Sabre CorpSABR
Sabre Corp Revenue Disclosure
2. Revenue from Contracts with Customers
Contract Balances
Revenue recognition for a significant portion of our revenue coincides with normal billing terms, including our transactional revenues, SaaS revenues, and hosted revenues. Timing differences among revenue recognition, unconditional rights to bill, and receipt of contract consideration may result in contract assets or contract liabilities.
The following table presents our assets and liabilities with customers as of December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024 (in thousands):
| Account | Consolidated Balance Sheet Location | December 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
Contract assets and customer advances and discounts(1) | Prepaid expenses and other current assets / other assets, net | $ | 16,692 | $ | 28,112 | |||||||||||||||
| Trade and unbilled receivables, net | Accounts receivable, net | 308,825 | 282,173 | |||||||||||||||||
| Long-term trade unbilled receivables, net | Other assets, net | 7,795 | 9,331 | |||||||||||||||||
| Contract liabilities | Deferred revenues / other noncurrent liabilities | 96,753 | 107,867 | |||||||||||||||||
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(1) Includes contract assets of $4 million and $8 million for December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.
During the year ended December 31, 2025, we recognized revenue of approximately $25 million from contract liabilities that existed as of January 1, 2025. Our long-term trade unbilled receivables, net relate to fixed license fees billed over the contractual period and recognized when the customer gains control of the software. We evaluate collectability of our accounts receivable based on a combination of factors and record reserves as described further in Note 9. Credit Losses.
Revenue
The following table presents our revenues disaggregated by business (in thousands):
| Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| Distribution | $ | 2,216,990 | $ | 2,173,619 | $ | 2,057,044 | |||||||||||
IT Solutions(1) | 553,993 | 571,226 | 585,033 | ||||||||||||||
| Total Sabre Revenue | $ | 2,770,983 | $ | 2,744,845 | $ | 2,642,077 | |||||||||||
_______________________________
(1) Includes license fee revenue recognized upon delivery to the customer of $5 million, $7 million and $7 million for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
We may occasionally recognize revenue in the current period for performance obligations partially or fully satisfied in the previous periods resulting from changes in estimates for the transaction price, including any changes to our assessment of whether an estimate of variable consideration is constrained. For the year ended December 31, 2025, the impact on revenue recognized in the current period, from performance obligations partially or fully satisfied in the previous period, is $3 million.
Unearned performance obligations primarily consist of deferred revenue for fixed implementation fees and future product implementations, which are included in deferred revenue and other noncurrent liabilities in our consolidated balance sheet. We have not disclosed the performance obligation related to contracts containing minimum transaction volume, as it represents a subset of our business, and therefore would not be meaningful in understanding the total future revenues expected to be earned from our long-term contracts. See Note 1. Summary of Business and Significant Accounting Policies regarding revenue recognition of our various revenue streams for more information.
We estimate future cancellations using the expected value approach at the end of each reporting period based on the number of undeparted bookings, expected cancellations and an estimated rate. Assumptions used in our cancellation reserve include our estimate of bookings that we expect will eventually travel, as well as to the mix of those bookings between domestic and international, given the varying rates paid by airline suppliers. Our air booking cancellation reserve totaled $13 million and $11 million as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.
Contract Acquisition Costs and Capitalized Implementation Costs
We incur contract costs in the form of acquisition costs and implementation costs. Contract acquisition costs are related to new contracts with our customers in the form of sales commissions based on the estimated contract value. We incur contract implementation costs to implement new customer contracts under our SaaS revenue model. We periodically assess contract costs for recoverability, and our assessment did not result in any material impairments for the years ended December 31, 2025
and 2024. See Note 1. Summary of Business and Significant Accounting Policies for an overview of our policy for capitalization of acquisition and implementation costs.
The following table presents the activity of our acquisition costs and capitalized implementation costs for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 (in thousands):
| Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | ||||||||||
| Contract acquisition costs: | |||||||||||
| Beginning balance | $ | 8,008 | $ | 7,847 | |||||||
| Additions | 3,016 | 2,835 | |||||||||
| Amortization | (2,696) | (2,674) | |||||||||
| Ending balance | $ | 8,328 | $ | 8,008 | |||||||
| Capitalized implementation costs: | |||||||||||
| Beginning balance | $ | 50,365 | $ | 50,363 | |||||||
| Additions | 8,563 | 13,085 | |||||||||
| Amortization | (11,423) | (12,698) | |||||||||
| Impairment | (1,062) | (1,092) | |||||||||
| Other | 1,042 | 707 | |||||||||
| Ending balance | $ | 47,485 | $ | 50,365 | |||||||
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Feb 18, 2026 | Showing above |
| 2024 | Feb 20, 2025 | |
| 2023 | Feb 15, 2024 | |
| 2022 | Feb 17, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Feb 18, 2022 | |
| 2020 | Feb 25, 2021 | |
| 2019 | Feb 26, 2020 | |
| 2018 | Feb 15, 2019 | |
About Revenue Disclosures
Revenue disclosures under ASC 606 explain how a company identifies performance obligations, allocates transaction prices, and determines when revenue is recognized. This section is essential for understanding whether reported revenue reflects genuine economic activity or aggressive accounting choices. Analysts examine the mix of point-in-time versus over-time recognition, which directly affects revenue timing and comparability.
Key signals: rising contract liabilities (deferred revenue) suggest strong future revenue visibility, while declining contract assets may indicate slowing project milestones. Watch for variable consideration estimates — rebates, returns, and performance bonuses that require management judgment. Significant changes in disaggregated revenue by geography or product line can reveal shifting business mix before it appears in headline numbers. Compare revenue growth against contract liability growth to assess sustainability, and scrutinize any changes in the timing of recognition that coincide with earnings pressure.