Zacks Research Lowers Earnings Estimates for Vail Resorts

Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research reduced their FY2026 earnings estimates for shares of Vail Resorts in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the company will post earnings of $4.53 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $5.01. Zacks Research currently has a “Strong Sell” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Vail Resorts’ current full-year earnings is $4.87 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Vail Resorts’ Q1 2027 earnings at ($5.40) EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $6.70 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $10.46 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at ($5.24) EPS, FY2027 earnings at $6.52 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at ($5.38) EPS and FY2028 earnings at $6.93 EPS.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The company reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.06 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Vail Resorts had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 29.72%. The company’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.56 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Vail Resorts from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Vail Resorts from $169.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vail Resorts in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Vail Resorts from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Vail Resorts from $202.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $161.82.

Vail Resorts Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of MTN stock opened at $126.92 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $132.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The stock has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70, a PEG ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 0.79. Vail Resorts has a twelve month low of $118.51 and a twelve month high of $175.51.

Vail Resorts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 26th were paid a dividend of $2.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 26th. This represents a $8.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. Vail Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is 144.86%.

Insider Transactions at Vail Resorts

In other Vail Resorts news, CFO Angela A. Korch purchased 190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $131.85 per share, for a total transaction of $25,051.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,317.15. This trade represents a 3.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert A. Katz purchased 37,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $131.81 per share, for a total transaction of $4,942,875.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 285,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,606,974.72. This trade represents a 15.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vail Resorts

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTN. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Vail Resorts by 67.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,013,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,724,000 after buying an additional 1,208,874 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vail Resorts by 15,313.2% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 450,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,769,000 after buying an additional 447,146 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vail Resorts during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,106,000. Bamco Inc. NY increased its stake in shares of Vail Resorts by 4.1% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 5,702,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $852,952,000 after buying an additional 227,143 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Vail Resorts during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,521,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Vail Resorts

Here are the key news stories impacting Vail Resorts this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Vail Resorts published its summer operations schedule, giving investors clearer visibility into non-winter revenue drivers and potential upside from summer visitation and pass-holder spend. This operational update likely helped sentiment today. Vail Resorts announces summer operations schedule
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks issued a number of small near-term estimate trims (e.g., Q2 2028, Q2/Q3 2026–2028 quarter-level adjustments). These marginal downdrafts reflect modeling tweaks rather than dramatic forecast changes and are being treated as modest noise by some traders. Zacks Research
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded MTN from Hold to Strong Sell and rolled through broad cuts to FY2026–FY2028 and multiple quarterly EPS forecasts (notably big downgrades to FY2027/FY2028). That analyst action increases downside risk, and helps explain selling pressure and caution among institutional holders. Zacks downgrade and estimate cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and customer backlash: New Hampshire authorities are probing Vail over adding sales tax to Epic Pass purchases and the change has sparked public and political criticism — a reputational and regulatory headwind that could affect season-pass sales or require remediation. New Hampshire Investigating Vail Resorts for “Not So Epic” Sales Tax Vail Resorts add sales tax to Epic Pass purchases

Vail Resorts Company Profile

Vail Resorts, Inc is a leading mountain resort company that owns and operates an integrated network of ski areas, hotels, restaurants and retail outlets. The company’s signature Epic Pass program offers skiers and snowboarders season‐long access to its portfolio of resorts, while ancillary services such as ski and snowboard schools, equipment rental and retail drive additional revenue.

Headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, Vail Resorts was formed in 1997, building on the legacy of Vail Associates, which opened the Vail ski area in 1962.