May played host to a whole host of Q1s, a delay on a major potential takeover, confirmed talks of a possible mammoth delisting and a plethora of major investor changes which shook up the share prices of some of the biggest listed companies in the iGaming industry.
It was a month that saw a delay on the UK’s Gambling Commission’s decision to implement financial risk assessments (FRAs), which, if eventually passed through, may lead to further diminishing profits at the likes of London-listed businesses Flutter Entertainment, evoke, Entain and Rank Group.
Meanwhile, prediction markets continued to make more allies and enemies globally, as Spain launched disciplinary proceedings against Kalshi and Polymarket before US President Donald Trump declared that it was vital that prediction markets “thrive”. The platforms have more recently been cited as a problem on the turnover of gambling PLCs.
The fallout over allegations of Sportradar being involved in illegal activity continued, and a Financial Times report revealed that short sellers had made at least £1.7bn in 2026 by shorting gambling PLCs’ stocks.
But who were the winners and losers last month, and why?
Road to recovery for Genius Sports
It’s fair to say that Genius Sports’ performance on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) had been nothing short of a disaster for the first few months of the year.
Its $1.2bn (£900m) February acquisition of sports and entertainment digital media platform Legend went down like a lead balloon with investors, as shares dropped to the point that the company’s market cap was below the value of the deal.
This drop led to leadership defending the deal, stating that this lack of market confidence came from a misunderstanding of Legend as an affiliate business, with Genius believing it is much more than that.
The dip post-acquisition continued a worrying trend in 2026. Genius shares were trading at around $11 at the start of the year, but had plummeted below the $4 mark by April.
However, the release of its Q1 2026 results and wider market confidence in the business saw its share price shoot up by almost 35% in May. Genius Sports’ stock is now trading at $5.86 – still way off its all-time highs, but definitely on the road to recovery.
It mirrors trends predicted by analysts, who, even in April, remained confident in a turnaround after looking over the numbers.
A leadership shakeup at Flutter Entertainment
It wasn’t so positive a month for one of the world’s largest online gambling PLCs, Flutter Entertainment, however.
Its Q1 results did little to reinstate the investor confidence which has been somewhat annihilated over the past 12 months, as a 17% year-on-year rise in corporate revenues to $4.3bn did little to offset worries regarding a leadership shakeup and a 38% decline in net income to $209m.
May also saw prominent Flutter investor Kenneth Dart up his control in the firm to 27%, but the company’s stock overall dipped by 8.62% during the month to $96.98.
While, like Genius, analysts still remain bullish on Flutter due to its underlying numbers, fears of further prediction market growth – despite Flutter now being present here through FanDuel Predicts – and more tax headwinds has put off investors.
Flutter’s Q1 results also revealed that the company is reviewing its listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), meaning it could become the latest in a series of high-profile businesses to delist there.
Changes at the top of the investor chain do little to aid Entain
Speaking of the LSE, Entain’s shares did not fare too well there throughout May.
A 6% drop during the month saw the company’s share price slide to 533.8p after a series of changes in its investor makeup and a switchup at board level.
While the impact of the increase in remote gaming duty and appeals for a full ban in English sports for unlicensed gambling operators remained staples of the talk around Entain in May, one of its biggest shareholders, Eminence Capital, closed.
This saw Eminence’s Ricky Sandler leave as a Non-Executive Director – later replaced by Sheila Bangalore – and 6.5% of Entain stock returned to the market.
JPMorgan Chase quickly snapped this up, increasing its holdings in Entain to 7%, but ever since purchasing the stock, the US giant began selling it off.
A closure of Ladbrokes stores in Ireland is another potential put off for investors, while they await the impact of the aforementioned tax increase will be seen in the firm’s H1 2026 results.
Deal or no deal for major UK gambling PLC?
Even though evoke’s share price rose from 36.9p to 39.7p in May, it is fair to say that investor confidence is not at an all-time high.
The William Hill owner has a pending takeover offer from Bally’s Intralot of 50p-per-share, or £225m.
But, as has been mentioned, shares remain some way off that 50p mark and the company extended the deadline on this in mid-May from 18 May to 8 June.
Both parties are carrying well over £1bn in debt, which has raised some eyebrows regarding how that combined debt would be paid off.
All eyes will be on the deal this time next week, when investors may finally get some answers as to what’s going on…
Other notable movers in May
DraftKings – $24.49 (+6.48%)
MGM Resorts International – $43.67 (+13.43%)
Kambi Group – 175.2 SEK (+14.96%)
Evolution AB – 696.4 SEK (+9.02%)
Super Group – $12.45 (-3.41%)
Sportradar Group – $13.21 (-0.38%)
Rank Group – 98p (+2.08%)
Playtech – 356p (-2.84%)
Gentoo Media – 5.6 SEK (-13.98%)
FDJ United – €22.75 (-1.52%)
Banijay Group – €8.78 (+3.29%)
Bally’s Corporation – $14.18 (+7.1%)
Bally’s Intralot – €1.15 (+5.41%)
Aristocrat Leisure – AU $50.10 (+4.92%)
