Starkly illustrating the extreme difficulties the casino sector has endured in the shutdowns related to the coronavirus pandemic, Las Vegas Sands (LVS -0.37%) reported very unhappy fiscal 2020 second-quarter results after market hours on Wednesday.
What was previously a torrent of revenue barely registered as a stream in Q2. The sprawling casino resort operator recorded only $98 million in sales, against over $3.33 billion in Q2 2019. On a non-GAAP (adjusted) basis, Las Vegas Sands plunged into the red on the bottom line with a deficit of $801 million ($1.05 per share), against the year-ago net profit of $555 million.
Image source: Las Vegas Sands.
That bottom-line result was far worse than even the bleakest analyst expectations. On average, prognosticators following the stock were estimating it would book an adjusted per-share net loss of only $0.72.
Las Vegas Sands is feeling the pinch on its operations both in Asia and the U.S. due to the deleterious effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The company's considerable Macao holdings saw their collective revenue drop by almost 98% to $47 million -- mere pennies by its usual standards.
The company quoted CEO Sheldon Adelson as saying that "[w]e remain optimistic about an eventual recovery of travel and tourism spending across our markets, as well as our future growth prospects." It didn't, however, provide specific guidance.
Investors appear to be skeptical of such bullishness. The stock fell by nearly 4.2% on the day, which is a much steeper rate than that of other consumer goods stocks and the wider equities market.
