spending -- incremental spend also as the year sort of ends in order for giving us sort of that strong start heading into the year after. So some of it is flexibility, some of it is the portfolio mix shift. And then the last point that I'll just emphasize, which we spoke about on the call, is around the consumer. And again, this is specifically why we're pointing to the lower end of the ranges. And just to give a little more color, in our own portfolio, we saw that step down from May to June. And we have that level of seasonality every year. It's just that this year, we saw a step down that was greater than what's typical. So it's a seasonal pattern. It was a little bit steeper this year, and that's consistent with also what we're seeing for external data, whether it's consumer sentiment, just the consumer reacting to a lot of volatility as they assess the impact of inflation on what they have with discretionary spending. And so we're not going to over attribute our quarter to it, but we do think it's real and our prudence on the back half is the right posture is our point of view. Aaron Lee: Great. That's helpful color. And then, yes, I appreciate all the color you guys also gave on the call about the different game performance. Just want to dig a little deeper into Slotomania. I believe you guys mentioned it's been 3 quarters of stable performance there. Can you just update us on -- I believe in the past, you've said that once you kind of get this in a stabilization area, then you could perhaps start leaning more into marketing. Like is that still in the cards given the planned step down in marketing? And how are trends within your other social casino titles? Robert Antokol: So thanks for the question. And for me, and I spoke a few quarters ago, Slotomania was really a big test for Playtika. Slotomania was our first game, and we had a very hard year. But we said -- always said that we believe in the title, believe in the game, and we know how to stabilize it. And actually, this is one of -- when I look at the history of Playtika, this is one of the most important things that happened to us to take a title that got held to fix it, to stabilize 3 quarters in a row. This is not something -- a very easy mission. And you are right about the marketing. We are now starting to finalize new campaigns. We started to look at the future of the game. We still believe in this title, and we believe in the genre. We have 2 more titles, and it looks much better than it looked a year ago. And again, as I said before, I'm very excited about it and very proud about the work that the guys in the studio did. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Doug Creutz with TD Cowen. Douglas Creutz: Presumably, your willingness to invest in user acquisition for a title is determined by what you have to spend to acquire the users and what the LTV of those users winds up being. I know that cost of UA is historically lower in Q1, which is why you've favored that quarter. It does seem that the Q2 results and the retention of the Disney Solitaire users suggests that the LTV is pretty high. And therefore, why wouldn't you want to keep spending on user acquisition regardless of any considerations of earn-out or anything like that? Tae Lee: Thanks for the question, Doug. I think let me cover a couple of different points here. So we made a significant reduction in Disney Solitaire marketing quarter-over-quarter and revenue still grew over 15% sequentially, along with the right KPI metrics that you want to see. Revenue that grows with new installs coming down, that only happens if the players are already in the game are staying and spending more. And so in terms of durability, I think you'd agree that's about as clean a read on durability as you get. The sequential revenue in a live game is what you earn from the players you bring in the quarter plus the carryover, right, from every cohort you've acquired. And in a mature title, that carryover base is the majority of the revenue, think core titles like Bingo Blitz, Slotomania and June's Journey, it's most of the revenue and it's very stable. That's what a deep cohort base does. And you have basically the advantage of the cohorts you've built over time when you've been running a game for several years. Disney Solitaire is only 15 months old. It launched last year, global launch was April of last year. It doesn't yet have that base because we're still building it. And so when we take marketing investment down, you don't have enough carryover underneath it to fully offset it. And so that's why we expect total revenue to step down sequentially. And from our point of view, that's not the game weakening. It's a young title behaving like a young title. And to put a little bit more of a finer point on it, we're reducing Super Play -- overall Super Play marketing investment by roughly 70% in the second half versus the first half. But in terms of the revenue decline that we expect, it's nowhere close to that, right? And so that step down also is concentrated in Disney Solitaire, which carries the largest single reduction in user acquisition spend. But coming back to then sort of the crux of your question, as we've previously discussed, the front-loaded spend is due to the earn-out framework. The Super Play earn-out is measured on a full year basis, and it carries 2 conditions: year-over-year revenue