Vail Resorts (MTN -0.37%) announced fiscal fourth-quarter 2024 results after the market closed yesterday, and investors weren't impressed with the news. Revenue was down 1.6% to $265.4 million, and net loss ballooned from $128.6 million to $175.4 million, or $4.67 per share.
As a result, the stock closed the day down nearly 4%.
Revenue slightly topped estimates, but analysts were expecting a loss of just $4.26 per share. To make matters worse, the company announced a major restructuring to cut costs.
A downtrend for Vail Resorts
The fiscal fourth quarter is a slow time for Vail Resorts without the winter ski season, but investors can take some keys from what was reported. The first was Epic Pass sales falling 3% in units and dollar sales rising 3% for the upcoming 2024/2025 ski season.
What that tells us is Vail Resorts is raising prices, and customers are choosing not to buy a pass. There's a limit to the price the company can charge for passes, and if you've looked at the price of lift tickets lately, you can probably see why consumers are balking at the current asking price.
Layoffs are coming
As part of a profit improvement plan, management announced a "two-year transformation plan" that will call for cutting about $100 million in annual expenses by the end of fiscal 2026, including eliminating 14% of the corporate workforce and about 1% of operations staff.
While growth was the name of the game for Vail Resorts over the past decade, it's now about efficiency. And the company needs to get more efficient quickly, because customers aren't willing to pay more to access the slopes.
