Shares of Caesars Entertainment Inc (CZR +7.83%) fell this week, down 11.4% as of 1:49 p.m. ET on Friday. The move came as the S&P 500 jumped 0.5% and the Nasdaq-100 gained 1.7%.
The casino operator saw its stock plummet this week after releasing quarterly earnings that disappointed across the board after a particularly slow season in Las Vegas.
NASDAQ: CZR
Key Data Points
Caesars Entertainment sees Las Vegas sales sink
Caesars Entertainment badly missed Wall Street expectations earlier this week, reporting a third-quarter loss of $0.27 per share--three times worse than the projected $0.09 loss. Revenue also fell short at $2.87 billion versus estimates of $2.89 billion.
The results exposed a stark divide in Caesars' business: Regional casinos showed growth, but Las Vegas operations tumbled nearly 10% year over year amid declining tourist traffic.
CEO Tom Reeg explained that the company is seeing "softness in leisure demand for Las Vegas in the summer months," adding that "it was a difficult summer."
Ceasars is still betting on brick-and-mortar
The decline in Las Vegas traffic and Caesars' poor performance stands in contrast to the explosion in gaming at large. While Caesars did see a bump regionally, its focus on brick-and-mortar gaming looks like a real liability at the moment. Gamblers today prefer to place their bets online, and this is where most of the growth opportunity lies. I would avoid the stock.
