On the first days of March 2026, Accel Entertainment, the Chicago-based operator whose gaming terminals sit in neighborhood bars, truck stops, and fraternal halls across ten states, stepped forward to account for a year in which its footprint and its earnings both grew. Its fourth quarter brought in a record $341.4 million and the full year crossed $1.3 billion, a reminder that locals-focused gambling, placed quietly in familiar rooms, can still add up to a large and steady enterprise. Behind the figures lies a patient strategy of long contracts, buybacks, and cautious expansion, along with a
Accel Entertainment Posts Record Q4 Revenue of $341.4M and $1.3B Full-Year Haul
Profit grew faster than revenue.
Mark
Revenue is up 7.5% in the quarter, but net income nearly doubled. Why the gap?
Mimi
Part of it is operating leverage. Adjusted EBITDA rose 18.9% on that 7.5% revenue gain, so costs grew slower than sales. There's also a small swing in earnout share valuation, from a $2.9 million loss to a $0.6 million gain.
Luke
Worth flagging that Adjusted EBITDA is a company-defined, non-GAAP measure. It strips out items management chooses, including lobbying and legal costs for expansion. It's useful, but it's their yardstick.
Mark
And the Chicago piece? That sounds like the headline for the future.
Mimi
Rubenstein says Accel is well positioned if video gaming terminals are allowed in licensed Chicago locations, and that it's monitoring developments.
Luke
Right, and that's the key limit. It rests on public announcements about a possible introduction. Nothing here says it's approved, and no revenue figure is attached to it.
Mark
What about the buybacks and the new credit facility?
Mimi
About 3.7 million shares repurchased in 2025, and a $900 million facility maturing in 2030. Net debt is about $311 million against $296.6 million in cash.
Luke
The claim that shares are undervalued is management's opinion. The release doesn't offer evidence for it.
Mark
Fairmount Park is the newest piece. How big is it?
Mimi
About 260 machines, a sportsbook, and racing. The release doesn't break out its revenue or profit, so we can't say how much it contributed.
Luke
Agreed. Steady engagement is a description, not a number.
Il Polso
- Quarterly revenue hit a record $341.4 million while full-year profit jumped 45 percent, pushing a company built on neighborhood terminals into new territory.
- Accel is racing to ramp up its Fairmount Park casino and racing operation, which opened in April and still has ambitions to climb past its early months.
- Management is refinancing and buying back shares, with a $900 million credit facility stretching debt maturities to 2030 and roughly $16 million spent on stock in the fourth quarter alone.
- Chicago looms as a possible next front, and leadership is monitoring the city's plans to license video gaming terminals outside casinos while holding its position.
- Momentum is strong and the balance sheet is steady, yet the company is still waiting on regulators and markets before choosing its next bold move.
On the first days of March 2026, Accel Entertainment, the Chicago-based operator whose gaming terminals sit in neighborhood bars, truck stops, and fraternal halls across ten states, stepped forward to account for a year in which its footprint and its earnings both grew. Its fourth quarter brought in a record $341.4 million and the full year crossed $1.3 billion, a reminder that locals-focused gambling, placed quietly in familiar rooms, can still add up to a large and steady enterprise. Behind the figures lies a patient strategy of long contracts, buybacks, and cautious expansion, along with a new venture into casino and racing that marks a change in the company's shape. Whether it will extend that pattern into Chicago remains, for now, an open question.
Accel Entertainment ended 2025 with 4,501 locations and nearly 28,000 gaming terminals spread across ten states, and on March 3, 2026 it reported the results of that footprint. Fourth-quarter revenue reached a record $341.4 million, and the full year brought in $1.3 billion, both up from the year before. The company places its machines under long exclusive contracts in bars, restaurants, convenience stores, truck stops, and veterans' and fraternal halls, and it describes itself as a locals-focused operator.