growth and margin expansion. Now the objective is defined that way, is the efficient path is to invest early. So the revenue you build compound across the remaining months of the year and then you step down to the margins come through in the back half. The reason we emphasized the positive adjusted EBITDA contribution of Super Play in the second quarter was when you saw our Q1 print and you saw an adjusted EBITDA number with margins in the 16%, 17%, which is obviously much lower than what you're used to seeing. Again, that's a function of the growing growth of the Super Play game in our portfolio, it's margin dilutive this year, but we're okay with that. We've set up the earn-out framework intentionally in a way where you can't just spend your way to growth. And so there's a different way -- there's different ways to sort of grow a game, and we've spoken in the past about how each game has a natural ceiling. And right now, frankly, we don't know the full potential of Disney Solitaire. We're going to keep on growing this game, but we're going to do it in a way that's profitable. And that's the path that we've taken. That's the path that we chose when we structured the deal in the first place when we acquired Super Play. There's continued investment. Now just because we're decreasing user acquisition spend in the second half, that doesn't mean we're not investing in the game, right? The product road map is unchanged. We have new gameplay modes and content that will continue to ship in the third quarter and the fourth quarter. So again, I think it's a matter of us building and scaling this game in a profitable way. The point that I would just emphasize and leave you with is that we want to do it in a way where we're focused on retention, we're focused on monetization. The consequence is that because of the framework of the earn-out, some of the quarterly acquisition cohorts will be lumpy. You're seeing some of the quarterly variability. But on an annual basis, this matters much less. And so I just emphasize the point that we had in our prepared remarks, which is that we're asking that you judge these titles on their full year growth and full year margin because we do see potential here. Operator: Your last question comes from the line of Albert Kim with UBS. Albert Kim: Just a quick follow-up on the outlook. Any color on how much of the change and the update relates to Super Play versus performance in the legacy games? And just on the D2C side, the mix has been kind of strong towards the 40% mix you previously talked about reaching a few years. Can you provide any updated thoughts on that longer-term target and what kind of the upper limit on the penetration is in your view? Tae Lee: Thanks for the question, Albert. The 39% number, that's the number in aggregate. So if you look at it on a game-by-game basis, naturally, you're going to have certain games that have DTC penetration that is higher than the overall number. And we also have games where it's lower than that number. And that really becomes a function of how long we've had DTC. So DTC is a multifaceted platform, right? It's not just one channel. There's different ways to generate DTC revenue. And so each game, as it is on at a different place in its life cycle of the game, same thing when it comes to DTC. So it's a function of what initiatives a studio is prioritizing. And so there's going to be continued sort of natural upside as across the games, DTC begins to become sort of a larger part of each game sort of revenue mix. We're not giving an updated target today. I think the point that we would emphasize is that it continues to be something that defends our margin. We intentionally prioritized this last year. That's why you're seeing the rapid ramp-up you've seen over the last 12 months, and it's a key part of our strategy going forward. In terms of the guide, I think we sort of already addressed that question of the different components. So I won't be breaking out exactly what is driving what. But again, we're reaffirming the range just to emphasize that point, but we are pointing you towards the bottom end of that given what we see in terms of the outlook for the rest of the year. Operator: This concludes the question-and-answer session. Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program, and you may now disconnect. Before you buy stock in Playtika, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Playtika wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. 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As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Playtika (PLTK) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Snail, Inc. SNAL is scheduled to release second-quarter 2026 results on Aug 11. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SNAL’s second-quarter 2026 earnings per share (EPS) is pegged at 31 cents, indicating a 94.5% decline from $5.65 reported in the prior-year quarter. The consensus mark for earnings has witnessed downward revisions in the past 60 days. SNAL’s earnings have surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three out of the trailing four quarters and missed on one occasion, with an average beat being 2,808.4%. The consensus mark for second-quarter 2026 revenues is pegged at $29 million, indicating a 30.7% increase from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. Our proven model does not predict an earnings beat for Snail this time. