DraftKings Posts Wider Q3 2026 Loss, Shares Fall 22% on Predictions Spending

DraftKings reported third-quarter 2026 results on November 5, 2026 showing revenue up 16% to $1.329 billion from $1.144 billion a year earlier, but a net loss that widened to $468.7 million from $256.8 million - a bigger loss than Wall Street expected, at 94 cents per share against an analyst consensus of 39 cents, per LSEG. Shares fell roughly 22% in after-hours trading the same evening, extending a slide that had already pushed the stock to a three-year low in October, with the company's earnings call following on the morning of November 6.

The underlying business kept growing: sports revenue (which DraftKings reports together with its sportsbook and prediction-market contracts) rose 31.5% to $783.6 million as the sports net revenue margin improved to 5.6% from 5.2%, iGaming revenue grew 2.1% to $460.9 million, and monthly unique payers climbed about 13% to 4.1 million. What swamped that growth was spending - sales and marketing expense jumped to $605.7 million from $360.4 million, and the adjusted EBITDA loss grew to $316.9 million from $126.5 million.

Most of that spending is going toward Predictions, the CFTC-regulated prediction-market exchange (DKeX) DraftKings launched in June 2026. The company says more than 1.6 million customers have used Predictions so far this year, and it's increasing its 2026 investment in the product to $650-700 million, with another $175-225 million planned for the fourth quarter alone - while telling investors to expect Predictions revenue to stay immaterial in 2026 because promotional spending will offset most of what it brings in. DraftKings cut its 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance to $175-275 million as a result, even as it kept 2026 revenue guidance at $6.35-6.55 billion and introduced 2027 guidance of $7.35-7.75 billion in revenue and $800 million-$1.0 billion in adjusted EBITDA, which assumes Predictions itself turns into a $650-750 million revenue line next year.

DraftKings isn't a sweepstakes casino and isn't an operator we cover or have an affiliate relationship with on this site, but the numbers are a useful reality check for anyone comparing betting models: even one of the best-capitalized real-money operators in the country is posting wider losses to chase the same prediction-market opportunity that Kalshi, Polymarket, and now Modo and other sweeps-adjacent brands are all racing toward.