Upbound Group, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2026 Results

Key Terms

adjusted ebitda financial

Adjusted EBITDA is a way companies measure how much money they make from their core operations, like running a business, by removing certain costs or income that aren’t part of regular business activities. It helps investors see how well a company is doing without distractions from unusual expenses or gains, making it easier to compare companies or track performance over time.

non-gaap diluted eps financial

Non-GAAP diluted EPS (Earnings Per Share) is a measure of a company's profit allocated to each share of stock, calculated using adjusted earnings that exclude certain items like one-time expenses or gains. It provides a view of ongoing performance by removing irregular or non-recurring factors. Investors use it to better understand the company's core profitability and compare performance across different periods or companies.

same store sales financial

Same store sales measure the change in revenue generated by stores that have been open for at least a year, comparing current sales to past periods. It helps investors see how well a business is growing from its existing locations, without the influence of new store openings or closures. This metric provides a clearer picture of ongoing performance and customer demand.

lease charge-off rate financial

The lease charge-off rate is the percentage of leased accounts a lender or lessor has written off as uncollectible during a given period, effectively the portion of lease payments they no longer expect to receive. Investors watch this metric as a quick snapshot of credit losses and the health of a leasing portfolio—rising charge-off rates are like more holes in a bucket, signaling higher losses, pressure on profits and potential need for bigger reserves.

arpu financial

ARPU, or Average Revenue Per User, measures how much money a company earns, on average, from each of its customers over a set period. It helps investors understand how effectively a business is generating income from its customer base, similar to calculating how much each customer spends at a store. Higher ARPU often indicates stronger sales per customer and better revenue performance.

basis points financial

Basis points are a way to measure small changes in interest rates or percentages, where one basis point equals 0.01%. For example, if a loan's interest rate increases by 50 basis points, it's gone up by 0.50%. They help people understand tiny differences in rates that can add up over time, making financial comparisons clearer.

PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Upbound Group, Inc. (the "Company" or "Upbound") (NASDAQ:UPBD) today announced results for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. The earnings release, financial tables and related materials can be found on the Company's investor relations website at https://investor.upbound.com.

Today at 9 a.m. ET, Fahmi Karam, Chief Executive Officer, and Hal Khouri, Chief Financial Officer, will host a conference call to review the Company’s financial results. Interested parties can access a live webcast of the conference call via this link (Webcast Link) or through the Company's investor relations website.

First Quarter 2026 Highlights¹

• Continued Topline Growth: Consolidated revenue increased 3.7% year-over-year to $1.2 billion.
• Brigit Demonstrates Ongoing Expansion: Brigit revenue increased more than 40% year-over-year, supported by double-digit growth in paying subscribers² and ARPU³.
• Acima Shows Disciplined Execution: Acima revenue increased approximately 1.8% year-over-year to $649 million, while lease charge-off rate⁴ improved to 8.8%, down 130 basis points sequentially.
• Rent-A-Center Progress Continues: Rent-A-Center same store sales⁵ grew 0.4% year-over-year, alongside a 20 basis point sequential improvement in lease charge-off rate.
• Robust Cash Flow Generation: The Company reported $171 million of net cash provided by operating activities, an increase of $23 million year-over-year.
• 2026 Outlook Reaffirmed: For fiscal year 2026, the Company reaffirms its expectation for consolidated revenue of between $4.70 billion and $4.95 billion, Adjusted EBITDA⁶ of between $500 million and $535 million, and non-GAAP diluted EPS⁶ of between $4.00 and $4.35. For the second quarter of 2026, the Company expects consolidated revenue of between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion, Adjusted EBITDA⁶ of between $120 million and $130 million, and non-GAAP diluted EPS⁶ of between $1.00 and $1.10.

About Upbound Group, Inc.

Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: UPBD), is a technology and data-driven leader in accessible and inclusive financial solutions that address the evolving needs and aspirations of underserved consumers. The Company’s customer-facing operating units include industry-leading brands such as Acima^®, Brigit™, and Rent-A-Center^® that facilitate consumer transactions across a wide range of store-based and digital channels in the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Upbound Group, Inc. is headquartered in Plano, Texas. For additional information about the Company, please visit our website Upbound.com.

