Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Caesars Entertainment (CZR) jumped 11% at the open of trading today after at least one big investor bought into the company's recent earnings report. As trading continued, shares settled into low single-digit gains.
So what: The third-quarter results were a classic case of "less bad" results. Net revenue rose slightly to $2.2 billion and the bottom-line loss tripled to $505.5 million, or $4.03 per share. But this number includes $419 million of impairment charges, so if we back that out, the loss improved to $86.5 million. This isn't exactly good, but it's an improvement for Caesars.
Now what: The results for Caesars show some improvement in bottom-line results because of improved cost controls, but this still doesn't make this stock a buy. The company has $20.8 billion of long-term debt and isn't generating enough EBITDA (a proxy for cash flow) to pay for this debt. As a result, debt continues to grow and the stock becomes less attractive. I would sell on any bounce and would avoid this stock at all costs.
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