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat, which is not the case here. SNAL’s Earnings ESP: SNAL has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Snail Zacks Rank: The company carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Snail is likely to have benefited from a strong slate of ARK-related content in the second quarter, with player engagement and monetization potentially receiving a lift from new releases. The company had planned the Fantastic Tames Season 1 Expansion Pack for May and ARK Tides of Fortune for June, providing fresh content for ARK: Survival Ascended during the quarter. The franchise entered the period with solid momentum, as ASA sold 1.4 million units in first-quarter, helped by promotional activity and the success of the Lost Colony DLC. A major potential catalyst for second-quarter 2026 revenue is the planned release of the ASA remake of ARK Genesis Part 1. Snail expects this launch to trigger recognition of roughly $11 million of revenues that had previously been deferred. The revenue recognition could therefore create a meaningful year-over-year increase in quarterly sales, particularly alongside contributions from other ARK content. Bellwright could provide another source of revenue growth, supported by the positive response to its late-2025 content update. The title helped drive first-quarter 2026 performance, while the company’s broader portfolio of indie games and licensed properties provides additional revenue opportunities. Snail also has a number of ARK-related releases and other projects scheduled across 2026, which should help broaden its revenue base beyond the core franchise. On the downside, declining revenues from ARK Mobile and ARK: Survival Evolved could temper the overall improvement in sales. Profitability might have faced pressure from continued investment in Snail’s expanding game pipeline. The company is advancing three AAA titles while simultaneously funding ARK DLCs and other projects.  Although management said it remains disciplined on spending, elevated development activity could continue to weigh on the bottom line in second-quarter 2026. Shares of Snail have surged 105.2% in the past three months against the industry’s decline of 16.3%. The stock has also outperformed other industry players like Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. TTWO and Playtika Holding Corp. PLTK, as shown in the chart. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research From a valuation standpoint, SNAL trades at a forward price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of 0.36, above the industry’s average of 1.85. Conversely, industry players, such as Take-Two Interactive Software and Playtika Holding, have P/E multiples of 5.21 and 0.4, respectively. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Given the sharp recent rally, the lack of a favorable earnings signal and the company’s continued investment requirements, investors may want to remain cautious on SNAL ahead of its second-quarter results. Although ARK content and the expected recognition of deferred revenues could support sales, the company remains heavily reliant on the ARK franchise while older titles face pressure. At the same time, advancing multiple AAA projects and developing additional content could keep costs elevated and limit bottom-line improvement. The absence of a positive earnings surprise signal further reduces the near-term catalyst for the stock. With the shares already having rallied strongly, expectations appear elevated, leaving greater scope for disappointment if quarterly execution or the outlook falls short. Overall, the combination of potential earnings pressure, continued development spending, dependence on ARK and limited near-term visibility makes it prudent for investors to avoid SNAL ahead of the second-quarter results. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Snail, Inc. (SNAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (TTWO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Playtika Holding Corp. (PLTK) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Management attributed the sequential margin expansion to a deliberate front-loading of marketing spend in Q1, allowing profitability to emerge as acquisition costs normalized in Q2. The Disney Solitaire title demonstrated high durability, growing revenue by 15.5% sequentially despite a meaningful reduction in marketing investment, validating the game's long-term player value. Slotomania achieved its third consecutive quarter of stable performance, which management views as a successful turnaround of their legacy franchise through operational discipline. Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) revenue reached 39.3% of total revenue, serving as a critical strategic lever to protect margins against platform fees and macroeconomic volatility. Bingo Blitz performance was impacted by a strategic pivot away from high-volume, short-lived incentive-driven users toward higher-quality, long-tenured players who provide a more stable revenue foundation. Operational efficiency was bolstered by a 15.8% year-over-year reduction in R&D expenses, reflecting the full benefit of headcount actions and reduced outsourcing costs. Management expects to finish the year at the lower end of revenue and EBITDA ranges due to a planned 70% reduction in Super Play marketing spend in the second half. Guidance assumes a cautious stance on consumer sentiment, noting that mid-quarter softening in discretionary spending was steeper than typical seasonal patterns. Revenue for Super Play titles is expected to decline sequentially in the second half as a direct result of the front-loaded investment strategy tied to earn-out structures. The company anticipates year-over-year comparisons for Bingo Blitz will become more challenging in the second half as the Q4 2023 marketing mix shift annualizes. Management intends to maintain flexibility in year-end marketing spend to ensure a strong competitive position heading into the next fiscal year. The Super Play earn-out structure, which requires both revenue growth and margin expansion, is the primary driver behind the lumpy quarterly marketing spend and revenue trajectory. Persistent inflation is identified as a key headwind, weighing on consumer confidence and impacting the broader mobile gaming industry's discretionary spending levels. G&A expenses showed a significant year-over-year increase primarily due to a prior-year one-time benefit from a contingent consideration revaluation, rather than a structural cost increase. Management explicitly declined to provide updates or commentary regarding the ongoing strategic alternatives review during the call. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management clarified that while lower spend helps margins, the revenue decline follows spend with a lag, creating a non-linear sequential pattern weighted toward Q3. The decision to point toward the lower end of the range reflects a desire to align Street models with the specific timing of the Super Play earn-out cycle. Having stabilized the title for three quarters, management is now finalizing new marketing campaigns to return the game to growth. The company expressed renewed confidence in the social casino genre based on the successful stabilization of their oldest franchise. The reduction is a tactical choice driven by the annual earn-out framework rather than a lack of confidence in the title's LTV or potential. Management emphasized that the game is only 15 months old and lacks the deep cohort base of mature titles to fully offset large marketing step-downs in the short term. While no new target was set beyond the current 39.3%, management noted that individual games have significantly higher penetration depending on their lifecycle. DTC remains the primary defense against platform fee pressure and is a core component of the long-term margin strategy.

Interested in Playtika Holding Corp.? Here are five stocks we like better. Playtika’s second-quarter revenue rose 5% year over year to $731.1 million, while adjusted EBITDA reached $206.1 million, lifting the margin to 28.2% as marketing spending fell 30% sequentially. Management maintained full-year guidance but expects revenue and adjusted EBITDA near the lower ends of the ranges, citing planned marketing cuts and softer consumer demand. Marketing reductions are expected to be largest in the third quarter. Disney Solitaire remained a major growth driver, with revenue up 289% year over year to $142.4 million, while direct-to-consumer revenue climbed 63% to $286.9 million and reached 39.3% of total revenue. Playtika (NASDAQ:PLTK) reported second-quarter revenue of $731.1 million, up 5.0% from a year earlier but down 1.8% sequentially, as the mobile-game company reduced marketing spending after front-loading user acquisition investment earlier in the year. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $206.1 million, producing a 28.2% margin, compared with a 16.8% margin in the first quarter. Net income was $48 million, while adjusted net income was $53.6 million. → Meta’s Earnings Drop Shows Wall Street Wants More Than Ad Growth Management maintained its full-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance ranges, but said it now expects results to land toward the lower end of both ranges. CFO Tae Lee cited the planned reduction in marketing investment during the second half and a more cautious view of consumer spending following softer demand observed late in the second quarter. CEO Robert Antokol said the quarter demonstrated the company’s model of investing in player acquisition and benefiting from longer-term player retention and spending. He pointed to Disney Solitaire, where Playtika reduced marketing spending from the first quarter while revenue continued to grow. → 4 Oil and Gas ETF Plays as Prices Stay Sky-High “We brought our marketing spending down and the game still grew,” Antokol said. “This only happens when the players you have added continue to stay with you, when they keep playing and they keep spending.” Sales and marketing expense was $252.6 million, down 30% sequentially and 2% year-over-year. Lee said the reduction reflected the company’s planned step-down in spending following heavier first-quarter investment, particularly in SuperPlay titles. Playtika expects marketing spending to decline further in the second half. → Ulta's Growth Is Real, But So Are the Risks Lee said the timing of user-acquisition spending was influenced by the structure of SuperPlay’s earn-out, which is based on full-year revenue growth and EBITDA margin expansion. The company concentrated spending earlier in the year to build revenue