Sands low on Vegas, Boyd upbeat, mixed signals from Station
Yesterday it was Las Vegas Sands‘ turn with JP Morgan gaming analysts and the company was full of surprises. Little of its commentary had to do with the Las Vegas Strip, about which it was “downbeat,” what with conventioneers and high rollers being in short supply. “LVS hasn’t pursued the relatively less profitable drive-in customer, and doesn’t look to pivot from its group/convention focus as management still expects a full recovery here,” wrote analyst Joseph Greff, adding that layoffs had nonetheless been “limited.” Off the burner entirely is Sands’ planned U.S. shopping spree for casinos. This was “made under the presumption that assets would be deeply mispriced during the crisis, but at this point, they look to have largely recovered.” (Good news if you are a holder of said assets.) Instead Sands will look to pick up additional properties “where it already has a presence,” i.e., Asia.
The company’s focus was mainly on Macao and Singapore. In the latter, it expects recovery to be “gradual” rather than dramatic “as China will be prudent in allowing the number of visas to increase gradually over time.” As with MGM Resorts International, customer interest is said to be strong, especially in premium mass-market play, although Sands hopes its bread-and-butter players return in time for the rollout of the Londoner and Four Seasons Tower Suites. The company actually expects better cash flow in Macao this year than last. Locals and their slot play are keeping Marina Bay Sands “on the road to profitability,” despite zippo overseas patronage. But it won’t be business as usual until Malaysia and Japan reopen themselves to Singaporean traffic.
that’s 10 times worse than Katrina. They chose to keep their stockpile of cash for the investors. That came off the backs of these workers.” Added bartender Jaron Ashley, “The money is not the problem. It’s the want-to.” Like their Vegas counterparts, Mississippi casino employees want to be kept on the payroll throughout the duration of the Covid-19 crisis. Bartender Jason McKnight, dialing in from Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City, called for casino accountability, “You’re going to go to the government and say, ‘We need a bailout,’” he said. “Well, where’s our bailout?” Indeed, low-interest loans from the guvmint are intended, in large part, to keep workers 
stabilizing and showing improvement,” Stifel Financial analyst Steven Wieczynski says. ‘Impaired’ is putting it nicely. If you’re returning from Macao through infected Guangdong Province, you face a 14-day quarantine upon returning home, which could send Macanese tourism into even more of a tailspin. Also, unless you have a visa predating the February shutdown (since lifted) or a business one, 
Covid-19 in Macao 
Vegas by the one-month casino shutdown, 
day. (Statewide, revenues were up 3%.) Strip slots were robust, gaining 7% on 7.5% higher coin-in, but non-baccarat table win was flat despite 9.5% higher wagering. Baccarat win was the spider at the picnic, falling 11.5% on 1% less wagering. Given that the comparison was a -2% February 2019, surpassing last year shouldn’t have been difficult. Locals casinos were flat, too, especially at the slots, where coin-in was up 3%. Some end-of-January handle got rolled into February but the latter also ended on 
unemployment benefits were overly generous and would encourage workers to get laid off.” 
should be significant and its magnitude and duration uncertain, but it should not have a permanent, forever impact. And one of the more interesting values, in our view, when we look across this carnage, is WYNN,” he wrote. That isn’t because Macao is improving (“it’s really not”) or that China‘s government is easing up on visas (it isn’t) or even that Las Vegas will rebound speedily (it probably won’t). No, Wynn’s “low levels are good entry points for those with a longer time horizon and a buy-and-hold view.” Although it’s wallowing around $57/share right now, Greff sees WYNN shooting back up to $93/share.
crash. That’s the literal price of owning 432,000,000 shares of Las Vegas Sands. Not that ill-fortune is crimping Sheldon’s lifestyle. He just put down $17 million on a pied-a-terre in Malibu, his ninth residence in the Colony gated community. Compared to the $138 million that Steve Wynn wants for his SoCal mansion, we’d say Adelson is a real bargain hunter. Speaking of the Wynn family, Elaine Wynn lost a cool billion in the stock market, bringing her wealth down to $1.4 billion. The Fertitta Brothers are now worth $1.6 billion apiece, which they’ll need as the fallout of a Las Vegas recession on Station Casinos would be dire indeed. But the really ill-advised tycoon may be