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Operator of the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs racetrack, plus other racetracks, historical horse racing (HHR) gaming venues and online wagering (TwinSpires).
Operator of the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs racetrack, plus other racetracks, historical horse racing (HHR) gaming venues and online wagering (TwinSpires).
Earns a share of each wager on horse racing, called takeout, whether bet at the track or through TwinSpires online, and keeps a share of what players lose on gaming machines, where historical racing machines, slot-style games using results of past races, are now a major source. The Kentucky Derby is the biggest annual event; other tracks and casinos spread earnings through the year.
Moat: narrow (brand, regulatory licence, scale). The Kentucky Derby is an irreplaceable annual cultural/sporting event, and HHR gaming licenses are state-restricted.
Headquarters: Louisville, Kentucky, USA · Founded: 1875 · Employees: 9,000
Size Churchill Downs (CHDN) is a United States Communication Services company (Movies/Entertainment) with a market value of $6.71B, the 980th largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $97.94 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 11.1%, against +10.9% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 10th highest of 20 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 4.2% over the last twelve months (peer median +5.5%); the operating margin is 25.8% (peer median 9.5%).
Valuation It trades at 13.6× forward earnings against a peer median of 30.3× (3rd cheapest of 17).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 2% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +23%, so the hurdle is -20 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 3.0 points above its cost of capital (7.3% WACC).
Backlog Backlog (remaining performance obligations) was $218M at 30 Sep 2026, down 12% on a year earlier — 0.1 years of trailing revenue. Backlog detail →
Credit Churchill Downs has 1 bond outstanding ($600M), rated B+ by the agencies and trading like BBB- at a weighted spread of 124 bp.
Short interest Short interest is 7.9% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 24 Feb 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $3.00B | $2.93B | $2.73B | $2.46B | $1.81B |
| Revenue growth | — | +7% | +11% | +36% | — |
| Gross profit | $1.03B | $983M | $938M | $796M | $566M |
| EBITDA | $1.02B | $976M | $906M | $769M | $521M |
| Net income | $451M | $380M | $424M | $417M | $439M |
| Free cash flow | $530M | $495M | $226M | -$70.7M | $113M |
| Capital expenditure | $226M | $275M | $547M | $676M | $424M |
| Total debt | $4.73B | $5.20B | $4.97B | $4.90B | $4.65B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Churchill Downs CHDN | $6.71B | +11% | +4% | 26% | 13.6× | 2.3% |
| PENN Entertainment PENN | $2.34B | +4% | +6% | 6% | 12.3× | 15.2% |
| Boyd Gaming BYD | $5.41B | -11% | 0% | 19% | 10.1× | n/a |
| Flutter Entertainment FLUT | $14.2B | -19% | +12% | 2% | 14.3× | 26.3% |
| Bally's BALY | $625M | -4% | +20% | 0% | n/a | n/a |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | CHDN | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +28.6% | +9.2% | highest of 20 |
| 6-month return | +11.1% | +10.9% | 10th highest of 20 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -17.2% | -14.8% | 9th lowest of 20 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +4.2% | +5.5% | 10th lowest of 20 |
| Operating margin | 25.8% | 9.5% | 2nd highest of 21 |
| Forward P/E | 13.6× | 30.3× | 3rd cheapest of 17 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 2.3% | 6.7% | 6th least demanding of 17 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +22.7% | +16.7% | 6th highest of 17 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -20.4 pp | -14.8 pp | 8th least demanding of 17 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +3.0 pp | +1.1 pp | 9th highest of 21 |
| EV / EBITDA | 11.0× | 11.8× | 7th cheapest of 13 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 4.4× | 2.8× | 6th most indebted of 16 |
| Bond spread | 124 bp | 147 bp | tightest of 4 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Churchill Downs CHDN | United States | $6.71B | +11% | +4% | 26% | 13.6× | 2.3% | +22.7% |
| CTS Eventim AG & Co. KGaA EVD.DE | Germany | $6.68B | +11% | +14% | 15% | 18.4× | 6.8% | +64.3% |
| MSG Knickerbockers MSGK | United States | $7.51B | n/a | +11% | 3% | n/a | 61.1% | +22.6% |
| Genting Singapore G13.SI | Singapore | $5.76B | -10% | +2% | 15% | 19.1× | -5.0% | +18.2% |
| Beijing Enlight Media 300251.SZ | China | $5.49B | -16% | -71% | -57% | 179.5× | n/a | n/a |
| Lottery TLC.AX | Australia | $8.47B | +4% | -5% | 16% | 33.3× | 9.9% | +3.8% |
| Benefit Systems BFT.WA | Poland | $5.18B | +54% | +40% | 19% | 23.7× | 13.4% | +34.3% |
| DraftKings DKNG | United States | $9.19B | -27% | +15% | -3% | 55.1× | 9.7% | +58.0% |
| Toho 9602.T | Japan | $9.44B | +22% | +4% | 16% | 28.4× | 7.9% | +13.4% |
| Liberty Live Holdings, Inc. Registered Series -A- LLYVA | United States | $9.64B | +9% | n/a | -13% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Cinemark CNK | United States | $4.51B | +44% | +13% | 15% | 14.8× | 2.4% | +35.3% |
| China Film 600977.SS | China | $4.48B | +16% | 0% | -9% | 141.5× | -7.1% | +10.4% |
| Lionsgate Studios LION | United States | $4.24B | +16% | -8% | 6% | 52.8× | 18.6% | -8.0% |
| Toei Animation 4816.T | Japan | $4.17B | +23% | -2% | 31% | 27.9× | 0.5% | +12.7% |
| Manchester United MANU | United States | $3.90B | +15% | +5% | -2% | 142.1× | 18.3% | +6.5% |
| Banijay BNJ.AS | Netherlands | $3.83B | -13% | +7% | 14% | 8.0× | -4.5% | +18.1% |
| Madison Square Garden Entertainment MSGE | United States | $3.65B | +18% | +16% | 17% | 32.1× | 5.0% | +66.9% |
| Atlanta Braves BATRA | United States | $3.23B | +1% | +6% | -9% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Itv ITV.L | United Kingdom | $3.23B | -16% | +2% | 13% | 8.3× | -2.8% | +4.8% |
| Ruyi Film Entertainment 002739.SZ | China | $2.94B | -9% | -8% | 3% | 34.1× | 6.7% | +15.4% |
| AMC Entertainment AMC | United States | $2.80B | +109% | +6% | 5% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Churchill Downs has 1 bond outstanding with $600M face value. The agencies rate it B+; its bonds trade like BBB-. Weighted yield 5.75%, a spread of 124 bp over government bonds.
Churchill Downs reported $218M of remaining performance obligations at 30 Sep 2026, down 12% from a year earlier and up 11% from the previous quarter. That is 0.1 years of trailing revenue already under contract. Book-to-bill last quarter: 1.03.