Sabre Corporation

What they do

Sabre connects travel suppliers such as airlines, hotels, car rental brands, rail carriers, cruise lines and tour operators with travel buyers including online travel agencies, offline agencies, travel management companies and corporate travel departments. It earns transaction-based fees on bookings through its marketplace and sells software-as-a-service and hosted products to airlines, including reservation systems and the SabreMosaic Airline Technology retailing platform launched in 2024. The company is based in Southlake, Texas.

Revenue drivers

• Marketplace (formerly Distribution) — Revenue comes from transaction fees on bookings, plus product revenue from agency solutions like payments and media. In Q2 2026 Marketplace revenue rose 6% to $577 million, the large majority of total company revenue, on 92 million bookings and a $6.30 average booking fee.
• Airline Technology (formerly IT Solutions) — Revenue comes from recurring usage-based SaaS and hosted systems, upfront fees and professional services for airlines. In Q2 2026 this was $135 million, down 4% year over year, driven by lower license and other revenue.
• Hotel-related revenue — The company reported hotel-related revenue grew 11% in Q2 2026 even after the 2025 sale of the Hospitality Solutions software business to a TPG affiliate.

Recent performance

Q2 2026 revenue was $712 million, up 4% from $687 million a year earlier, with Marketplace up 6% to $577 million and Airline Technology down 4% to $135 million. Operating income was $93 million versus $89 million, and Normalized Adjusted EBITDA was $151 million, up 19% from $127 million. The company reported a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $36 million, an improvement from a $256 million loss a year earlier. Free cash flow was $10 million, and the quarter ended with a cash balance of $697 million. Management said results exceeded guidance despite Middle East conflict and higher fuel prices affecting travel demand.

Strategy

Management states two priorities: driving growth through innovation and generating positive free cash flow while delevering the balance sheet. It is promoting adoption of additional products, integrating new distribution capability (NDC), adding content and expanding into adjacent travel areas. An inflation-offset program started in the fourth quarter of 2025 targets keeping technology and SG&A costs roughly flat versus 2025 over two to three years. The Hospitality Solutions sale closed July 3, 2025, generating net cash proceeds of $969 million, used primarily to repay debt.

Risks

• Travel volume dependence — Revenue is largely tied to air travel transaction volumes and is generally not contractually recurring, so declines or disruptions in leisure and business travel can directly reduce revenue.
• Leveling air distribution growth — Management notes recent industry air distribution volume growth has generally leveled off, which could limit the company's rate of growth.
• Airline de-migrations — Passengers boarded for IT solutions were negatively impacted by carriers that de-migrated prior to 2024, though revenue leveled off in the second half of 2025 after the anniversary of the impact.
• Leverage and negative equity — At June 30, 2026 the company had $4.06 billion of long-term debt, $676 million of cash, and shareholder equity of negative $1.06 billion, with about $248 million of principal due or committed to be redeemed early under current debt facilities.

Outlook

Management reaffirmed full-year 2026 guidance for revenue and air distribution bookings growth while raising guidance for Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow, citing first-half performance and the balance of the year. The company expects to keep technology and SG&A costs relatively flat versus 2025 through the inflation-offset program, which runs through 2027 and is expected to cost approximately $65 million in total. Management believes resources are sufficient to fund liquidity requirements for at least the next twelve months, including the roughly $248 million of debt principal due or committed to be redeemed early, but will monitor liquidity given the uncertain economic environment.