1 Word That Makes Me Bullish on Las Vegas Sands

Since reporting earnings in early February, Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) is down a depressing 3%, while the general market has continue moving upward. The company took a beating, as analysts were disappointed with its reported Macau sales, which totaled $1.07 billion, just south of the expected $1.13 billion. I'm not too concerned.

This island ain't so tiny
Even though the small island of Singapore has about 5.0 million inhabitants and an economy smaller than the Philippines, it's still growing by leaps and bounds. Since opening its doors to legal gambling not too long ago, it's quickly become a gambling hub that some are comparing to Macau, China's massive gambling destination. More than 11 million people visited Singapore last year, a 20% increase from the year prior. Their spending saw a sweet boost of 49%, and no doubt that the gambling complex run by Las Vegas Sands is pulling its own weight.

Since opening in April 2010, Marina Bay Sands in Singapore has done nothing but impress. Sure, Macau revenue was a bit disappointing, but as CEO Sheldon Adelson said on the recent conference call, analysts should really be more concerned with property EBITDA anyway. So let's look how the company's various regional EBITDA's stack up in the latest quarter:

Source: Bloomberg.

As you can see, Las Vegas is becoming less and less significant to the company. Although the company has only had a presence in Singapore for less than a year, the EBITDA from Singapore's single complex is almost as much as all three properties in Macau. This just goes to show you how important Singapore is as a future gambling hub, and how well-positioned Las Vegas Sands is in that region of the world.

How it compares
MGM Resorts (NYSE: MGM), which is the largest Vegas operator, actually saw shares fall when it reported earnings today. The reason: a net loss of $0.29 per share, significantly less than the loss of $0.98 it saw one year ago. Sure, revenue rose by 1% and performance improved at its Macau joint venture, but MGM is still way too tied to Las Vegas and too straddled with debt. It's planning a Hong Kong IPO of its joint venture in order to raise cash and has already dished off several other assets (Treasure Island in Vegas and the Borgata in Atlantic City).

Melco Crown Entertainment (Nasdaq: MPEL) announces earnings later this month, which is a much more obvious play on Macau if you think that Las Vegas is going to take too long to recover. Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) reported fourth-quarter earnings of $0.91 per share versus a loss in the year prior; and not surprisingly, the company attributes this to a 79% revenue jump in its Macau operations.

The Foolish conclusion
Billionaire Steve Wynn said in a recent conference call that the Las Vegas market may remain disappointing and lackluster through 2011. For investors not willing to take the risk or to wait out a rebound in consumer spending, the obvious sweet spots are Macau and Singapore. And last time I checked, there was really one company truly crushing it in Singapore, and that's Las Vegas Sands.