Sabre Raises 2026 EBITDA and Cash-Flow Guidance Again

The Tip Desk · November 11, 2026 · 3 min read

Third-quarter revenue was $738 million as Normalized Adjusted EBITDA reached $170 million, and full-year Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA guidance moved to about $610 million.

Sabre Corporation (SABR), the travel-technology company, reported third-quarter revenue of $738 million, up 3% from a year earlier, and raised full-year 2026 Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow guidance for the second consecutive quarter.

The company said third-quarter revenue growth was in line with guidance and that it exceeded third-quarter Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA guidance. Full-year 2026 Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA is now about $610 million, up 14% year-on-year, and Free Cash Flow guidance is about negative $50 million. Full-year revenue and air marketplace bookings guidance remained low-to-mid-single-digit growth.

Normalized Adjusted EBITDA was $170 million, up 13% from $150 million in the third quarter of 2025. That was the fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit Normalized Adjusted EBITDA growth, after 19% growth in the second quarter and 21% in the first. Adjusted EBITDA was $164 million, up 16%. Normalized Adjusted EBITDA margin was 23.0%, versus 21.0% a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 22.2%, versus 19.7%.

Operating income was $109 million, up 17% from $94 million a year earlier, and operating margin was 14.8%, versus 13.1%. The company attributed the operating-income increase to higher revenue and a decrease in indirect taxes, partially offset by higher incentives, technology costs tied to higher transaction volumes, and higher labor and professional services costs after a reduction in variable-based compensation in the prior year.

Marketplace revenue was $594 million, up 3%, after 6% growth in the second quarter and 9% in the first. Transaction-based revenue rose $14 million, primarily from favorable rate impacts, and product-based revenue rose $5 million. Total Marketplace bookings, net of cancellations, were 95 million, roughly flat versus the third quarter of 2025, after a 1% increase in the second quarter and a 5% increase in the first. Average booking fee was $6.24, up about 3%. Hotel-related revenue grew 14%, after 11% growth in the second quarter.

Airline Technology revenue was $144 million, up 3%, reversing a 4% year-on-year decline in the second quarter. The company said the increase was driven primarily by a $2 million volume contribution and a $3 million increase in other revenue. Sabre also said it secured Kenya Airways as a new Airline Technology customer to modernize core reservations and retailing and advance offer-and-order retailing.

Net loss attributable to common stockholders was $25 million, versus income of $849 million a year earlier. The company said the swing was primarily driven by a decrease in income from discontinued operations related to the July 2025 sale of Hospitality Solutions and a loss from continuing operations of $26 million, versus income of $48 million a year earlier. Loss from continuing operations was attributed to a decrease in the income-tax benefit, an increase in other, net, and higher interest expense, net, partially offset by the operating-income increase.

Free Cash Flow was negative $48 million, compared with $13 million a year earlier. Cash used in operating activities was $25 million, versus $34 million provided a year earlier. The company said third-quarter cash from operations and Free Cash Flow included about $15 million of refinancing fees and $40 million of accrued interest associated with a third-quarter debt refinancing, and that excluding those payments Free Cash Flow would have been positive. Capitalized expenditures were $23 million.

Sabre completed the refinancing at a lower interest rate and extended certain maturities to 2032, with no large maturities until the third quarter of 2029. Cash at quarter-end was $688 million, of which $78 million was restricted for fourth-quarter debt payments associated with the refinancing. Net debt was $4.03 billion.

President and CEO Kurt Ekert said the company is confident in its ability to achieve the increased full-year 2026 guidance and expects to generate positive free cash flow in 2027. Sabre will host an investor day on November 17, 2026.