cohorts, then reduced spending to allow profitability to improve. SuperPlay became a positive adjusted EBITDA contributor during the second quarter, according to management. However, Lee said revenue from the studio’s games is expected to decline sequentially in the second half as marketing spending falls, while still growing year-over-year. Disney Solitaire generated $142.4 million in second-quarter revenue, increasing 15.5% sequentially and 288.6% year-over-year. The game launched globally in April 2025 and remains early in its lifecycle, Lee said. Management expects Disney Solitaire revenue to decline sequentially during the second half because of reduced user-acquisition investment. Lee emphasized that this expected decline reflects spending timing rather than weakening engagement or the game’s long-term prospects. “We’re going to keep on growing this game, but we’re going to do it in a way that’s profitable,” Lee said, adding that the product roadmap includes new gameplay modes and content planned for the third and fourth quarters. Bingo Blitz remained the company’s largest revenue title, delivering $145.1 million in revenue. That result was down 5.6% sequentially and 9.5% year-over-year. Lee said much of the year-over-year decline was concentrated among players acquired within the last 12 months, after the company moved away from acquisition channels that produced high volumes of incentive-driven users with shorter lifespans. According to Lee, players who have been with Bingo Blitz for more than a year generate most of the title’s revenue and remained the franchise’s foundation. He added that Bingo Blitz remained the top bingo title worldwide. June’s Journey produced $74.7 million in revenue, down 1.7% sequentially but up 8.1% year-over-year. Management cited stronger monetization from events, segmentation and campaign tools, along with continued elevated engagement among long-tenured players. The company also launched an Agatha Christie intellectual-property collaboration during the quarter. Antokol also highlighted Slotomania, which he said has posted stable performance for three consecutive quarters after a difficult period. The company is finalizing new marketing campaigns and evaluating the title’s future growth opportunities, he said. Direct-to-consumer revenue reached $286.9 million, down 1.7% sequentially but up 63.1% year-over-year. DTC represented 39.3% of total revenue in the quarter, approaching the 40% level that management had previously discussed as a longer-term objective. Lee said Playtika was not providing an updated DTC target, but described the channel as a key part of its margin-protection strategy. DTC penetration varies by game based on the maturity of each title’s platform and the initiatives prioritized by individual studios, he said. Cost of revenue was $192.9 million, down 1.5% year-over-year, primarily reflecting lower platform fees from DTC growth, partly offset by higher royalty expenses. Research and development expense was $96.4 million, down 15.8% year-over-year, reflecting lower headcount and outsourcing costs. General and administrative expense was $54.1 million, up 202.2% year-over-year, though management said the comparison was affected by a one-time contingent-consideration revaluation benefit in the prior-year period. Excluding that item, G&A increased 2.3%. Average daily paying users totaled 367,000, down 5.2% sequentially and 2.9% year-over-year. Average daily active users fell 7.0% sequentially and 9.1% from a year earlier to 8 million. Average revenue per daily active user increased 7.4% sequentially and 16.1% year-over-year. As of June 30, Playtika held approximately $438.5 million in cash equivalents and short-term investments. While management reaffirmed annual guidance, Lee said Playtika observed a larger-than-usual seasonal decline in demand from May to June. The company attributed the softer trends to pressure on discretionary spending from persistent inflation and weakening consumer confidence. “We’re not going to over attribute our quarter to it, but we do think it’s real and are prudent on the back half,” Lee said. The company said the largest marketing-spending reduction is expected in the third quarter, with spending then becoming more even during the final quarter of the year. Management said it intends to continue evaluating opportunities for incremental investment that could support a stronger start to the following year. Playtika Ltd. (NASDAQ: PLTK) is a leading developer and publisher of free-to-play mobile and social games. Established in 2010 and headquartered in Herzliya, Israel, the company has built a reputation for creating engaging, social casino and casual gaming experiences. Playtika's platform leverages data-driven analytics and in-game community features to drive player retention and monetization across multiple titles. The company's diverse portfolio includes flagship social casino games such as Slotomania, Bingo Blitz and Caesars Casino, as well as skill-based and casual offerings like World Series of Poker and House of Fun. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Playtika Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

