SeaWorld shares moved higher during Friday's session on better-than-expected first quarter results, despite declining traffic.

Disney is planning a phased reopening, beginning with Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom on July 11, and its Hollywood Studios theme park on July 15.

Shares of SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. said 5.0% in premarket trading Friday, after the theme park operator reported a wider-than-expected loss and revenue that fell more than forecast, as park closures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a one million guest drop in attendance. The net loss widened to $56.5 million, or 72 cents a share, from $37.0 million, or 44 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The FactSet consensus for losses per share was 69 cents. Revenue dropped 30.4% to $153.6 million, below the FactSet consensus of $170.1 million, as attendance declined 30.6% to 2.32 million to miss expectations of 2.9 million. Meanwhile, total revenue per capita increased 0.3% to $66.25, above expectations of $66.10, as 1.2% growth in admission per capita offset a 0.9% decline in in-park per capita spending. The company said it had just over $400 million of cash and cash equivalents at its disposal, and estimates its net cash burn is between $20 million to $25 million per month while its parks remain closed. The company's debt leverage ratio as of March 31 was 3.89 to 1.00, compared with 3.24 to 1.00 as of Dec. 31. The stock has plunged 57.9% over the past three months through Thursday, while the S&P 500 has declined 13.4%.

Universal Orlando will be the first major theme-park operator to present plans to reopen in Florida on Thursday, but Disney World and SeaWorld Orlando should follow soon.

Q1 2020 SeaWorld Entertainment Inc Earnings Call

Comcast offers up a lot of info on its now shuttered theme parks business, just before Disney and SeaWorld post fresh financials in the new trading week.

SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: SEAS) (the "Company"), a leading theme park and entertainment company, today announced that SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Inc. (the "Issuer"), a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, has closed its private offering of $227.5 million aggregate principal amount of first-priority senior secured notes due 2025.

Although investors have become increasingly bullish on amusement park owners of late, medical news was probably behind the current advance.

(Bloomberg) -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis asked theme parks to submit plans to the state on how to safely reopen, boosting the shares of Walt Disney Co. and SeaWorld Entertainment Inc.Speaking Friday in Jacksonville, DeSantis said park operators should identify a date for reopening and provide details on how they’ll protect guests and staff from Covid-19. Before submitting plans to the state, DeSantis said they must be endorsed by a local official such as a mayor.Orlando is the theme-park capital of the world, with multiple resorts operated by Disney, Comcast Corp.’s Universal Studios and SeaWorld. Nationally, all three companies, and smaller players like Cedar Fair LP and Six Flags Entertainment Corp., were shut down by the Covid-19 outbreak and are facing a summer of reduced traffic and closure in some places.“My goal on all of this is, let’s keep safety first, but let’s work and innovate to get to yes on this stuff,” DeSantis told reporters. “I can’t tell you when this is going to be. But I think that we need to say, ‘Come up with your plan and show us what you got.’”Shares of SeaWorld surged 7.6% to $13.80 at the close in New York, while Disney rose 3% to $109.05 and Cedar Fair gained 2.4% to $25.10.Orange County, Florida, Mayor Jerry Demings -- whose jurisdiction includes Orlando -- said in a press conference Friday afternoon that he’s had conversations with the theme-park operators, but hasn’t received plans from them to reopen. The mayor said it would likely be June or later before they open.“Suffice it to say they’re looking at later dates to reopen, and I believe that what we can expect or anticipate in our community is a measured reopening,” Demings said. “They will likely start with smaller business units, maybe hotels and resort-type areas, before the major massive theme parks themselves will reopen. But in either case clearly that is going to be sometime in June or thereafter.”Florida RestartsDeSantis made his remarks as part of a broader announcement about reopening the state’s economy. Beginning Monday, DeSantis will allow gyms to reopen. Retailers and restaurants can operate at 50% indoor capacity, up from a previous 25%.Businesses began reopening last week, with the governor saying the local health-care system had held up and the Sunshine State dodged worst-case scenarios predicted by some analysts. He said Friday that ventilator use and Covid-19 patients in intensive-care units have both declined significantly since the start of Florida’s stay-home order on April 3.“The American people never signed up for a perpetual shelter in place,” DeSantis said.(Updates with Orange County mayor’s comments in fifth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

