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 Boyd Gaming (BYD -0.02%) ran out of luck today, falling 19% after turning an ugly earnings report.
So what: The casino chain finished the quarter with an adjusted EPS loss of $0.08 per share against estimates of a penny profit. Sales also missed the mark, climbing 20.6% to $738.6 million, while analysts had expected $758.3 million in revenue. CEO Keith Smith admitted that Boyd's performance was below expectations, noting significant weakness in September that offset solid results in July and August. The market also reacted to disappointing guidance from the Borgata parent, which projected a loss of $0.15 to $0.20 for the current quarter. Analysts had been eyeing a shortfall of just $0.04.
Now what: Much of the growth in the casino industries these days can be found in Macau and Singapore, markets in which Boyd is not active. Smith did say that October results improved from a year ago, but the company seems to lack a long-term strategy for reversing the recent losses. The CEO noted better financials at some of the properties as well as entering real-money online gambling in New Jersey, but that doesn't seem like enough to justify the current stock price, which values the company of P/E above 40. I'd say Boyd's string of bad luck is far from over.
