Churchill Downs, the horse-racing and gaming company behind the Kentucky Derby, posted record EBITDA and free cash flow in its third-quarter 2026 results and paired that with a dividend increase and a new $750 million share buyback authorization. Separately, VICI Properties, the real estate investment trust that owns casino properties leased to operators like Caesars and MGM, disclosed a $2 billion buyback program trading at under 10 times AFFO, the adjusted funds-from-operations metric REITs use in place of earnings per share.
The two companies sit on opposite sides of the same industry: one runs gaming venues, the other owns the real estate under them. Both chose to return cash rather than fund new growth this quarter, at a time when several other sectors are still expanding capex for AI infrastructure and data centers.
The scale differs. Churchill Downs' buyback is less than half the size of VICI's, but it comes alongside a dividend hike, a dual commitment of cash. VICI's buyback size relative to its AFFO multiple — under 10x — is the detail that matters for a REIT, since it signals management sees its own stock as cheap enough to buy versus leasing new properties.
What isn't yet clear from either disclosure is how much of each authorization will actually be executed, and on what timeline. Buyback authorizations are ceilings, not commitments, and neither company has given a completion date.