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Melco Resorts & Entertainment posted total operating revenue of $1.37bn for the first quarter of 2026, up 10.9% year-on-year, with adjusted property EBITDA climbing 11.7% to $381m and net profit more than doubling to $76.8m from $32.5m in Q1 2025.
Operating income rose to $179m from $144.9m a year earlier. Gaming revenue increased 12.3% to $1.15bn, while non-gaming revenue grew 4.1% to $216m. The results beat analyst revenue expectations of $1.3bn by 4.62%, though earnings per share of $0.07 missed the $0.10 forecast.
Macau Drives the Group
Macau remained the primary engine. Across the portfolio, property EBITDA in the market grew 12% year-on-year to $334m, with the margin improving to approximately 28%.
City of Dreams Macau generated $734.6m in revenue during the quarter, with adjusted property EBITDA rising to $214.4m from $195.9m a year earlier. Gross gaming revenue at the property rose 11% to $813m, with mass gaming revenue up 12% to $540m. VIP rolling chip volume increased 5% to $6.4bn. Slots revenue surged 75% to $50m.
Studio City posted revenue of $392m, with adjusted EBITDA up 14.8% to $111.7m and margins expanding to 28.5% from 24.0% in Q4. Its gross gaming revenue rose 11% to $373m. Slots GGR grew 24% to $41m.
Altira Macau returned to positive adjusted EBITDA at $4.1m, compared with negative $1m in the prior-year period.
“We delivered a strong first quarter with both group property EBITDA and Macau property EBITDA growing by 12% year-over-year. Our GGR in Macau increased by approximately 10% year-over-year with solid growth across all segments.”
— Lawrence Ho, Chairman and CEO, Melco Resorts & Entertainment
Philippines Outperforms, Cyprus Weighed by Middle East Conflict
City of Dreams Manila delivered property EBITDA growth of 24% year-on-year. Rolling chip volume reached $460.1m in Q1 2026, against $351.9m in the same period last year, with a win rate of 5.18% versus 2.98% a year earlier.
“In the Philippines, City of Dreams Manila exhibited solid performance despite heightened competition and continued industry headwinds that continued into 2026.”
— Lawrence Ho, Chairman and CEO, Melco Resorts & Entertainment
Cyprus told a different story. City of Dreams Mediterranean and its satellite casinos generated $65.3m in operating revenue, up 11.6% year-on-year, but adjusted EBITDA fell to $9m from $11.6m. Ho attributed the decline to reduced tourism arrivals following the escalation of the Middle East conflict in late February, though he pointed to improvement in April. "We’ve seen significant improvement in occupancy, visitation and play levels in April," he said.
Sri Lanka, where <a href="https://epicwins.io/2026/01/30/las-vegas-sands-q4-2025-earnings-record-3-65b-revenue/”>City of Dreams Sri Lanka opened in August 2025, contributed $14.3m in revenue and approximately $300,000 in adjusted EBITDA in its first full quarter of reporting.
Capital Allocation: New $500m Buyback and IP Acquisition
Alongside the operating results, Melco approved a new $500m share repurchase programme, effective April 30, running for three years. Approximately $210m remains available under an existing buyback mandate. The company has returned approximately $4.1bn to shareholders since 2016 through dividends and repurchases.
Melco also entered an agreement to acquire intellectual property assets — trademarks and related rights already in use across its properties — from Melco International for $375m. The trademark licence fee for Q1 2026 was approximately $13.4m, implying a purchase multiple of just under 7x the annualised fee.
“The purchase of the trademarks provides MLCO with full ownership and control of the trademarks and eliminates any uncertainty with respect to potential increases in fees at the end of the prior royalty fee arrangements.”
— Lawrence Ho, Chairman and CEO, Melco Resorts & Entertainment
The acquisition will be funded through a drawdown on the credit facility combined with internal funds. Management said debt-to-EBITDA post-transaction is expected to increase by less than half a turn and return to Q1 2026 levels before year-end.
Balance Sheet: $2.36bn Liquidity Against $6.67bn Debt
At March 31, Melco held cash and bank balances of $1.07bn, with total available liquidity of approximately $2.36bn. Total debt stood at $6.67bn. Interest expense for the quarter was $111.8m.
Capital expenditure came in at $73.6m, directed primarily at enhancement projects at City of Dreams Macau. Full-year CapEx guidance was revised down from $450m to approximately $425m.
For Q2, management guided depreciation and amortisation of $140–145m, corporate expense of approximately $30m, and net interest expense of $115–120m. CFO Geoffrey Davis indicated the balance sheet should support a dividend resumption by year-end, subject to market conditions, with management remaining opportunistic on buybacks in the interim.
The upcoming phased opening of REM, a new luxury hotel at City of Dreams Macau, is expected to begin in Q3 2026 and is flagged as a revenue catalyst, though it will add to operating expenses in that period. For further context on integrated resort performance across the sector, see <a href="https://epicwins.io/2026/02/18/caesars-entertainment-q4-2025-earnings-record-digital-growth/”>Caesars Entertainment’s Q4 2025 earnings.
Source: Melco Resorts & Entertainment
