Shares of Six Flags Entertainment Corp. were indicated up about 2% in premarket trading Wednesday, after the theme park operator reported a narrower first-quarter loss that beat expectations, and revenue that fell less than forecast, as attendance was more than double what was anticipated. The net loss for the quarter to April 4 was $95.8 million, or $1.12 a share, after a loss of $84.5 million, or $1.00 a share, in the year-ago period. The FactSet per-share loss consensus was $1.30. Revenue fell 20% from a year ago, and 36.0% from a pre-pandemic 2019 period, to $82.02 million, beating the FactSet consensus of $47.2 million. Attendance declined 19% from a year ago to 1.3 million, due primarily to pandemic-related limitations on park operations, but was above expectations of 600,000, while total guest spending per capita fell 0.8% to $56.16 to miss expectations of $57.10. “We continue to make progress on our transformation plan as we implement new technology to modernize the guest experience and drive operational efficiencies. We are already seeing significant benefits in 2021,” said Chief Executive Mike Spanos. The stock has soared 43.8% year to date through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 11.5%.
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