(1)		The selected highlights referenced herein do not provide a complete review of the Company’s results for the quarter or updated guidance and outlook. Please refer to the Company’s full earnings release and related materials, as noted in this release, for additional information.
(2)		Brigit Paying Subscribers: Represents Brigit customers who have an active Plus or Premium account, not delinquent (not 45 days past due) on a cash advance, and made at least 1 of the last 2 subscription payments.
(3)		ARPU: Average monthly revenue per Brigit Paying Subscriber, where Brigit Paying Subscriber is defined in footnote 2 above.
(4)		Lease Charge-Offs: Represents charge-offs of the net book value of unrecoverable on-rent merchandise with lease-to-own customers who are past due. This is typically expressed as a percentage of revenues for the applicable period. For the Rent-A-Center segment, LCOs exclude Get It Now, Home Choice, and Franchisee-owned Rent-A-Center locations.
(5)		Same Store Sales (SSS): Same store sales generally represents revenue earned in Company-owned Rent-A-Center stores that were operated by us for 13 months or more and are reported on a constant currency basis as a percentage of total revenue earned in stores of the segment during the indicated period. The Company excludes from the same store sales base any store that receives a certain level of customer accounts from closed stores or acquisitions. The receiving store will be eligible for inclusion in the same store sales base in the 30th full month following account transfer.
(6)		See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below for the definitions and other information regarding our non-GAAP financial measures included in this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, among others, statements regarding our 2026 financial guidance and other statements regarding our future outlook and other non-historical items. Such forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "could," "estimate," "predict," "continue," “maintain,” "should," "anticipate," "believe," or “confident,” or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. Such forward-looking statements are based on particular assumptions that our management has made in light of its experience and its perception of expected future developments and other factors that it believes are appropriate under the circumstances, and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause or contribute to material and adverse differences between actual and anticipated results include, but are not limited to, (1) the general strength of the economy and other economic conditions affecting consumer preferences, spending and payment behaviors, including the availability of credit to the Company's target consumers and to other consumers, impacts from continued inflation, central bank monetary policy initiatives to address inflation concerns and a possible recession or slowdown in economic growth, (2) risks described in our full first quarter 2026 earnings release and related materials, and (3) the other risks detailed from time to time in the reports filed by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, as well as subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. Except as required by law, we are not obligated to, and do not undertake to, publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect any events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This release contains certain financial information determined by methods other than in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), including (1) Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share (net earnings or loss, as adjusted for special items (as defined below), net of taxes, divided by the number of shares of our common stock on a fully diluted basis) and (2) Adjusted EBITDA (net earnings before interest, taxes, stock-based compensation, depreciation and amortization, as adjusted for special items) on a consolidated basis. “Special items” refers to certain gains and charges we view as extraordinary, unusual or non-recurring in nature or which we believe do not reflect our core business activities, and, for historical items, are reported as Other Gains and Charges in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. Because of the inherent uncertainty related to these special items, management does not believe it is able to provide a meaningful forecast of the comparable GAAP measures or reconciliation to forecasted non-GAAP measures without unreasonable effort.

These non-GAAP measures are additional tools intended to assist our management in comparing our performance on a more consistent basis for purposes of business decision-making by removing the impact of certain items management believes do not directly reflect our core operations. These measures are intended to assist management in evaluating operating performance and liquidity, comparing performance and liquidity across periods, planning and forecasting future business operations, helping determine levels of operating and capital investments and identifying and assessing additional trends potentially impacting our Company that may not be shown solely by comparisons of GAAP measures. Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA is also used as part of our incentive compensation program for our executive officers and others.

We believe these non-GAAP financial measures also provide supplemental information that is useful to investors, analysts and other external users of our consolidated financial statements in understanding our financial results and evaluating our performance and liquidity from period to period. However, non-GAAP financial measures have inherent limitations and are not substitutes for, or superior to, GAAP financial measures, and they should be read together with our consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Further, because non-GAAP financial measures are not standardized, it may not be possible to compare such measures to the non-GAAP financial measures presented by other companies, even if they have the same or similar names.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260430347950/en/

Upbound Investor Relations:
investor.relations@upbound.com
972-801-1103

Source: Upbound Group, Inc.