UBS Downgrades Las Vegas Sands

In a note released Tuesday morning, UBS analyst Robin Farley downgraded Las Vegas Sands Corp.

from Buy to Neutral and lowered her price target from $88 to $79. Farley says the recent concerns of investors about the UnionPay headlines is not the issue to be worried about when looking at the gaming sector in Macau. She instead emphasized the slowdown in VIP demand as a more significant headwind looking forward. Looking at the overall Macau market, Farley noted VIP revenue has been flat so far in the second quarter and, seeing as VIP accounts for 65-70 percent of the market, could hurt overall trends. Farley did note, however, the Lav Vegas Sands is, in her opinion, the most defensive way to play Macau as more than 75 percent of its EBITDA exposure comes from the Mass market rather than VIP. Shares of Las Vegas Sands are down about 1.5 percent following the downgrade trading right around the $72.80 mark.