In the gaming world there is a lot of news that sometimes slips through the cracks. In This Month in Gambling I will sift through this information and let you know how it affects gaming stocks.
Singapore and Macau
Macau gaming revenues jumped 39.8% to $1.91 billion in September. This sounds like an outstanding increase, but it's the lowest growth month of the year so far and is down from 94.1% growth in May. Slowing growth rates in Macau caused Barclays analyst Felicia Hendrix to lower her price target for Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN ) on future Macau weakness. Melco Crown Entertainment (Nasdaq: MPEL ) should also be lumped in the same category as Wynn due to Macau exposure so these two will be most affected if Macau slows down.
To put this into a little perspective this is still 40% growth, so Macau is nowhere near the negative growth Las Vegas has been experiencing. Slower growth isn't all bad as the Macau government has stepped in when it thought growth was getting out of control.
One reason for the slowdown in Macau could be Singapore stealing customers. Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS ) Singapore development, Marina Bay Sands, has performed so well that a KeyBanc analyst upgraded the company this month. Singapore doesn't release monthly gaming revenue like Macau (that I've seen), but analysts are expecting $2.7 billion in gaming revenue in 2010, rising to $3 billion in 2011. Las Vegas Sands certainly has a lot riding on Marina Bay's success, and this should be a blockbuster.
Rising tides and a new tenant in Las Vegas
It may be too early to call a turnaround, but with news coming out today the bulls are out. Bloomberg is reporting the Nevada Gaming Control Board will announce August Strip revenue was up 21%. That's a HUGE turnaround on the struggling strip. Companies should still be concerned about a glut of new properties, but any improvement in gaming revenue has to be seen as a positive for operators like MGM Resorts (NYSE: MGM ) and Harrah's who have the most Strip exposure.
Speaking of new hotels, the Cosmopolitan, located next to CityCenter on the Strip, is one step closer to its gaming license getting approval to open the hotel in December. The Cosmopolitan is owned by Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB ) , cost nearly $4 billion to build and will add another 3,000 hotels rooms to the Strip.
The acquisition news of the day is Penn National Gaming (Nasdaq: PENN ) effectively buying M Resort in Las Vegas via its debt for $230.5 million. This is Penn's big move onto the Strip and comes at an astonishing discount to the $300 million in land cost and $1 billion total construction costs to build the resort. I think this is a great move for Penn and will pay big dividends even if Las Vegas doesn't recover quickly. Instead of building an expensive Strip resort at the wrong time like MGM Resorts, Penn National is a savvy buyer in a weak market. Way to go, Penn.
Off the Strip
Penn National Gaming opened Maryland's first casino at the end of September. This is just another notch on the ever-expanding gaming market in the U.S. In recent years, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts have expanded gaming to boost state tax revenues.
Pinnacle Entertainment (NYSE: PNK ) expanded the scope of its Baton Rouge development scheduled to open in December 2011, showing a lot of faith in the area. The budget was increased to $357 million from $250 million to add more hotel rooms, gaming positions and covered parking.
We need a Foolish name
Las Vegas Sands is thinking about changing its name, which makes sense since most of its revenue is now in Asia. The problem is, Sheldon Adelson said the new name will either be Sands International or Sands Resort International, I say The Motley Fool community can do better! What do you think Las Vegas Sands' new name should be? Leave your ideas in the comments section below.
Interested in reading more about gaming? Add one of these companies to My Watchlist, and it will find all of our Foolish analysis on that stock.
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