The locals trends, indecisive though they were, were strong enough for JP Morgan analysts to raise their price target on Station Casinos stock to $24/share. Calling those trends “encouraging,” Joseph Greff wrote that “we see … benefits of traffic from closed properties flowing to its geographically diverse opened Locals properties (resulting in a higher margin shift), with this not changing any time soon.” In other words, keeping four casinos closed isn’t hurting Station in the slightest and is even helping. Greff also cited potential land sales and “a continued population migration from higher tax states to Nevada (and to some unknown degree, offsetting lower LV Strip employment and Federal unemployment benefits lapsing).” Cash flow surpassed expectations and Boyd Gaming‘s performance, by extension, boosted Greff’s view of Station.
Station’s Las Vegas operations grossed $321 million last quarter, down 27%, while it banked $31 million in Native American casino-management fees, up 31%. Las Vegas cash flow from CEO Frank Fertitta III‘s trimmed ship was up $44.5 million, to $142 million. We have to hand it to Station for doing a very good job of turning adversity to advantage.
As for another of the big dogs, MGM Resorts International, third-quarter earnings were previewed by Credit Suisse‘s Ben Chaiken and he liked what he saw, raising his price target to $21/share. For one thing, he deemed BetMGM “under appreciated.” For another, “Weekend occupancies in hotels hit 70%, and gaming revenues have continued to ramp, reaching 80% of pre-COVID levels. While there are some aspects that will still likely take some time to recover (convention, fly-in, etc.), we think the situation in Vegas is better than feared, and as the largest operator on the Strip, MGM is particularly well suited to benefit from this dynamic … Any data point that suggests a continued ramp should be enough for what feels like a low bar.”
Regarding sports betting, Chaiken noted that BetMGM is operating in five states in mobile form and retail-only in three more. “BetMGM has ~7-10% market share in large states like New Jersey and Indiana, and was one of the first to market in Colorado. Their partner GVC expects BetMGM to deliver ~$150m in revenues this year, and we think it’s reasonable to assume a similar revenue growth trajectory vs peers,” such as DraftKings. Also, Chaiken is optimistic that Michigan, Ohio and Maryland (three states where MGM owns casinos) will legalize sports betting soon. If anything, Chaiken concluded, $21/share undervalues the stock.
Thuggery continues to plague Las Vegas. A woman riding her bicycle was killed by a pair of @$$holes Sunday morning. Eastside Cannery employee Michelle Weissman was minding her own business when Giovanni Medina Barajas leaned out of a passing Toyota Sienna and struck her fatally. Being afflicted with stupidity as well as malice, Barajas fell from the vehicle and died from blunt force trauma. Rough justice. Police tracked down driver Rodrigo Cruz at his home, where gave inconsistent accounts of what had happened. Police said the width of the bike line was such that Cruz would have had to make a wide swerve to ‘accidentally’ hit Weissman. Cruz’s alibi? “Gio was always doing stupid stuff but Rodrigo stated he wasn’t intentionally driving in a manner to allow Gio to make contact with any pedestrians of the bicyclist,” plus Cruz didn’t return to the scene of the crime because he himself was a parolee. Said Boyd spokesman David Strow, “We are deeply saddened by the tragic and senseless loss of our team member, Shelli. She was well-known and well-liked by the entire Cannery team, and we will miss her.” Amen.
