Rush Street Interactive’s stock hit an all-time high Wednesday after the BetRivers parent reported its strongest quarter ever.
The company reported first-quarter earnings Tuesday evening that included records for net revenue, net profit and adjusted EBITDA, prompting it to raise its revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance for 2026.
“Our continued momentum demonstrates the strength of our casino-first strategy, the effectiveness of our operational execution and the powerful momentum we’re building across our business,” CEO Richard Schwartz said. “We’re scaling revenue off a much larger base at very strong growth rates while improving profitability at about double that pace.”
RSI closed Wednesday at $27.98, up 16.6% from Tuesday’s close, on nearly three times its average trading volume. The stock is up 126.3% over the past year.
BetRivers parent updates guidance
Rush Street now expects 2026 adjusted EBITDA of $230 million to $250 million, representing 50% to 63% growth year over year. The prior guidance range was $210 million to $230 million.
The top end of the range would have been about $10 million higher without the planned investment tied to the launch of Alberta online casinos and sportsbooks on July 13, CFO Kyle Sauers said.
Revenue is now projected at $1.490 billion to $1.540 billion, representing 31% to 36% growth. Previous guidance was $1.375 billion to $1.425 billion.
Customer growth continues
This marked the fourth straight quarter of year-over-year monthly active user growth in both North America and Latin America.
RSI also set a record for first-time depositors for the third consecutive quarter, surpassing the previous mark by “a wide margin,” Schwartz said.
“This isn’t about any single initiative,” Schwartz said. “It’s the result of systematic improvements across customer acquisition strategy, product and user experience, loyalty programs, data analytics and customer service.”
North American monthly active users rose 46% to about 296,000, while Latin American users increased 54% to 543,000.
Rush Street is bullish on acquisition around the World Cup as well, as the games are happening in three countries where RSI operates.
Spending more, but less
User growth is becoming more efficient, with Schwartz calling customer acquisition and retention a “key pillar of our success.”
Rush Street spent $46.2 million on marketing in the first quarter, up 19% year over year. That accounted for 12.5% of revenue, down from 14.8% in Q1 2025, Sauers said.
“Our disciplined marketing spend, combined with record player acquisition levels, demonstrates the competitive advantage we’re building within player acquisition channels and our cost to acquire players, which, again, are the lowest they’ve been since we went public over 5 years ago,” Sauers added.
Given customer growth, Schwartz said it was not surprising that average revenue per monthly active user fell 14% to $317.In Latin America, that metric rose 51% to $54, driven by rapid growth in Mexico, where player values are higher, and the removal of a value-added tax in Colombia.
Where are new BetRivers customers coming from?
The marketing team continues to optimize where those dollars go and is finding success across multiple channels, Schwartz said.
Part of that growth is tied to increasing brand awareness for BetRivers, he added.
“I think one of the benefits for us, even though we’re growing much faster than the industry is, there’s a lot of players who still don’t know who BetRivers is in North America,” Schwartz said. “So there’s a lot of opportunity for us to go after players who maybe haven’t played iCasino before, but also played with some of our competitors and give them a shot to play on one of the best platforms, if not the best platform that’s out there.”
Customer growth was 60% in North American markets with online casino, Sauers said.
Virginia a ‘real opportunity’
Rush Street hopes to add online casino to its land-based casino and online sports betting offering in Virginia, Schwartz said. Virginia online casinos passed both chambers earlier this year, but a final bill failed to make it out of its conference committee.
“We view Virginia as a real opportunity,” Schwartz said. “It’s encouraging the legislation progressed as far as it did this year, with versions passing both the Senate and the House. And so it’s a market that we have been working with collaborating with our peers. And it seems like a really exciting opportunity potentially for us in the next year.”
Virginia is “not dissimilar in size” from Michigan, Sauers added.
“That’s a market where we started off with mid-single-digit share, and we’ve grown it to high single-digit share over time,” Sauers said. “And we did that without a lot of brand awareness or any brand awareness when we launched and no access to a strong database of players.
“We’d have some real advantages in Virginia that we haven’t had in a lot of other markets. So it’s very exciting for us as that moves along.”
