KEY TAKEAWAYS
The Short Answer
Light & Wonder, Inc. makes money by supplying games, gaming machines and systems to licensed casinos, by placing machines under recurring revenue arrangements, and by running two digital businesses: a social casino operation, SciPlay, and an iGaming content and platform business. In fiscal 2025 the company reported consolidated revenue of $3,314 million, of which the Gaming segment contributed $2,183 million, SciPlay $794 million and iGaming $337 million.
This analysis reads the company’s February 24, 2026 results release for the year ended December 31, 2025 and its annual report on Form 10-K. It shows how the revenue splits across lines of business, how much comes from recurring sources and what the margins and one-off items imply. The company is analyzed as a supplier, a business that sells to operators rather than to the public, using its own definitions. Figures are as of the filing dates, and nothing here is investment advice.
Three Businesses Under One Company
According to its annual report, Light & Wonder is a cross-platform global games company. Its activities include supplying game content, gaming machines, casino management systems and table game products to licensed gaming entities, electronic pull-tabs and related services to charitable gaming entities, social casino and other online games to retail customers, and digital content, distribution platforms and player account management systems for iGaming. It reports three segments: Gaming, SciPlay and iGaming.
The segments earn money in different ways. Gaming sells machines and systems, earns recurring fees on machines placed in casinos under operations arrangements, and sells table products. SciPlay earns from players of its social casino games, either through third-party app platforms or through its own direct-to-consumer (DTC) platforms. iGaming provides content and technology to licensed online operators. For the general model behind these choices, see our explainer on how gaming suppliers make money.
The company also defines recurring revenue in its release: it includes gaming operations (inclusive of Grover, an electronic pull-tab business acquired in May 2025), ongoing gaming systems maintenance, table service and rental agreements, SciPlay and iGaming. That definition is the company’s own, so it should not be compared with other suppliers’ labels without checking theirs. Because Light & Wonder sells to casinos and online operators, its results depend on the markets those customers serve, and the risk factors in its release cite slow growth of new gaming jurisdictions and declines in the replacement cycle of gaming machines.
The Numbers: Fiscal 2025
For the year ended December 31, 2025, Light & Wonder reported consolidated revenue of $3,314 million, compared with $3,188 million in 2024, an increase of 4%. Net income was $276 million, compared with $336 million, a decrease of 18%. Consolidated AEBITDA, the company’s non-GAAP adjusted earnings measure, was $1,443 million, up 16% from $1,244 million.
| Segment | Revenue 2025 | Share of revenue | AEBITDA 2025 | AEBITDA margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaming | $2,183 | 65.9% | $1,162 | 53% |
| SciPlay | $794 | 24.0% | $288 | 36% |
| iGaming | $337 | 10.2% | $125 | 37% |
| Corporate and other | — | — | $(132) | n/a |
| Total | $3,314 | 100.0% | $1,443 | 44% |
The shares in the table follow from the reported dollars: $2,183 million ÷ $3,314 million is about 65.9% for Gaming.
The Gaming segment has four lines of business. Gaming operations revenue was $860 million, gaming machine sales $821 million, gaming systems $285 million and table products $217 million, which sum to $2,183 million. Gaming operations grew 25% from $690 million, and the company said $102 million of the 2025 figure came from Grover; without it, the line would have grown about 10%.
| Line of business | 2025 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaming operations | $860 | $690 | +24.6% |
| Gaming machine sales | $821 | $865 | −5.1% |
| Gaming systems | $285 | $302 | −5.6% |
| Table products | $217 | $211 | +2.8% |
| Total Gaming | $2,183 | $2,068 | +5.6% |
The company reported that it shipped 39,778 new gaming machine units in 2025, compared with 43,658 in 2024, a decrease of about 9%. The average sales price per new unit was $18,797, up from $18,438, about 2%. Fewer units sold at a slightly higher price produced the 5.1% fall in machine sales.
What the Revenue Mix Means
The mix shows a supplier shifting weight toward recurring income. Gaming operations, where the company keeps ongoing fees on machines it places rather than selling them, was 39.4% of Gaming revenue in 2025, up from 33.4% in 2024 ($690 million of $2,068 million), and it overtook machine sales in 2025 after trailing them in 2024. Machine sales were 37.6% of Gaming revenue, down from 41.8%.
