With news that a woman was killed on a roller coaster at Six Flags Entertainment Corp (NYSE:SIX) in Texas, consumers were forced to confront a very real truth: amusement park rides sometimes fail. While safety precautions are in place, an average of 4,423 children are injured each year on amusement park rides, according to a study in the journal Clinical Pediatrics.
Earnings to be reported
The accident happened just days before Six Flags Entertainment Corp (NYSE:SIX) was scheduled to announce its second-quarter earnings. Revenue is expected to be slightly down from the company’s first-quarter, which came in at $87.5 million, a 32% increase over the previous year. This is likely due to the high bar the company set in previous earnings reports.
If there was ever a time that sales should be down, it was at the end of 2008. But the company saw an increase in revenue of $50.5 million, which was up 5% from 2007. Attendance for the year was up 2%, coming in at 25.3 million. Could this be proof that even with tragedies, families continue to line up to enjoy the rides?
Another accident
Six Flags Entertainment Corp (NYSE:SIX) isn’t the only theme park concerning investors. Ohio’s Cedar Fair, L.P. (NYSE:FUN) Point, which is traded under Cedar Fair Entertainment, experienced its own incident on July 19, when a log ride rolled backward on an incline, injuring seven people.
Cedar Fair, L.P. (NYSE:FUN) Point, one of the oldest amusement parks in the U.S. and is one of the two most-visited amusement parks in the country. For Cedar Point, this is the third incident this summer, although the a previous accident was found to be unrelated to the ride itself. While the July 13th event that stopped the park’s GateKeeper train was due to the health of the rider himself, on July 3rd, a Snake River Falls boat jumped the track due to low water levels on the ride. No one was injured during that incident.
In late June, Cedar Fair, L.P. (NYSE:FUN) reported a great start to the summer season, wtih revenue up 5% and attendance up 1%. At the time, the company was on track to meet its guidance of more than $1 billion for the year. The company emphasized its dedication to providing a great experience for all of its customers. Soon after the call, the incidents began.
Comparisons to others
To see what impact this tough summer may have on Six Flags Entertainment Corp (NYSE:SIX) and Cedar Fair, L.P. (NYSE:FUN) Entertainment, analysts could look to SeaWorld Entertainment Inc (NYSE:SEAS). Although the company only went public in April, this looks like it will be a rough summer for the marine-based theme park. And that’s because it’s bracing for the release of a documentary based on a 2010 attack of a trainer by a whale. The film claims the animal was violent because captivity was not natural for him.
