For Accel Entertainment, Chicago licenses bolster outlook

During Tuesday’s earnings call, Accel CEO Mark Phelan noted that the operator achieved 7% growth in its largest market, Illinois, despite having less locations and machines. Phelan said this reflects the benefits of Accel’s route-optimization strategy. “We’re improving location quality, deploying better content, and putting capital behind these opportunities, leading to stronger returns, as evidenced in both the revenue and whole per day metrics,” Phelan said. “More broadly, through the first nine months of 2026, we haven’t observed the material impact on our business from the macroeconomic factors affecting other areas of consumer spending.” Accel reported 3Q26 revenue was $364…