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Friday, Nov. 13, 2026
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High Roller Technologies, Inc. (NYSEMKT:ROLR) transitioned its primary focus from online casino operations to its newly launched prediction markets platform during the third quarter. Management reported that the commercial launch of the ROLR brand signifies a move into the expanding derivatives market for real-world events. The company is executing a strategy to reduce its casino footprint in jurisdictions with unfavorable economic or regulatory conditions while investing in proprietary technology and U.S.-based distribution partnerships. The company maintains a debt-free balance sheet with a cash position intended to support its operational roadmap through late 2027.
Operator: Good afternoon, and welcome to the High Roller Technologies Business Update and Third Quarter 2026 Results Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] Joining us today are Seth Young, Chief Executive Officer; and Adam Felman, Chief Financial Officer. As a reminder, today's call including forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. Investors are directed to the company's SEC filings, including the section captioned Risk Factors for additional information. The company undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Today's call may also include discussions of non-GAAP financial measures.
Reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in today's press release. With that, I'll turn the call over to Seth Young. Please go ahead.
Seth Young: Thank you, operator, and thanks to everybody for joining today's call. On October 21, just over a month after we launched our invitation-only beta, our prediction market brand, ROLR, went live to the general public. After a sustained period of investment and execution, eligible customers across the United States can now open an account on our real money prediction markets platform and trade on the events that they care about. That's the headline today, and it's what I'll be spending most of my time discussing. So in this vein, I'd like to be direct about where we're heading. High Roller has entered its next chapter, and we expect prediction markets to be the major growth driver for us in 2027.
Relative to the size of our existing business, we believe this opportunity is large enough and scalable enough to transform the company's revenue profile over time. For the rest of 2026, the job is to bring customers onto the platform, learn from every trade, keep improving the product and put our distribution partners to work. That sets up 2027 as our first full year of commercial operations and to say that we remain bullish on our projected growth would be the understatement of the century. We're confident in our playbook, and we're definitely playing to win.
As an administrative note, the numbers our CFO, Adam Felman, will walk through today cover a quarter that closed on September 30 when ROLR was still in its invitation-only beta. So Q3 is the last quarter where prediction markets show up only on the expense side of the ledger and 2027 is where we expect this business to show what it can really do. We opened the invitation-only beta on September 15, so we could find the rough edges before our customers did.
The beta included real money, real users and real markets, all a controlled environment, and it let us test the journey from sign-up and funding through trading, settlement and customer support before we open the doors, and this paid off because our desktop and mobile web launch was pretty seamless. It was quickly followed by the launch of our ROLR app in the App Store on November 9. And directionally, we expect to launch our Android app via the Google Play Store before the end of this year, subject to App Store approval.
We're now live, and that's unlocked our ability to maneuver with a lot more flexibility, activate our marketing partnerships and very quickly lean into improving our product for future updates. We're working on a number of exciting and innovative concepts to introduce to our platform. So there are definitely a few reasons why we believe 2027 is going to be a big year for High Roller. We launched with about 10 weeks left in this year, so 2026 is a short runway. In 2027, we get a full 12 months and every customer we earn this fall can keep trading while new ones join.
Now on distribution, we've lined up great partners, some of which we announced earlier in the year and others in the normal course of business that didn't make it to a press release, but are no less important, impressive or incremental to our strategy. The ones we've discussed publicly are [indiscernible], Forever Network and Leverage Game Media, which give us reach into established digital audiences and SpikeUp driving performance marketing and direct customer acquisition. Our job is to turn that attention into funded accounts and repeat traders. Reach here is a starting point. It's not a result. Each of these channels gets judged on the same scorecard, conversion, customer quality, retention and revenue relative to cost.
We will constantly analyze these KPIs to ensure investment is allocated to the best performing channels. For us, this is a core competency, and we're bullish here because of our experience. Since High Roller was founded in 2021, the company has a demonstrated track record of success in showing a positive return on ad spend across the markets and verticals it has operated in. And now we're playing on home turf in the U.S.A., which is very exciting for us since we feel as if our lead generation and user acquisition capabilities in the U.S. are stronger than in the other countries we've historically driven activation.
