StubHub: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
On its third-quarter 2026 earnings call, held on Nov. 10, 2026, StubHub (STUB -3.42%) announced an increase in its full-year gross merchandise sales, representing the total dollar value of tickets sold on its platform, guidance to 11% to 13% growth. Operating efficiency drove adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margin up 10 percentage points year over year to 25%. Debt repayments of $1.1 billion since its initial public offering have lowered borrowing costs and strengthened its balance sheet. Three takeaways from management’s comments stand out.
1. Scale Drives Substantial Sales and Marketing Efficiency
Sales and marketing costs fell nine percentage points year over year to 45% of revenue in the third quarter. Management attributes this efficiency to established market leadership, allowing it to capture repeat customer traffic without spending heavily on acquiring buyers.
Our market leadership, and resulting scale have enabled us to drive continued customer acquisition efficiency following last year’s sales and marketing investments.
— Constance James, Chief Financial Officer
2. Rapid Deleveraging Reshapes the Financial Profile
Net leverage dropped from 4.5 times adjusted EBITDA at the end of 2025 to 2.5 times at the end of the third quarter of 2026. The company paid down $100 million of debt in July and extended term loan maturities to October 2033, creating balance sheet flexibility for strategic investments.
Total debt repayment since our IPO stands at $1.1 billion.
— Constance James, Chief Financial Officer
3. Open Distribution and Advertising Expand Market Potential
Management is expanding beyond traditional resale through open distribution, which allows primary ticket sellers and content owners to list inventory directly on the platform without exclusivity. Concurrently, the platform is testing sponsored listings, allowing sellers to pay for elevated visibility as event dates approach.
Together, open distribution and advertising represent attractive long term opportunities to expand our addressable market and further monetize activity across our marketplace.
— Eric H. Baker, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer
Looking Ahead
Live event demand remains steady across sports and music categories, and international concert travel continues to expand the customer base. StubHub benefits from network effects and a long operational history handling high-demand ticket fulfillment, while management watches the timing of major 2027 concert ticket releases and updates to search engine algorithms.
Consumers continue to prioritize live events, and we are seeing greater globalization of content that reinforces the importance of our global reach.
— Eric H. Baker, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer
With leverage down and term loan maturities pushed out to October 2033, the company is shifting focus toward driving free cash flow per share over the long term.
Our vision is to be the global destination for fans to access live entertainment and we look forward to reporting to you on our progress to discussing our expectations for the coming year when we report our fourth quarter results.
— Eric H. Baker, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer
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