On the surface, Thursday seemed like any other session when profit-taking strikes. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq took well-deserved breathers, declining 0.61% and 1.09%, respectively. But if you look closer, you'll see an important theme. While leaders lagged, laggards led. Instead of indiscriminate selling taking everything lower, we saw rotation out of large-caps and into small-cap stocks.This is a bullish omen signaling a broadening of the market recovery. Small-cap stocks have long underperformed. They were hit hardest during March's massacre, ultimately falling 44%. And, they've been the slowest to rise. But not this week! Wall Street's go-to fund for tracking the little guys, the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM), is up 7.3% so far on the week. By comparison, the S&P 500 is only up 3%. That's a substantial discrepancy. * 7 Dow Jones Stocks to Buy With Fortress-Like Balance Sheets While some small-caps have yet to crawl out of the dumpster, others are finally breaching resistance and turning their daily trends higher. Here are three of my favorite.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips * Bed Bath and Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) * Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY) * SeaWorld Entertainment (NYSE:SEAS)Let's take a closer look at the price levels to watch and how to trade these small-cap stocks moving forward. Small-Cap Stocks to Trade: Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY)Source: The thinkorswim® platform from TD Ameritrade Brick and mortar retailers have been under siege from Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) for years now. Bed Bath and Beyond is a shell of its former self, and the wholesale destruction of its once lofty share price has been hard to watch. The global pandemic only accelerated the downward spiral, ultimately driving BBBY stock to $3.43 before sellers were sated.Since then, however, we've seen a constructive bottoming formation put in. And, it's compelling enough to warrant bullish trade ideas. The price action has taken on the form of both a cup-and-handle and an ascending triangle. Volume patterns have weighed in favor of buyers for the past month. Thursday's 14% moonshot saw over 20 million shares traded, suggesting big buyers were wading in. BBBY stock has now double off the lows and looks primed to take out overhead resistance at $7.If it does, a run to $10 could be in the cards. In case the breakout bid fails, I'd stop out on a push below support at $5.78. Tilray (TLRY)Source: The thinkorswim® platform from TD Ameritrade Pot stocks littered the leaderboard yesterday. Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB) and Cronos Group (NASDAQ:CRON) joined Tilray as the market's biggest gainers. But it's TLRY stock that looks the most attractive. ACB has run too far, and I find the daily 30% moves to be a little too insane for my taste. Meanwhile, Cronos stock is fast approaching multiple resistance zones, so it lacks a low-risk path to profits.But Tilray? It looks good for a trade. Thursday's 20% ramp ushered it to the doorstep of an upside breakout over $10. The last two attempts to breach this level were rejected, but I think this time we'll succeed. The market seems to be favoring small-cap stocks right now, and I like the monster volume accompanying the rally.The chart shows clean air from $10 to $15. There aren't any prior pivots or congestion zones to get in the way of further gains. * 7 Top-Rated Biotech Stocks to Buy on the Hunt for a Vaccine Buy TLRY stock over Thursday's high and place your stop below the 20-day moving average ($7.85). Use $15 as your target. SeaWorld (SEAS)Source: The thinkorswim® platform from TD Ameritrade SeaWorld Entertainment saw its share price utterly destroyed this year for all the reasons you would expect during a pandemic that kept parks shuttered. From peak-to-trough, SEAS stock declined 82%. It honestly looked like it was going to zero. But cooler heads have prevailed over the past two months, and bottom fishers have begun casting lines. The last earnings report was abysmal, but buyers are looking past the large loss to a brighter future where economies reopen, and consumers start taking their kids to hang with Shamu again.On the charting front, SEAS boasts a large ascending triangle pattern that is breaking out this week. Given the speed of March's descent, there isn't any resistance until $21 and then $23. Those are the first two upside targets. A push below the 20-day moving average near $14.40 would invalidate the breakout in SEAS stock, so consider putting your stop loss there.For a free trial to the best trading community on the planet and Tyler's current home, click here! As of this writing, Tyler didn't hold positions in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner * America's Richest ZIP Code Holds Shocking Secret * 1 Under-the-Radar 5G Stock to Buy Now * The 1 Stock All Retirees Must Own The post 3 Small-Cap Stocks to Trade as They Rise From the Ashes appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Six Flags is requiring online reservations. Cedar Point is selling two years of access for the price of one. Disney, SeaWorld, and Universal are bracing for dramatically lower capacity levels to satisfy social distancing.

Theme parks, including Walt Disney World, are finally taking steps toward reopening after staying closed for weeks

Joining me this morning are Marc Swanson, interim chief executive officer; and Elizabeth Gulacsy, chief accounting officer and interim chief financial officer and treasurer. This morning, we will review our first-quarter financial results, and then we will open up the call to your questions. Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that our comments today will contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws.

Universal Orlando wants to reopen to day guests in two weeks. Don't expect Mickey Mouse to be as aggressive.

Optimism for a COVID-19 vaccine helps, but early outcomes of reopening efforts by Disney and Universal may matter a lot more.

SeaWorld (SEAS) doesn't possess the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely earnings beat in its upcoming report. Get prepared with the key expectations.

Central Florida theme park operators can start submitting their reopening plans, but it's not as easy as it seems.

Amusement parks got a shot in the arm as investors started to think about a future beyond the COVID-19 shutdown.

Shares of SeaWorld Entertainment (NYSE:SEAS) fell 1.6% in pre-market trading after the company reported Q1 results.Quarterly Results Earnings per share decreased 75.61% over the past year to ($0.72), which missed the estimate of ($0.67).Revenue of $153,561,000 less by 30.38% year over year, which missed the estimate of $174,380,000.Looking Ahead Earnings guidance hasn't been issued by the company for now.SeaWorld Entertainment hasn't issued any revenue guidance for the time being.Details Of The Call Date: May 08, 2020View more earnings on SEASWebcast URL: https://78449.choruscall.com/dataconf/productusers/seas/mediaframe/37681/indexr.htmlTechnicals Company's 52-week high was at $36.9652-week low: $6.75Price action over last quarter: down 48.27%Company Description SeaWorld Entertainment Inc operates in the United States leisure industry. Its core business is the operation of theme parks and such entertainment facilities involving sea animals across the country under prominent brands such as SeaWorld, Sea Rescue and Busch Gardens. Seaworld also operates a reservations-only attraction offering interaction with marine animals known as Discovery Cove and a seasonal park under the name Sesame Place. The company generates most of its revenue from selling admission to the theme parks.See more from Benzinga * Recap: Tecnoglass Q1 Earnings * Recap: Bloomin Brands Q1 Earnings * Orthofix Medical: Q1 Earnings Insights(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

SeaWorld (SEAS) delivered earnings and revenue surprises of 26.53% and 1.96%, respectively, for the quarter ended March 2020. Do the numbers hold clues to what lies ahead for the stock?