Vail Resorts’ stock has been trading near a five-year low for several months after recent earnings reports that fell below investor expectations. But the company lost less than expected in the first quarter of its fiscal 2025. (The first three months of the company’s fiscal year — August through October — is typically a losing span.)
With decent early-season snow fueling a final surge in Epic Pass sales for the 2024-25 season, the country’s largest resort operator looks ready for a Wall Street rebound.
In its quarterly report to investors this week, Vail Resorts said it had sold 2.3 million of its pass products — from advanced-purchase day tickets to full season passes — generating $975 million heading into the ski season. The pass sales mean about 75% of all the visitors to the company’s 42 ski areas are using passes or tickets purchased in advance. Last season, Vail Resorts reported 15.8 million visits to its 37 North American ski areas, down from a record 17.2 million in the 2022-23 ski season.
Pass sales for the 2024-25 season are about 2% below the previous season, but with an 8% increase in Epic Pass prices, revenue from sales is up 4%. Over the last four seasons, Vail Resorts has increased Epic Pass sales by 59% and revenue from those sales is up 47%.
The advanced sales give Vail Resorts “meaningful stability,” company CEO Kirsten Lynch told investors Monday in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 earnings call.
The company plans to invest $249 million to $254 million in its ski areas next year, including investment at its two recently acquired European resorts and planning for the new West Lionshead base village at Vail ski area.
A major part of the company’s 2025 plan includes multiyear projects at Park City and Vail ski areas. A new 10-seat gondola at Park City — alongside improvements to on-mountain dining and ski school terrain — and a new 1,800-spot parking garage are part of the plan to prepare Park City for hosting events at the 2034 Winter Olympics.
The company also is planning to renovate its Arrabelle at Vail Square hotel as part of an overhaul of Vail ski area’s base villages, which includes the fourth base village being developed in partnership with the Town of Vail and East West Partners.
Vail Resorts also said it was investing in the Breckenridge Peak 8 base area. At Keystone, the company is opening a hotel at the base of the River Run Gondola in the new Kindred Resort complex.
In 2024, the company invested $189 million to $194 million at its resorts, which does not include $13 million to launch the new My Epic Gear rental program at 12 of its ski North American areas.
Lynch told investors that the company saw “really strong” spending by guests last year and the My Epic Gear “innovation is really critical” as the company works to collect more revenue from its skiers. With transportation, lodging and now rental gear, the company is expanding the number of ways it can harvest money from visitors.
The company has $1.02 billion in accessible money, including $404 million in cash and $620 million in available credit.
One investor asked if the company planned to spend any of its cash on new ski areas. Lynch said the acquisition of two Swiss ski areas in 2022 and 2023 was a successful first step into Europe and the company is always looking for “more families or owners of assets who want to make a transition.”
“We do believe there are specific areas in North America we would like to acquire,” she said. “Europe is huge. Asia is a big opportunity as well.” Lynch, obviously, declined to name any ski areas the company would be interested in buying.
Another investor asked about how the company balances the pricing for its lift tickets with the cost of its season passes. The walk-up ticket price for a peak-season day at Vail reached $329 this season. The Epic Pass for the 2024-25 season cost $982 when it went on sale in March.
“We are not focused on lift ticket pricing being lower to drive volume,” said Lynch, adding the company sets the price of a lift ticket to “reflect the value” of a day of skiing and “encourage people to buy a pass. Right now, where we’ve landed with our pass results and our ticket pricing, I’m very pleased with the balance we have between those two.”
The coming fiscal year, which started Nov. 1, Vail Resorts told investors to expect the company to make $240 million to $316 million, which is higher than what was projected earlier this year thanks to $16.5 million bump in revenue from selling 23 acres in East Vail to the town of Vail following a fight over whether the company should develop the property into housing.