SeaWorld stock jumps as attendance rebound continues

SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. shares gained in late trading Thursday after the theme-park operator revealed a continuing surge in attendance in a preliminary quarterly report. The early numbers, which are required under a potential deal SeaWorld made to refinance debt, said that attendance figures increased 10% from the same quarter a year ago for the three-month period ended Sept. 30. Revenue increased about 9% in the period, SeaWorld disclosed. Those figures track with the year-to-date gains from the company, which had struggled after a documentary sought to expose negative treatment of animals -- in the first nine months of the calendar year, attendance and revenue are both up about 9%, SeaWorld reported. SeaWorld shares gained more than 5% in late trading, and have more than doubled in 2018, adding 121% this year as the S&P 500 index has gained 9%.

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