Corsair Gaming (NASDAQ:CRSR) reported second-quarter results marked by higher gross margins, improved profitability and substantially stronger operating cash flow, while raising its full-year 2026 outlook. The company said growth in Gamer and Creator Peripherals, including sim racing and creator products, helped offset continued pressure on DIY PC component demand tied to elevated memory prices.
Second-quarter revenue totaled $314.3 million, down 2% from a year earlier but above the assumed midpoint of the company’s guidance range. Gross profit rose 21% year-over-year to $104.3 million, while gross margin expanded 640 basis points to a company-record 33.2%.
Tariff Refund Boosted Quarterly Results
Chief Financial Officer Gordon Mattingly said the company recognized approximately $15.6 million in benefits to GAAP gross profit from refunds of tariffs previously paid under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The refunds contributed about 500 basis points to gross margin.
The tariff-related benefit added roughly $14.9 million to net income, $14.3 million to adjusted EBITDA and $0.13 to non-GAAP diluted EPS, Mattingly said. Excluding the benefit, Corsair would have reported a GAAP net loss of $5.7 million and a GAAP loss per share of $0.07. Adjusted EBITDA would have been $16.6 million and non-GAAP EPS would have been $0.09, both above the high end of the company’s prior guidance ranges.
Mattingly said Corsair is materially complete with the tariff refund process, though immaterial administrative adjustments or interest could be received in future periods.
Peripherals Segment Led Growth and Margin Expansion
Gamer and Creator Peripherals revenue increased 13% year-over-year to $115.9 million. Segment gross profit climbed 27% to $52 million, and gross margin reached 44.9%, up from 40% in the prior-year period.
Chief Executive Officer Thi La said Fanatec remained a key growth driver, supported by new products, broader distribution and direct-to-consumer sales. The sim racing brand’s margins were above the segment average, helping improve both growth and profitability, she said.
Corsair also acquired sim racing hardware brand Trak Racer during the quarter. La said the company expects the infrastructure integration to take roughly three to six months. Trak Racer’s mechanical products, including cockpits and accessories, will be folded under the Fanatec brand umbrella, complementing Fanatec’s electronic products such as wheel bases and pedals.
Management said Trak Racer is expected to provide little contribution in the third quarter because the acquisition closed partway through the period, with a modest contribution anticipated in the fourth quarter and a greater impact expected in 2027.
Corsair also announced a Fanatec licensing partnership with Nissan Motor, adding to its existing motorsport relationships. La said the partnership supports Fanatec’s position as a premium sim racing platform.
Within Elgato, management said Marketplace revenue and transactions each more than doubled in the first half of 2026, while product submissions rose more than 300%. The marketplace added more than 500,000 accounts during the period. Corsair also made a minority investment in Bitfocus, a professional show-control software company integrated with Stream Deck, to expand Elgato’s reach into broadcast, live-event and control-room applications.
Components Revenue Fell as Memory Prices Delayed DIY Builds
Gaming Components and Systems revenue declined 9% year-over-year to $198.5 million, reflecting delayed DIY PC builds amid higher memory prices. However, segment gross profit increased 17% to $52.2 million, while gross margin expanded 570 basis points to 26.3%.
La said Corsair views DIY demand as deferred rather than lost, noting that the company saw channel inventories normalize through second-quarter sales after entering the year with elevated inventory. She said customers appeared to be adjusting to pricing conditions and that run rates began to improve near the end of the second quarter.
Memory net revenue grew 17% year-over-year, driven by supply-chain execution and market-share gains in North America. Mattingly said memory gross margin was 23.4% in the second quarter and is expected to be roughly similar in the third quarter before moderating into the high teens in the fourth quarter. He said the overall Components and Systems segment is expected to produce gross margins in the low-20% range for the remainder of the year.
Systems sales also benefited from year-over-year growth in AI workstations. Corsair is targeting the estimated $22 billion desktop AI PC market, focusing initially on prosumers and small and medium-sized businesses seeking local computing capacity, data security and reduced cloud costs. La said the opportunity remains early, with tight GPU allocation, and the company expects revenue contribution to build in the latter part of 2027 and beyond.
Cash Flow Improves as Outlook Rises
Operating expenses declined $6.1 million year-over-year to $96.7 million. Cash provided by operating activities increased 148% to $74.8 million, supported by earnings and working-capital management. Mattingly said Corsair generated more operating cash flow in the first six months of 2026 than it did in all of 2025 and 2024 combined.
Cash and restricted cash rose $74.1 million sequentially to $193.9 million at quarter-end. With total debt of $118.7 million, Corsair ended the quarter with net cash of about $75.1 million.
For the third quarter, Corsair expects:
- Revenue of $320 million to $350 million.
- Adjusted EBITDA of $18 million to $21 million.
- Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.09 to $0.12.
The company expects Gamer and Creator Peripherals to post continued low-double-digit revenue growth, led by Fanatec, Elgato and Stream Deck. Components and Systems revenue is expected to decline by a low-double-digit percentage year-over-year as elevated memory prices continue to affect DIY demand.
For full-year 2026, Corsair raised its outlook to revenue of $1.4 billion to $1.47 billion, adjusted EBITDA of $121 million to $131 million, and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.85 to $0.94. At the midpoint, the revenue outlook increased by about $35 million and the adjusted EBITDA outlook increased by about $19 million from prior guidance.
Mattingly said the higher second-half outlook reflects improving organic business performance, with a relatively small contribution from Trak Racer. Management cited the expected fourth-quarter launch of Grand Theft Auto VI as a potential holiday-season tailwind for Corsair’s console and peripherals business, alongside Fanatec product launches and distribution expansion, Elgato Marketplace growth and continued memory share gains in North America.
About Corsair Gaming (NASDAQ:CRSR)
Corsair Gaming, Inc, headquartered in Fremont, California, is a leading manufacturer of high-performance gaming peripherals and PC components. Since its founding in 1994 by Andy Paul, Don Lieberman and John Beekley as Corsair Microsystems, the company has evolved from producing memory modules to a broad portfolio of gaming hardware. Its product range includes gaming keyboards, mice, headsets, PC chassis, power supplies, cooling solutions, memory modules, solid-state drives and streaming accessories under brands such as Corsair, Elgato and SCUF Gaming.
The company’s solutions cater to PC enthusiasts, competitive gamers and content creators, offering hardware and integrated software designed to optimize performance and user experience.
