Flutter has lowered its 2026 revenue and earnings outlook after unfavourable sports results and the shutdown of its Brazilian business. The company also took a large non-cash impairment on Brazil.
Flutter Entertainment on 4 November 2026 cut its full-year guidance and reported a wider third-quarter net loss, according to its Q3 2026 earnings release. The NYSE-listed operator said the update reflects sports results and the previously disclosed impact of closing its Brazilian operations, partly offset by cost cuts.
The new midpoints are:
- group revenue of $17.61 billion, $300 million below the previous midpoint of $17.91 billion;
- adjusted EBITDA of $2.495 billion, $160 million below the previous midpoint of $2.655 billion.
Early fourth-quarter trading has been “in line with expectations on an underlying basis”, the company said, while sports results have been unfavourable in both the United States and International divisions. The guidance assumes sports results are in line with Flutter’s expected margin for the rest of the year, and it includes sports results up to 29 October 2026.
What the third quarter showed
For the three months to 30 September 2026, Flutter reported:
- revenue of $3,874 million, up 2% year on year;
- adjusted EBITDA of $360 million, down 25%;
- a net loss of $1,148 million, compared with a $789 million loss a year earlier;
- average monthly players of 13.669 million, down 3%.
The player decline includes the effect of Flutter closing its India business in August 2025. US average monthly players rose 12%; International players fell 8%.
The wider net loss was driven mainly by non-cash impairment charges of $873 million relating to Brazil. Flutter said $537 million of the post-tax impairment was attributable to the group, reflecting its 56% ownership of Flutter Brazil. That produced a net loss attributable to Flutter shareholders of $862 million for the quarter. The company also recorded a $105 million increase in legal loss contingencies.
US revenue was $1,455 million, up 6%, with sportsbook up 4% and iGaming up 8%. US adjusted EBITDA was $3 million, down 94%, after investment in Flutter’s prediction-market offering and the Alberta launch. International revenue was $2,419 million, flat year on year, with sportsbook down 2% and iGaming up 1%. International adjusted EBITDA was $435 million, down 14%, which Flutter said reflected the UK gaming-tax increase, partly mitigated by cost savings in the UK and Ireland and in Brazil.
The Brazil closure and the impairment
The impairment follows the Brazilian government’s Provisional Measure issued on 25 September 2026, which provisionally banned online sports betting and iGaming. Flutter said it has closed its operations in the market, paused discretionary and uncommitted spending, and restructured the business to focus on Betnacional as its sole brand in Brazil, closing Betfair there.
“We are very disappointed with the Government Provisional Measure banning online sports betting and iGaming in Brazil,” CEO Dan Taylor said in the release. “In response, we have acted decisively; our operations are currently closed, and we have paused all discretionary and uncommitted spend.” He added that, with the right regulation, Brazil “still has the opportunity to be an attractive market for us”, but that Flutter would “remain disciplined” in deploying capital as the rules evolve.
The company had already said that if it could not operate in Brazil for the rest of 2026, the hit would be about $70 million of revenue and $20 million of adjusted EBITDA. That previously disclosed effect is now built into the new guidance. In the International outlook, Flutter lists the Brazil closure as a $70 million revenue and $20 million adjusted EBITDA reduction, offset at the EBITDA line by $20 million of mitigating cost actions.
We covered the ban, and a later Supreme Court stay of related proceedings, in our earlier report on Brazil’s betting shutdown. The third-quarter figures are the first detailed look at how a major listed operator has accounted for that shutdown in its results.
How the guidance broke down
Flutter split the guidance cut between its two reporting divisions.
In the United States, unfavourable sports results in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter to date reduced the revenue and adjusted EBITDA outlooks by $60 million and $45 million respectively. The US midpoints are now $7.34 billion of revenue, up 5% year on year, and $715 million of adjusted EBITDA, down 22%. Flutter also said the outlook includes a better view of sportsbook performance and a reduced view of iGaming “in light of recent trends”.
In International, unfavourable sports results reduced the outlook by $170 million of revenue and $115 million of adjusted EBITDA. Together with the Brazil closure, that produced reductions of $240 million of revenue and $115 million of adjusted EBITDA. The International midpoints are now $10.27 billion of revenue, up 9%, and $2.09 billion of adjusted EBITDA, down 5%.
Taylor said International results in the quarter were also supported by market-share gains. Flutter put its overall Italian online market share at 32% in the third quarter, up 2 percentage points year on year. In the UK and Ireland, it pointed to customer engagement during the FIFA World Cup and “double-digit” iGaming revenue growth, and said it had announced a “significant restructuring” of that business after the UK tax increase. Adjusted EBITDA in International “declined by 14% primarily due to the increase in UK gaming taxes”. Remote Gaming Duty on online casino-style products rose from 21% to 40% in April 2026, as Bally’s Intralot’s latest results also showed.
Capital allocation
Flutter said its immediate capital-allocation priorities are to reduce debt and to invest in organic growth. While it focuses on those priorities, it has “paused the existing share repurchase program for the foreseeable future”. The guidance table still records about $250 million of share repurchases as complete. The company also said it has refinanced its revolving credit facility and Term Loan A, extending maturities from November 2028 to May 2032.
Transaction, restructuring and integration costs are now expected to be about $620 million, $120 million higher than at the second-quarter update, “primarily due to the increase in legal loss contingencies”.
Who is affected
For shareholders, the story is a lower 2026 earnings path, a large Brazil write-down, and a pause in buybacks while the group aims to bring leverage back towards its 2.0-2.5x medium-term target. Leverage stood at 4.6x, compared with 3.7x in December 2025. For customers, Flutter says its Brazilian sites are already closed. In the UK, Ireland, Italy and the US, the company is still trading, and it is investing in prediction markets in the US.
Other operators with Brazilian exposure have been dealing with the same Provisional Measure, as Playtech’s recent trading update also illustrated.
What happens next
The Provisional Measure still depends on Brazil’s Congress, and court challenges are continuing. Flutter’s updated guidance assumes the Brazil closure and the sports results already recorded, and it is based on expected sporting margins for the rest of the year. The company will report further trading in its next scheduled update.
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