On the product side, we took the time to ensure that we control our destiny as it relates to our product through our source code license agreement with markets.com and our ownership of the customer-facing platform. The upshot is that we can now execute against our road map on our own time line, and this is something we historically have not been able to do as we've rented technology from third parties. We have a lot planned here.
And I will dangle a bit of a carrot now to share that we have a very powerful new product release planned before the end of the month that our entire team has been excited about for the better part of the year now. It's public record that we've successfully registered with the NFA as a commodity trading adviser in advance of this particular product release. And for the moment, that's all I'm going to share about that until we formally unveil it. We've added really good people to the team. Flip Pidot joined as our Chief Business Officer in October, bringing nearly 2 decades of experience across prediction markets, market development, trading and commercial strategy.
He's a true veteran of an industry that most people just began learning about over the last year or so. We also brought on Ben Sutherland as our Senior Vice President of Product and Platform. Ben is one of the most strategic and innovative executors that I've ever come across. Prior to joining High Roller, he was CEO of Greentube USA. His company was acquired by Greentube, which is the interactive subsidiary of the gaming giant Novomatic. Between the 2 of them, we've added serious firepower on product and partnerships, supplementing an existing team that was already built to operate this kind of B2C business. We're continuing to hire intelligently, and we're attracting world-class talent. Moving to responsible market participation.
While prediction markets operate as a federally regulated financial product, given our roots as a gambling operator, we understand the difference between responsible and irresponsible consumer engagement. There's always a small subset of any consumer base that can take things too far. And for us, consumer growth is only valuable if it's the right. So for our part, we partner with Kindbridge Behavioral Health to provide quarterly training for our customer service team and to provide a confidential pathway to care for eligible U.S.-based traders, including a planned trader care fund to help any eligible at-risk traders access assistance if it is needed. We always have and will continue to operate our business in a socially responsible manner.
We continue to work through strategic initiatives. On Wednesday, November 11, we released that we formed a new subsidiary called ROLR FCM LLC and engaged Connamara Technologies to advise us as we explore a potential futures commission merchant application with the CFTC and NFA. Currently, we're registered as a guaranteed introducing broker with the NFA with Crypto.com guaranteeing our operations, and those licensed operations are exclusively through Crypto.com Markets.
While we are not registered as an FCM today and with the disclaimer that we cannot assure the timing or outcome of any registration process, to the extent we choose to pursue an FCM registration and to the extent we are issued the license, our prospective FCM operations would not fall under this exclusivity arrangement with Crypto.com. To this end, following the announcement that we're exploring an FCM application and potential operations, on Thursday, November 12, we announced a strategic forward-looking partnership with ProphetX, which aims to function to expand the breadth of event contracts available for eligible ROLR traders in the future to the extent ROLR pursues and as issued an FCM license.
As we continue to grow our prediction markets business, we will continually assess strategic opportunities like this or even other potential opportunities like the DCM and DCO licenses, which could function to expand our control over market-making and financial settlement capabilities. We're excited for the opportunities 2027 may bring for High Roller as we keep our fingers on the pulse of the prediction market and beyond. Now before I hand it over to Adam to walk through the third quarter numbers, a few words on our casino business. Starting in Q2 last year, we began either exiting markets where it was untenable to operate from an economic perspective or not feasible to operate from a regulatory perspective, sometimes both.
Now this shift continues as beginning December 1. New Zealand is formally moving to a limited license regulatory regime. We have elected not to take part in that licensing process, and we will cease operations in that market as of the effective date. Following last year's strategic review, we found ourselves serving a handful of markets via our Estonia license. And over the last year, our team has done what I would characterize objectively as a world-class job in managing the retention of our consumer base, particularly so without any significant customer acquisition efforts to mitigate natural customer attrition. While the casino business is smaller than it was a year ago, it's a much healthier one.
