Six Flags stock slides 16% following fatal roller coaster accident

Six Flags stock is sliding after officials confirmed that a 42-year-old man died during an incident at one of the amusement park's locations in Georgia. 

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation stock, which trades under the ticker symbol "FUN," fell 12% in early trading. By late morning, the stock was trading at $9.98, down 16.3%.

The person died on Monday during a ride on one of the roller coasters at Six Flags Over Georgia, located in Austell, Georgia. According to witness testimony provided to the Cobb County Police Department, the man was ejected from the ride and struck other patrons before falling beneath the attraction. Several people were injured during the incident, according to the Cobb County Police Department.

Officials did not confirm which roller coaster was involved in the incident, although CBS News Atlanta cameras showed the park's Goliath ride, described as an "intense 7­­­0­­­-­­­m­­­i­­­l­­­e­­­-­­­p­­­e­­­r­­­-­­­h­­­o­­­u­­­r thrill ride," had shut down. 

Dennis Speigel, founder and owner of consulting firm International Theme Park Services, said incidents like these are normally the result of an engineering issue, operating issue or rider responsibility issue. 

He expects it will have very little, if any, impact on sales at the theme park.

"The public knows that the company is going to go in, examine, and figure out exactly what happened on this issue," Speigel said, adding he's seen "situations similar to this over the last 50 years with basically no impact."

 An investigation is ongoing in Georgia to determine what happened Monday. 

In the short term, the company's stock is taking a hit, extending a slide that started in September. Shares are down 33.8% since the start of the year. That comes as Six Flags faces high CEO turnover in the last decade and financial struggles following a 2024 merger with Cedar Fair, Speigel said.

The "merger really put the company in a very difficult position, [and] dug a very big hole for them," he said.

Following the incident in Georgia, Six Flags closed several other roller coasters across its parks, including the Goliath roller coaster in Los Angeles, CBS News LA reported.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we have temporarily closed similar attractions across our parks," a Six Flags spokesperson said Monday.