Shares of Caesars Entertainment Inc (CZR 0.45%) 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.
Image source: Getty Images.
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.