With roughly 1/4 of the depositing customers and strategically reduced acquisition spend, each unique depositing customer is now worth more than twice what they were last year, $507, up from $242, and we're earning roughly 35% more on every dollar wagered. This did not happen by accident. Think of this past year as a boot camp for something bigger. We improved our team and all of the operational improvements we have made have gone into the playbook we're now bringing to prediction. The difference now is that we have tailwinds instead of headwinds as we move into what we believe to be a much larger opportunity for the company.
I would suggest that if you're focusing on the top line casino numbers as a barometer for the health of this company, you're focusing on the wrong thing. For those of you that have a genuine interest in the future prospects of High Roller, the context from our last year should tell you is that this is a company with an experienced Board and management team that recognized that the global gambling regulatory landscape was very different in 2025 than when the company was founded in 2021.
What you should see is a company that went through a difficult but necessary strategic review and reorganization and an operating team that has managed the business with extreme discipline and sophistication in the face of increasing headwinds. You should see a company that identified a much larger, tangible, scalable, highly strategic opportunity that fit extremely well in the context of the existing infrastructure and an organization that took action to make that opportunity a reality. Throughout Q3, we continued managing our online casino business with discipline.
Our third quarter results reflect the continued shift of resources to the higher upside prediction market opportunity and our efforts to effectively manage and allocate capital in the lead up to our recent launch. Our priority moving into 2027 is the continued investment into and growth of our flagship ROLR prediction markets product in the U.S.A. With that, I'll hand it over to Adam to walk through our Q3 results.
Adam Felman: Thank you, Seth, and good afternoon, everyone. The third quarter covered the final stages of commercial preparation and the start of the ROLR closed beta. As the commercial launch occurred on October 21, prediction markets generated no revenue in the 3 or 9 months ended September 30. As Seth said, that changed with the launch, and the fourth quarter will be the first to include prediction markets revenue. Before reviewing the results, I want to briefly address the amended first and second quarter reports we filed in October. The correction to the treatment of a noncash expense reduced previously reported first quarter and first half net losses by approximately $1 million.
They had no effect on revenue, cash, cash flows, stockholder equity or adjusted EBITDA. More detail is in our 10-Q. Third quarter net revenues were $2.4 million compared with $4.9 million in the third quarter of 2025, a decrease of $2.5 million or 51%. The decline primarily reflected our exit from certain online casino markets and continued changes in marketing strategy as we focus more resources on prediction markets. While our casino customer base is smaller, it is more valuable. Average revenue per unique depositing customer was $507 in the quarter, more than double $242 in the third quarter of 2025, reflecting our focus on higher-value players.
As Seth noted, we'll exit New Zealand on December 1, ahead of its new licensing regime. So we expect online casino revenue to step down further from December with a full effect from the first quarter of 2027. Total operating expenses were $5.1 million compared with $5.6 million in the third quarter of 2025, a decrease of 8%. Direct operating costs declined to $0.8 million from $2 million. That reduction was partially offset by higher spending ahead of the prediction markets launch, including advertising and promotions of $1 million versus $0.5 million and G&A of $3.1 million versus $2.8 million. Loss from operations was $2.7 million compared with $0.7 million in the third quarter of 2025.
Net loss from continuing operations was $2.8 million or $0.25 per basic and diluted share compared with net income from continuing operations of $2.9 million or $0.34 per basic share and $0.31 per diluted share in the third quarter of 2025. The prior year quarter included a one-off $3.6 million income tax benefit, primarily from the release of a valuation allowance on deferred tax assets for one of our Malta subsidiaries compared with $0.2 million of tax expense in the current quarter. On a pretax basis, the loss was $2.6 million compared with $0.8 million in the third quarter of 2025.
Total net loss was also $2.8 million or $0.25 per basic and diluted share compared with total net income of $3.7 million or $0.43 per basic share and $0.39 per diluted share in the third quarter of 2025. The prior year total included $0.8 million of income from discontinued operations. Adjusted EBITDA was negative $2.1 million compared with a negative $0.2 million in the third quarter of 2025. The definition of this non-GAAP measure and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP results are included in our earnings release. For the first 9 months of 2026, net revenue was $8.6 million compared with $15.8 million in the first 9 months of 2025, a decrease of 46%.
