Revenue growth has steadily reaccelerated to 10.3% in 2026Q3 while gross margin stayed within a narrow 29.9% to 33.4% band, but operating margin of 7.9% and net margin of 5.7% show limited operating leverage as SG&A climbed to $61.0M.
Accel Entertainment, Inc. (ACEL) annual income statement — 9-year revenue, gross profit & net income history
| Metric | TTM | Dec'25 | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 | Dec'21 | Dec'20 | Dec'19 | Dec'18 | Dec'17 |
|---|
| Sales/Revenue | 1.42B | 1.33B | 1.23B | 1.17B | 969.8M | 734.71M | 316.35M | 428.7M | 335.08M | 248.44M |
| Revenue Growth % | 9% | 8.12% | 5.17% | 20.69% | 32% | 132.24% | -26.21% | 27.94% | 34.88% | - |
| Cost of Goods Sold | 971.22M | 908.12M | 859.47M | 817.2M | 670.9M | 494.03M | 211.09M | 282.01M | 217.46M | 157.01M |
| COGS % of Revenue | - | 68.23% | 69.82% | 69.82% | 69.18% | 67.24% | 66.72% | 65.78% | 64.9% | 63.2% |
| Gross Profit | 453.46M | 422.84M | 371.5M | 353.23M | 298.9M | 240.68M | 105.27M | 146.69M | 117.62M | 91.42M |
| Gross Margin % | 31.83% | 31.77% | 30.18% | 30.18% | 30.82% | 32.76% | 33.27% | 34.22% | 35.1% | 36.8% |
| Gross Profit Growth % | - | 13.82% | 5.17% | 18.18% | 24.19% | 128.64% | -28.24% | 24.71% | 28.66% | - |
| Operating Expenses | 335.87M | 314.99M | 280.62M | 245.82M | 202.04M | 170.48M | 129.94M | 133.35M | 92.75M | 73.25M |
| OpEx % of Revenue | - | 23.67% | 22.8% | 21% | 20.83% | 23.2% | 41.08% | 31.11% | 27.68% | 29.49% |
| Selling, General & Admin | 234.41M | 219.34M | 194.72M | 178.85M | 145.94M | 110.82M | 77.42M | 69.03M | 53.99M | 376.37K |
| SG&A % of Revenue | - | 16.48% | 15.82% | 15.28% | 15.05% | 15.08% | 24.47% | 16.1% | 16.11% | 0.15% |
| Research & Development | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R&D % of Revenue | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Operating Expenses | 4M | 95.65M | 85.89M | 66.97M | 56.1M | 59.66M | 52.52M | 64.32M | 38.76M | 72.88M |
| Operating Income | 117.6M | 108.65M | 90.88M | 107.41M | 96.86M | 70.19M | -24.68M | 13.34M | 24.87M | 18.17M |
| Operating Margin % | 8.25% | 8.16% | 7.38% | 9.18% | 9.99% | 9.55% | -7.8% | 3.11% | 7.42% | 7.31% |
| Operating Income Growth % | - | 19.55% | -15.38% | 10.89% | 37.99% | 384.42% | -285.06% | -46.38% | 36.87% | - |
| EBITDA | 200.38M | 186.8M | 157.44M | 166.52M | 143.63M | 116.87M | 18.9M | 57.71M | 60.33M | 41.43M |
| EBITDA Margin % | 14.07% | 14.04% | 12.79% | 14.23% | 14.81% | 15.91% | 5.97% | 13.46% | 18.01% | 16.68% |
| EBITDA Growth % | 15.01% | 18.65% | -5.46% | 15.94% | 22.9% | 518.41% | -67.25% | -4.35% | 45.62% | - |
| D&A (Non-Cash Add-back) | 82.79M | 78.15M | 66.56M | 59.12M | 46.78M | 46.68M | 43.58M | 44.37M | 35.46M | 23.26M |
| EBIT | 131.49M | 109.07M | 89.62M | 98.87M | 116.4M | 59.28M | -3.62M | 2.36M | 24.87M | 18.86M |
| Net Interest Income | -33.01M | -30.24M | -35.89M | -33.14M | -21.64M | -12.7M | -13.71M | -12.86M | -9.64M | 0 |
| Interest Income | 2M | 6.9M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Interest Expense | 35.01M | 37.14M | 35.89M | 33.14M | 21.64M | 12.7M | 13.71M | 12.86M | 9.64M | 0 |
| Other Income/Expense | -31.19M | -36.72M | -37.16M | -41.68M | -2.09M | -23.62M | 7.35M | -44.9M | -9.64M | -8.11M |
| Pretax Income | 86.41M | 71.93M | 53.73M | 65.72M | 94.76M | 46.58M | -17.33M | -31.57M | 15.22M | 10.06M |
| Pretax Margin % | 6.07% | 5.4% | 4.36% | 5.62% | 9.77% | 6.34% | -5.48% | -7.36% | 4.54% | 4.05% |
| Income Tax | 22.54M | 20.66M | 18.44M | 20.12M | 20.66M | 15.02M | -16.92M | 5.2M | 4.42M | 1.75M |
| Effective Tax Rate % | 26.09% | 28.72% | 34.32% | 30.61% | 21.8% | 32.24% | 97.63% | -16.47% | 29.04% | 17.43% |
| Net Income | 63.89M | 51.47M | 35.25M | 45.6M | 74.1M | 31.56M | -410K | -36.76M | 10.8M | -376.37K |
| Net Margin % | 4.48% | 3.87% | 2.86% | 3.9% | 7.64% | 4.3% | -0.13% | -8.58% | 3.22% | -0.15% |
| Net Income Growth % | 46.3% | 46.01% | -22.7% | -38.46% | 134.8% | 7797.32% | 98.88% | -440.31% | 2970.3% | - |
| Net Income (Continuing) | 63.88M | 51.27M | 35.29M | 45.6M | 74.1M | 31.56M | -410K | -36.76M | 10.8M | 8.31M |
| Discontinued Operations | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Minority Interest | 4.11M | 4.08M | 4.28M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| EPS (Diluted) | 0.77 | 0.60 | 0.41 | 0.53 | 0.81 | 0.33 | -0.00 | -0.25 | 0.17 | -0.01 |
| EPS Growth % | 48.41% | 46.34% | -22.64% | -34.57% | 145.45% | - | 98.04% | -247.06% | 1766.67% | - |
| EPS (Basic) | - | 0.61 | 0.42 | 0.53 | 0.82 | 0.34 | -0.00 | -0.25 | 0.19 | -0.01 |
| Diluted Shares Outstanding | 83.4M | 86.37M | 84.98M | 86.8M | 91.23M | 94.64M | 83.05M | 61.85M | 62.18M | 37.04M |
| Basic Shares Outstanding | 81.94M | 85.02M | 83.75M | 85.95M | 90.63M | 93.78M | 83.05M | 61.85M | 57.62M | 37.04M |
| Dividend Payout Ratio | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying ACEL stock.
