DraftKings has beaten Wall Street expectations for first-quarter revenue and profit. The company said its push into prediction markets through its Super App was already lowering customer acquisition costs, sending shares higher in extended trading.
The U.S. sports betting operator reported revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter ended March 31, up about 17% from a year earlier, driven by efficient customer acquisition, higher sportsbook margins, and continued customer engagement.
Net profit came in at $21.1 million, compared with a loss of $33.9 million a year earlier, while adjusted EBITDA rose to $167.9 million from $102.6 million. DraftKings posted adjusted earnings of 20 cents per share, topping analysts’ estimates of 17 cents.
Shares of the Boston-based company rose 1.8% in postmarket trading after closing up 5.4% in the regular session.
“We are off to a fantastic start to the year as our first-quarter results exceeded our expectations,” Chief Executive Officer Jason Robins said.
DraftKings maintained its full-year 2026 forecast for revenue of $6.5 billion to $6.9 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $700 million to $900 million.
The company said monthly unique paying customers fell 4% year-over-year to 4.2 million, partly reflecting its exit from the Texas lottery market. Excluding that impact, paying customers increased 2%.
Average revenue per monthly unique payer increased, helped by strong retention and customer acquisition across sportsbook and iGaming products.
Sportsbook revenue rose 24.1% to $1.09 billion, while betting handle increased 1.5% to $14.08 billion. Sportsbook margin improved to 7.8% from 6.4% a year earlier.
iGaming revenue climbed 8.9% to $461.3 million and accounted for nearly 28% of total group revenue.
DraftKings also highlighted early momentum for its recently launched Super App strategy, which integrates sportsbook, iGaming, and prediction market offerings into a single platform.
The company said its all-encompassing mobile application, which now features DraftKings Predictions, drove a decline in April prediction market customer acquisition costs of more than 80%.
“Our core business is strong, and profitability is inflecting. That gives us the firepower to press our advantage in Predictions,” said Robins. “With our Super App, market-making capabilities, proprietary exchange, and combos coming together, we intend to establish a leadership position in Sports Predictions before year-end.”
Robins added that annualized prediction market consumer volume exceeded $1 billion in April, while annualized total traded volume surpassed $2.3 billion, rising 38% and 43% month-over-month, respectively.
The company noted 69% of prediction market trading volume currently comes from states where sports betting remains prohibited, underscoring what it sees as a large untapped market opportunity.
DraftKings reiterated long-term targets outlined at its investor day, including a potential $55 billion to $80 billion gross revenue opportunity by 2030 and at least a 30% long-term adjusted EBITDA margin.
Chief Financial Officer Alan Ellingson said: “The business continues to scale efficiently as we grow revenue, expand profitability, and invest in high-return opportunities.”
