What happened

Shares of Boyd Gaming (BYD -0.43%) were jumping 9% higher in morning trading on Wednesday after the regional casino operator reported earnings results that beat analyst expectations on the top and bottom lines, even though they were still down sharply from last year.

So what

Boyd reported revenue of almost $210 million, down broadly from the $846 million the casino operator recorded in the second quarter of 2019, but well ahead of Wall Street's consensus forecast of around $168 million.

Couple playing craps

Image source: Getty Images.

While it also posted a loss of $0.98 per share versus a profit of $0.46 per share last year, it was significantly ahead of the $1.45 per share loss analysts anticipated.

Now what

Boyd said 26 of its properties have reopened since mid-May, with the Midwest and South segment, along with the Las Vegas locals unit, delivering adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and rent (EBITDAR) growth, and both showing significant margin improvement since reopening.

While the two reopened properties in the downtown Las Vegas segment suffered a 60% decline in revenue, adjusted EBITDAR for the reopening period was break-even. For the quarter, though, there was a loss of $7.2 million.

Because Boyd Gaming is not as dependent upon the travel and tourism industry, serving instead mostly local residents, and given the expansion of its partnership in Pennsylvania with sports-betting leader FanDuel, the regional casino operator may rebound much faster than bigger resorts.