Revenue of $731.1 million and Direct-to-Consumer (“DTC”) Revenue of $286.9 millionRevenue Decreased (1.8)% Sequentially and Increased 5.0% Year Over Year DTC Platforms Revenue Decreased (1.7)% Sequentially and Increased 63.1% Year Over Year HERZLIYA, Israel, Aug. 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Playtika Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: PLTK) today released financial results for its second quarter for the period ending June 30, 2026. Financial Highlights Revenue of $731.1 million decreased (1.8)% sequentially and increased 5.0% year over year. DTC platforms revenue of $286.9 million decreased (1.7)% sequentially and increased 63.1% year over year. Net Income of $48.0 million and Adjusted Net Income of $53.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA of $206.1 million increased 64.6% sequentially and 23.4% year over year. Cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments totaled $438.5 million as of June 30, 2026. “Our second quarter results demonstrate what has always been at the heart of Playtika, we build games that keep players engaged for years, not quarters,” said Robert Antokol, Chief Executive Officer. “Disney Solitaire grew again this quarter even as we reduced our marketing investment and our margins expanded meaningfully. These results reflect the durability of our model and the discipline of our execution.” “Our second quarter reflected the investment cadence we outlined last quarter, marketing stepped down materially, margins expanded, and SuperPlay became a positive Adjusted EBITDA contributor,” said Tae Lee, Chief Financial Officer. Selected Operational Metrics and Business Highlights Average Daily Paying Users of 367K decreased (5.2)% sequentially and (2.9)% year over year. Average Payer Conversion of 4.6%, up from 4.5% in Q1 2026 and 4.3% in Q2 2025. Bingo Blitz revenue of $145.1 million decreased (5.6)% sequentially and (9.5)% year over year. Disney Solitaire revenue of $142.4 million increased 15.5% sequentially and 288.6% year over year. June’s Journey revenue of $74.7 million decreased (1.7)% sequentially and increased 8.1% year over year. Financial Outlook We are reaffirming our full-year 2026 guidance ranges of $2.75 - $2.85 billion in revenue and $750 - $790 million in Adjusted EBITDA. Based on current trends, including a more cautious view of consumer spending and the planned step-down in second-half marketing investment, we currently expect full-year results to finish toward the lower end of both ranges. Conference Call Playtika management will host a conference call at 5:30 a.m. Pacific Time (8:30 a.m. Eastern Time) today to discuss the company’s results. The conference call can be accessed via a webcast accessible at investors.playtika.com. A replay of the call will be available through the website one hour following the call and will be archived for one year. Summary Operating Results of Playtika Holding Corp. About Playtika Holding Corp. Playtika (NASDAQ: PLTK) is a mobile gaming entertainment and technology market leader with a portfolio of multiple game titles. Founded in 2010, Playtika was among the first to offer free-to-play social games on social networks and, shortly after, on mobile platforms. Headquartered in Herzliya, Israel, and guided by a mission to entertain the world through infinite ways to play, Playtika has employees across offices worldwide. Forward Looking Information This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including statements regarding our business strategy, plans and our objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements. Further, statements that include words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “future,” “intend,” “intent,” “may,” “might,” “potential,” “present,” “preserve,” “project,” “pursue,” “should,” “will,” or “would,” or the negative of these words or other words or expressions of similar meaning may identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs. The achievement or success of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements involves significant risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment and industry. As a result, it is not possible for our management to assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking statements discussed in this press release may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated, predicted or implied in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in the forward-looking statements include without limitation: actions of our majority shareholder or other third parties that influence us; our reliance on third-party platforms, such as the iOS App Store and Google Play Store, to distribute our games and collect revenues, and the risk that such platforms may adversely change their policies; our reliance on a limited number of games to generate the majority of our revenue; our reliance on a small percentage of total users to generate a majority of our revenue; our free-to-play business model, and the value of virtual items sold in our games, is highly dependent on how we manage the game revenues and pricing models; our inability to refinance our indebtedness, including, without limitation, our $550 million revolving credit facility which is set to expire in March 2027, or to obtain additional financing on favorable terms or at all; our inability to identify acquisition targets that fit our strategy or complete acquisitions and integrate any acquired businesses successfully or realize the anticipated benefits of such acquisitions could limit our growth, disrupt our plans and