For fiscal year 2025, Accel Entertainment, Inc. (ACEL) reported total revenue of $1.33B. This represents a 435.7% increase compared to $248.4M in 2017.
Accel Entertainment, Inc. (ACEL) is profitable, generating $51.5M in net income for the fiscal year ending 2025 with a net profit margin of 3.9%.
Accel Entertainment, Inc. (ACEL) reported an operating income of $108.7M, resulting in an operating profit margin of 8.2%. This margin reflects the operational efficiency of the business before interest and taxes.
Accel Entertainment, Inc. (ACEL) generated $422.8M in gross profit for the year, representing a gross profit margin of 31.8%. This demonstrates the company's core pricing power and production efficiency.
Key Metrics
Top Statement Risk
Illinois Regulatory and Tax Concentration
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
Mid-Single-Digit Growth Reaccelerating Recently
Based on reported quarterly figures, ACEL's revenue grew about 10.3% year over year to $363.6M in 2026Q3, up from roughly 5% in mid-2024, suggesting the top line has steadily reaccelerated over the last eight quarters.
The sequence from 5.1% growth in 2024Q3 to 10.3% in 2026Q3 points to a broadening of the business rather than a single-quarter spike, which may reflect acquisitions and new state entries layered onto the Illinois base. Because the reported data does not separate organic from acquired revenue, investors should treat the acceleration as only partly attributable to underlying route-level demand. Sustaining double-digit growth would likely require continued M&A or license expansion, which warrants monitoring given the company's concentrated exposure.
Gross Margin Anchored by Revenue Sharing
As reported in financial statements, ACEL's gross margin has held in a narrow 29.9% to 33.4% band across ten quarters, with the 2025Q4 peak of 33.4% appearing as an outlier rather than a trend shift.
The stability of gross margin suggests the statutory and venue revenue-sharing structure sets a fairly fixed cost ceiling, limiting pricing power as a lever. The relatively tight range implies that margin expansion depends more on changes to tax splits or contract terms than on operational improvement. Investors should monitor whether the quarter-to-quarter variation reflects mix shifts between gaming and amusement rather than durable economics.
Operating Leverage Largely Muted Recently
Based on reported figures, operating margin moved from 7.2% in 2024Q3 to 7.9% in 2026Q3, while SG&A rose from $47.9M to $61.0M, indicating SG&A growth has absorbed much of the gross profit expansion.
SG&A growing roughly in line with gross profit limits the degree to which incremental revenue is converting into operating income. This pattern suggests route and administrative costs scale nearly proportionally with the footprint, which is consistent with a distributed model but reduces the upside from growth. Investors should watch whether operating margin can break meaningfully above the 8% to 9% range seen in several quarters.
Net Income Volatility Obscures Earnings Trend
According to recent SEC filings, ACEL's diluted EPS swung between $0.06 and $0.25 over the period, with net margin ranging from 1.6% to 5.7%, making reported earnings considerably less stable than revenue.
The gap between operating income and net income in several quarters, such as 2026Q2 where operating income of $32.1M converted to only $12.5M in net income, suggests interest, amortization, or tax items are material. Amortization of route contracts and acquisition-related charges may depress reported earnings relative to cash generation, though the data provided does not isolate these items. Investors should reconcile net income to operating cash flow before drawing conclusions about underlying profitability.
Concentration and Cannibalization Risks Persist
Based on reported figures, ACEL's growth has depended on acquisitions and an Illinois base, and management commentary offers no explicit forward guidance, leaving the sustainability of the 10% growth rate open to question.
If Illinois terminal limits expand or hold per day plateaus, incremental revenue could dilute per-machine economics and compress margins, a scenario the reported figures cannot rule out. Expansion into Nebraska and Georgia may carry higher acquisition costs and lower early returns, which the income statement would not yet reveal. The absence of EPS confirmation against consensus and of guidance increases the uncertainty around whether recent profitability is repeatable.