Operating expenses declined 26% to $15.8 million from $21.2 million, while loss from operations was $7.2 million versus $5.4 million. Net loss from continuing operations was $7.1 million or $0.66 per basic and diluted share compared with $2 million or $0.24 per basic and diluted share in the first 9 months of 2025. Total net loss was $7.1 million versus $0.2 million and adjusted EBITDA was negative $5.2 million versus negative $3.3 million. Net cash used in operating activities for the first 9 months was $8.9 million compared with $4.5 million in the first 9 months of 2025. The increase reflects the continued rollout of our marketing strategy and our entry into prediction markets.
Investing activities used $3.6 million compared with $0.5 million in the first 9 months of 2025, mainly reflecting our continuing investment into the ROLR platform. In the third quarter alone, investing activities used $1.7 million, almost all of it for developing the ROLR platform compared with $0.2 million in the third quarter of 2025. At September 30, 2026, cash and cash equivalents, excluding restricted cash, were $13.4 million and stockholders' equity was $27.3 million. We have no outstanding borrowings. And based on our current operating plan, we believe our existing cash and cash equivalents are sufficient to fund our operations and meet our obligations for at least the next 12 months.
As Seth said, we expect prediction markets to be a major growth driver in 2027. Financially, the model is simple. ROLR earns revenue as our customers trade, so revenue grows for trading activity. Our job is to grow that activity while keeping a close eye on what it costs to acquire and serve each trader. With that, I'll turn the call back to Seth.
Seth Young: Thank you, Adam. In February of this year, ROLR was just a concept. And today, it's a live regulated platform with real customers, tangible growth prospects, a pipeline of products and partnerships behind it. We've hit proof point after proof point, and now our job is to build the customer base, keep improving the platform and continue to deliver on everything we've laid out as we head into our first full year of operations in 2027. We have a multiyear track record of success in acquiring and monetizing customers. And today, we're in a position to continue this trend from a stronger capital position with the product that we control operated by a stable and sophisticated management team.
We continue to work on even more exciting strategic initiatives, and we're extremely excited about the remainder of Q4 and the start of 2027. Thank you. And with that, I'll open the call for questions.
Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Brian Kinstlinger with Alliance Global Partners.
Brian Kinstlinger: On the commercial launch. Assuming you're not going to give specific numbers yet or you probably would have, can you tell us if the average cost to acquire customers early on is within your original expectations? What are some of the early lessons learned on marketing? And are your competitors getting more competitive when it comes to promotions? And if so, how is it impacting your early strategy?
Seth Young: Brian, thanks for the question. So I may want you to repeat that multipronged question. But look, we'll be giving some updates about our progress in due course. At this time, I guess we're very pleased with how the launch has gone. It's a little too early to dig into the metrics and give you any specific insights. What was the third point that you asked about?
Brian Kinstlinger: I'm wondering if competitors are starting to offer more promotions? And if so, how is it impacting your strategy?
Seth Young: Look, it's a very competitive space. We're going into it with eyes wide open, understanding it's a competitive space, but we have a long history of operating in very competitive markets and doing well. So we're more focused on what we're putting out as our value proposition than what our competitors are at this time.
Brian Kinstlinger: Okay. And I'm just wondering, as you think about target market spending to acquire customers, are you strategizing by state? I guess what I'm wondering is how does state litigation weigh on strategic marketing decisions?
Seth Young: Yes, it's a great question. So I've said before that we've definitely gone into this with eyes wide open about which states are hot, what kind of products are hot, a hope for the best plan for the worst scenario, so to speak. But where -- we have a pretty good marketing -- well, pretty good is the wrong way to put it. We have a great marketing plan targeted to states that really fit our target demographic, customers that fit our target demographic. And it's carefully considered and multivariant. So absolutely, we're very much in this space with a full understanding of what's going on around us, and that is reflected in our marketing plan.