Profit moved faster than sales. Net income for the year rose 45.3% to $51.3 million, and Adjusted EBITDA reached $210.1 million. The balance sheet held $296.6 million in cash against about $311 million of net debt, and a new $900 million credit facility, completed in September, pushed maturities out to 2030. Accel also bought back roughly 3.7 million shares during the year, a sign that management believes the stock is undervalued.
CEO Andy Rubenstein pointed to strong showings in Louisiana, Nevada, Nebraska, and Georgia, and said Illinois and Montana were improving margins. The company's first full year of racing at Fairmount Park was paired with a casino that opened in April, and the property is still building its customer base. Rubenstein also turned to Chicago, where possible video gaming terminals in non-casino locations are under discussion. Accel is watching closely and believes its infrastructure and balance sheet put it in a strong position, but no decision has been made.
Accel Entertainment closed 2025 with 4,501 locations and 27,950 gaming terminals across its network, and on March 3, 2026 the Chicago-based company laid out the numbers behind that footprint. Fourth-quarter revenue reached a record $341.4 million, up 7.5% from the same quarter a year earlier. For the full year ended December 31, 2025, revenue came to a record $1.3 billion, up 8.1% from 2024.
Accel, which trades on the NYSE as ACEL, describes itself as a locals-focused gaming operator. It places electronic gaming terminals in licensed non-casino venues such as bars, restaurants, convenience stores, truck stops, gaming cafes, and fraternal and veteran establishments, under exclusive long-term contracts. The company supports nearly 28,000 terminals in more than 4,500 third-party establishments, plus 20 self-operated gaming locations, across ten states. Its location count grew 2.2% over the year and its terminal count 2.9%.
Profit grew faster than revenue. Fourth-quarter net income was $16.2 million, up 91.7%, helped in part by a $0.6 million gain on the fair value of contingent earnout shares, compared with a $2.9 million loss in the prior-year period. For the full year, net income was $51.3 million, up 45.3%, and diluted earnings per share were $0.60, versus $0.41 in 2024. Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure the company uses to track core operations, hit records of $56.3 million for the quarter (up 18.9%) and $210.1 million for the year (up 11.1%).
The balance sheet ended the year with $296.6 million in cash and cash equivalents and net debt of roughly $311 million. In September 2025, Accel completed a new $900 million credit facility that pushes maturities to 2030 and, the company says, lowers its cost of capital. It also bought back about 3.7 million shares during 2025, including 1.5 million Class A-1 shares in the fourth quarter for approximately $16.2 million. Management said it considers the stock undervalued.
CEO Andy Rubenstein pointed to several markets. In Illinois and Montana, he said, the company is improving hold-per-day and expanding margins, and the Illinois rollout of ticket-in, ticket-out technology is proceeding as planned. Nevada's terminal count rose 13% year over year, helped by route expansions. Louisiana revenue climbed about 75% as Accel pursued bolt-on acquisitions, and Nebraska and Georgia also posted strong growth. As of June 2025, the company says it no longer has any emerging markets; Pennsylvania lost that status that month.
The year also marked Accel's move into casino and racing operations. Fairmount Park Casino & Racing completed its first full year of racing, and its casino opened in April 2025, giving it almost nine months of casino operation. The property has about 260 electronic gaming machines, food and beverage service, a sportsbook and pari-mutuel betting, with roughly 57 racing days planned for 2026. Rubenstein said customer engagement has been steady as the property ramps up.
Looking forward, Rubenstein singled out Chicago. Following public announcements about the possible introduction of video gaming terminals in licensed locations in the city, he said Accel is monitoring developments and building strategy, and believes its balance sheet, existing infrastructure and route management capabilities leave it well positioned. That remains a possibility, not a decision. The company also said it would focus on steady organic growth, tuck-in acquisitions and free cash flow. Accel held a conference call and webcast at 5:00 PM ET on the day of the release to review the results.
Citazioni salienti
Accel is monitoring developments and building strategy for a possible Chicago video gaming terminals market, saying it is well positioned to capitalize.— Andy Rubenstein, CEO, Accel Entertainment
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