Margins reinforce the point. Gaming earned an AEBITDA margin of 53% in 2025 against 50% in 2024, and it supplied about 74% of the $1,575 million combined AEBITDA of the three segments before corporate costs of $132 million. A recurring placement earns revenue every day it is in service, whereas a sale is recorded once; the trade-off is that the supplier must fund the machines, and the company reported capital expenditures of $310 million in 2025, up from $294 million, with the increase attributed to investments for gaming operations and the installed base.
The digital segments show a different picture. SciPlay revenue fell 3% to $794 million, but its DTC platforms generated $150 million in 2025 against $88 million in 2024, while third-party platform revenue fell from $733 million to $644 million. DTC therefore made up about 18.9% of SciPlay revenue. The iGaming segment grew 13% to $337 million. As this analysis is about the business, not a forecast, it draws no conclusion about what the mix will be next year.
Fiscal 2025 Against 2024
The comparison with 2024 shows profit measures moving in opposite directions. Revenue rose 4.0% and AEBITDA rose 16.0%, but net income fell 17.9%.
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $3,314 | $3,188 | +4.0% |
| Net income | $276 | $336 | −17.9% |
| Consolidated AEBITDA | $1,443 | $1,244 | +16.0% |
| AEBITDA margin | 43.5% | 39.0% | +4.5 points |
| Net cash from operating activities | $794 | $632 | +25.6% |
| Free cash flow | $452 | $318 | +42.1% |
| Total debt at year end | $5,163 | $3,870 | +33.4% |
The company attributed the lower net income to $219 million of restructuring and other costs, including a $128 million charge for the settlement of litigation with Aristocrat, a $25 million fair value adjustment on contingent acquisition consideration, and $37 million of costs tied to the Australian Securities Exchange transition and the Grover acquisition. In its release, the company said it resolved the dispute in January 2026 and agreed to pay about $128 million. The legal matter is reported here only as the company disclosed it.
The AEBITDA margin gain of 4.5 percentage points reflects revenue growth and cost discipline as described by the company. Total debt rose from $3,870 million to $5,163 million, and the company reported a net debt leverage ratio of 3.5x at year end, inside its stated target range of 2.5x to 3.5x. For a supplier of a different kind, see our analysis of Genius Sports’ business model.
Limits and Misreadings
AEBITDA is not net income. AEBITDA adds back items the company chooses to exclude, so the 16% rise and the 18% fall in net income describe different things; the release provides the reconciliation. Segment margins use the company’s own definition and rounding.
Unit and price figures also need care. The average sales price per unit depends on the mix between regions, cabinets and replacement versus new-casino units, so a 2% increase does not mean the same machine cost 2% more. Grover changes year-over-year comparisons, because the company counts it in gaming operations only from May 2025.
The release lists risks the company itself identifies, including slow growth of new gaming jurisdictions, competition, dependence on suppliers and manufacturers, SciPlay’s dependence on key providers, and consolidation among customers. This analysis makes no forecast. Figures are as of the February 24, 2026 release, and later periods may differ.
Key Figures and Definitions
The table lists the main reported figures. AEBITDA is the company’s adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure; gaming operations are machines placed in casinos under recurring arrangements; free cash flow is a non-GAAP measure as the company defines it.
| Item | Figure | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Consolidated revenue | $3,314 million (+4%) | Year ended Dec. 31, 2025 |
| Gaming / SciPlay / iGaming revenue | $2,183 / $794 / $337 million | Fiscal 2025 |
| Gaming operations / machine sales | $860 / $821 million | Fiscal 2025 |
| New machine units shipped | 39,778; $18,797 average price | Fiscal 2025 |
| Consolidated AEBITDA | $1,443 million (+16%) | Fiscal 2025 |
| Net income | $276 million (−18%) | Fiscal 2025 |
| Free cash flow | $452 million | Fiscal 2025 |
| Total debt | $5,163 million | Dec. 31, 2025 |
Related Analysis
For the general model behind one-time sales and recurring revenue, read how gaming suppliers make money. For a supplier built on data rights rather than machines, see Genius Sports’ business model. For how operators, the customers of these suppliers, are structured, see Flutter Entertainment’s business model, and for the revenue terms used in this industry, read GGR vs NGR. The next question to watch is how the share of gaming operations in Gaming revenue develops in later reports.