Brian Kinstlinger: Okay. The last on customer acquisition, how would you characterize your early out of the gate strategy, super aggressive, more calculated trying to learn what medium is working better than others? I'm just trying to think about how you think about this early stage, how aggressive you get?
Seth Young: Yes, I think all of the above. We're definitely in growth mode at this point, right? So we're out there where -- it's early days, right? So we launched the iOS app on November 9. That really unlocked our ability to go a little bit more full force with our marketing. We're starting to activate our partnerships to the breadth that we expect them to be operating. And so we're ramping them up, we're looking at everything all the time, and we're across a lot of different kinds of channels. So we'll continue investing in what's working. We'll cut what isn't. But for the moment, we're looking to get out there and spend.
Brian Kinstlinger: Great. Last question I've got. You announced your ROLR FCM evaluation. Can you remind us about your agreement with Crypto.com in terms of duration, what kind of flexibility it gives you? And any idea how long that evaluation may take?
Seth Young: Yes. So our agreement with Crypto.com is structured as a guaranteed introducing broker relationship where they're guaranteeing our operations through their FCM. And so that relationship that we have with them under the guaranteed introducing broker license is exclusive to Crypto.com for a period of 24 months, and that began in April of this year when we signed the definitive agreement. To the extent that we successfully pursue FCM licensure and operations, that's a different license structure and different operating structure. So it does not fall under the exclusivity provision of that contract.
So that does give us the flexibility to make additional partnerships with other DCMs or even explore our own DCM DCO structure, so like ProphetX or other groups that do market making and market settlement.
Brian Kinstlinger: So you could run -- in theory, you could run an FCM while still being an introducing broker to crypto to maintain that liquidity that they've got.
Seth Young: That's right.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Carlo Corzine with Dawson James Securities.
Carlo Corzine: I love reading all this information and watching it follow through. Now as you were talking about with your marketing partners, SpikeUp, Lines.com, Forever leverage a lot of those are internally owned by some of our shareholders. Has any of this money, the $13.4 million gone to that already? And when can we start seeing some things from the advertisements because I haven't seen anything yet? That's the first question. Second question is what milestones should we look for? Are you going to give us like # of customers, total dollars bet? How can we follow along to see the growth?
And then the third, if you address -- I guess, Meta entered the fray today and how that might affect you?
Seth Young: So I'll start from the third question. I haven't seen that news yet, so I'll have to catch myself up on it. But that's exciting. I think it speaks to the breadth of the opportunity. That's one of the beautiful things about this prediction market space is there are so many kinds of competitors, and that means there are so many kinds of customers that are interested in this particular product in this vertical. The market is huge. I think it's much larger than people given it credit for and large enough to sustain the depth of competition that we're now well within.
As it relates to our marketing spend and the allocation therein, that's not something that we've disclosed publicly. Our relationship with SpikeUp is a great one. They're one of the best lead generation companies for my money in the world. And we're lucky to be working with them to theoretically acquire customers very efficiently and monetize them in such a way that we maximize our earnings potential. And Carlo, you have to forgive me, please repeat your second question?
Carlo Corzine: Yes. No problem. It's going to be 4.5 months before we have our earnings call at the year-end. So what kind of milestones can we see in those next 4.5 months to see how the company is growing? Is it like number of customers, total dollars of bets? What can we see or what can you release to let us know how it's growing?
Seth Young: Yes. We're as excited as you to put some information out about how we're performing. So I think for the moment, we're really focused on making sure that we perform to the potential that we think we will. And when the time comes and when the time is right, we'll consider what we release and when. But it's not lost on us that we're reporting our first real quarter of revenue, I guess, half quarter of revenue in March. At that point, we do hope to have some idea of what our unit economics look like and how that can be extrapolated into projecting our future success.
Operator: There are no further questions at this time. I'd like to pass the call back over to Seth Young for closing remarks.
Seth Young: Thank you, everybody, for joining today, and I'm excited about High Roller's journey. I hope you are too. We'll see you in 2027. Thanks again.
Operator: This concludes today's teleconference. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.
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