operations or impact the amount of capital allocated to mergers and acquisitions; our ability to compete in a highly competitive industry with low barriers to entry; our ability to retain existing players, attract new players and increase the monetization of our player base; our ability to develop and/or launch new products and content or otherwise execute against our product roadmap strategy; we have significant indebtedness and are subject to the obligations and restrictive covenants under our debt instruments; the impact of an economic recession or periods of increased inflation, and any reductions to household spending on the types of discretionary entertainment we offer; our controlled company status; legal or regulatory restrictions or proceedings could adversely impact our business and limit the growth of our operations; risks related to our international operations and ownership, including our significant operations in Israel and Ukraine and the fact that our controlling stockholder is a Chinese-owned company; geopolitical events such as the Wars in Israel and Ukraine; our reliance on key personnel; market conditions or other factors affecting the payment of dividends, including the decision whether or not to pay a dividend; uncertainties regarding the amount and timing of repurchases under our stock repurchase program; security breaches or other disruptions could compromise our information or our players’ information and expose us to liability; and our inability to protect our intellectual property and proprietary information could adversely impact our business. Non-GAAP Financial Measures Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income are non-GAAP financial measures and should not be construed as an alternative to net income as an indicator of operating performance, nor as an alternative to cash flow provided by operating activities as a measure of liquidity, or any other performance measure in each case as determined in accordance with GAAP. Our Credit Agreement defines Adjusted EBITDA as net income before (i) interest expense, (ii) interest income, (iii) provision for income taxes, (iv) depreciation and amortization expense, (v) impairment charges, (vi) stock-based compensation, (vii) contingent consideration, (viii) acquisition and related expenses, and (ix) certain other items. We calculate Adjusted EBITDA Margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenues. We define Adjusted Net Income as net income before (i) impairment charges, and (ii) contingent consideration. Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin and Adjusted Net Income as calculated herein may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies within the industry and are not determined in accordance with GAAP. Our presentation of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin and Adjusted Net Income should not be construed as an inference that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or unexpected items. RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME TO ADJUSTED EBITDA(In millions) The following table sets forth a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income, the closest GAAP financial measure: RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME TO ADJUSTED NET INCOME(In millions) The following table sets forth a reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income to net income (loss), the closest GAAP financial measure: ContactsInvestor [email protected] Source: Playtika Holding Corp.

Playtika Holding (PLTK) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.15 per share, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate . This compares to earnings of $0.02 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. A quarter ago, it was expected that this mobile game developer would post earnings of $0.07 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.04, delivering a surprise of -42.86%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times. Playtika, which belongs to the Zacks Gaming industry, posted revenues of $731.1 million for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.48%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $696 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Playtika shares have lost about 1.5% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 12.8%. While Playtika has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Playtika was favorable. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to outperform the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.24 on $680.45 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $0.46 on $2.81 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Gaming is currently in the bottom 24% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. Grandstand Limited (GRSD), another stock in the same industry, has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on August 13. This company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.04 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -110.8%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. Grandstand Limited's revenues are expected to be $37.5 million, down 5.3% from the year-ago quarter. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Playtika Holding Corp. (PLTK) : Free Stock Analysis Report Grandstand Limited (GRSD) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research