Brightstar Lottery has reported a 7% revenue decline for Q2 2026 but insists the company is firmly on track to deliver stronger results in the second half of the year.
Group revenue for the three months ended June 30 came in at $584m, with the drop attributed largely to the ongoing transition of its former UK lottery business.
Management noted that Q2 represented the final full quarter affected by that particular headwind, with only a limited impact now anticipated in Q3.
The wider financial picture told a more encouraging story, with adjusted EBITDA climbing 4% year-on-year to reach $286m during the period.
Net profit topped $33m in Q2, a sharp turnaround compared to the $58m loss Brightstar recorded in the same quarter of the previous year.
CEO Vince Sadusky credited disciplined cost management and strong same-store sales performance for the better-than-expected profitability across the quarter.
Sadusky said: “Better-than-expected second quarter profits were driven by global same-store sales expansion and disciplined operational management, even as we invest in long-term growth initiatives.”
The CEO also indicated that the company’s “heaviest investment period” is now largely behind it, positioning Brightstar to extract more value from existing assets.
Sadusky pointed to digital expansion in Italy, iLottery growth and recent technology and retail investments as key drivers expected to contribute more meaningfully going forward.
During Q2, Brightstar launched an enhanced My Lotteries Play app in Italy, upgraded more than 33,000 retail terminals and brought around 23,000 new retailers on board to support digital account activation.
Sadusky stated the primary goal heading into the back half of the year is “customer additions”, arguing that growing monthly active users would have “an exponential effect… on digital revenue growth in Italy”.
On the revenue breakdown, total service revenue slipped 6% year-on-year to $550m, though the decline was driven primarily by higher upfront licence fee amortisation rather than underlying weakness.
US multi-state ticket wager-based revenue rose 14% to $17m, offering a positive signal within the otherwise mixed service revenue picture.
Product sales revenue dropped 20% to $34m, reflecting lower hardware sales against a strong comparative period in 2025, though Brightstar expects this segment to recover in the second half.
A favourable foreign exchange swing, with a $4m gain compared to a $99m loss the previous year, helped lift pre-tax profit to $64m against a $10m loss in Q2 2025.
Net profit attributable to Brightstar for the quarter reached $33m, a considerable improvement on the $58m loss recorded in the equivalent period last year.
For the first half as a whole, total revenue came in 3.5% lower at $1.17bn, though H1 pre-tax profit surged 237% to $155m on the strength of improved margins and the FX tailwind.
Adjusted EBITDA for the first six months increased 9.4% to $573m, and net profit attributable to Brightstar reached $70m versus a $31m loss in H1 last year.
With results broadly in line with expectations, Brightstar retained its full-year guidance, targeting revenue of between $2.50bn and $2.55bn and adjusted EBITDA of $1.16bn to $1.19bn.
The company’s confident outlook reflects a belief that digital momentum and easing transitional pressures will combine to drive a stronger second-half performance across its global operations.
