Amid CEO Shakeup And Lowered Guidance, Casino Numbers Remain Strong For FanDuel
Much is in flux for Flutter with Amy Howe out, PokerStars shifted, iGaming still growing
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In the wake of a tumultuous news afternoon for FanDuel parent company Flutter, there’s one indisputably positive point for the operator’s U.S. business: Its iGaming product is thriving.
FanDuel Casino has fairly consistently held the highest share of the national online casino market since the beginning of 2024, peaking with a 29.4% mark last November. And on Flutter’s Q1 earnings call Wednesday, executives pointed toward iGaming revenue growth of 19% year-over-year.
This was hardly the main headline of the day for the company, however. Shortly before the earnings call began, CNBC’s Contessa Brewer broke the news that Amy Howe had exited after five years as FanDuel CEO, replaced by the internal promotion of Christian Genetski.
Whether Howe stepped down or was forced out is unclear. Brewer reported that she was “ousted,” but in Howe’s leaked internal email to her colleagues, she wrote “the time has come for me to step away.” Flutter shares fell 5% in the first hour after Brewer’s report, then rebounded later in the day.
Aside from addressing Howe’s departure, the bottom line coming out of the earnings report was a reduction in company-wide full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance, from $2.97 billion to $2.87 billion.
Digging deeper behind that key number: Flutter reported $4.3 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 17.5% year-over-year, of which the U.S.-facing business contributed $1.76 billion, up 5% over 2025. FanDuel pointed to “bettor-friendly sports results” — in other words, a lower sports betting hold than is typical — costing it $45 million in Q1.
“The outlook for 2Q26 came in disappointing,” wrote Citizens analysts Jordan Bender and Isabelle Slavin in a company note Wednesday night, “with U.S. EBITDA on a hold-adjusted basis down 68% from the prior year, with investment across new states, the World Cup, prediction market spend, higher taxes YoY, and the PokerStars transfer weighing on profitability. The company is now relying on 4Q for the bulk of U.S. EBITDA for the year; we estimate 72% of full-year EBITDA to occur in 4Q.”
How sportsbook, poker impact bigger picture
The mention in the Citizens note of the “PokerStars transfer” is noteworthy to those tracking the iGaming business. It is in reference to the major online poker brand migrating on April 1 to the FanDuel Casino app, bringing the company’s online poker and online casino operations together in one place.
Analysis Wednesday night from Truist’s Barry Jonas also noted “the change in reporting for PokerStars North America” as a factor in the lowered 2026 EBITDA guidance.
“FLUT beat our/Street EBITDA by +4%/+1%,” Truist wrote, “with International driving the beat (+8%/+3%) as US came in well below (-13%/-8%). FLUT lowered its guidance for 2026, with revenues/EBITDA down -1%/-4% vs prior as the company continues to manage through ongoing challenges.”
Despite those “ongoing challenges,” Truist continues to rate Flutter as a “buy.”
That is due in no small part to the continuing positivity around online casino.
Truist spelled out: “In the US, revenues grew +6% Y/Y driven by iGaming revenue growth of +19% and OSB revenues up +1%. OSB revenues were driven by -9% lower handle Y/Y, partially offset by higher margins (+80bps to 8.6%). EBITDA of $119M was driven by higher revenues partially offset by +180bps higher cost of sales (primarily driven by +220bps tax rate increases). AMPs of 4.3M fell -1% Y/Y, with OSB AMPs -6% and iGaming AMPs up +10%.”
As for the news of the day that overshadowed all those numbers, Citizens doesn’t appear rattled by it.
“Management turnover (Amy Howe) adds a layer of questions to the U.S. story,” Citizens wrote, “but we believe the company’s strategy of promoting internally should bring experience and deep knowledge of the business to the top of the organization.”
