Analysts Give Luke-Warm Reception to Las Vegas Sands Earnings

Las Vegas Sands Corp. LVS beat earnings expectations last night with a headline income of $0.90 per share, compared with expectations of $0.81. At the same time, however, revenue fell to $3.42 billion from $3.66 billion – lower than Wall Street estimates.

The stock saw a 4 percent pop in after-hours trading, though the price halved gains in regular trading. Analysts seem to think investor optimism was overdone – with much of the street giving LVS a luke-warm reaction.

Deutsche Bank – Hold, Price target at $53

“With shares indicated up 4% post the close, we believe many are viewing the results as better than recent fears. In our view, the results, when adjusted, were relatively in line, with normalized Singapore a hair ahead of Consensus and normalized Macau coming in below, though not meaningfully.”

Nomura –Neutral, Price target at $54

“LVS’ results give us even greater conviction that the stock’s fair value is in the mid-$50 range. […] We could be mistaken if recent demand trends accelerate from what the market hopes is a current nadir. We, however, are skeptical and point to several headwinds that could get worse, not better.”

Morgan Stanley –Equal-weight

“While mgmt continued to talk positively about its long-term positioning in the Macau market, it gavelittleindication as to when it expects current headwinds to abate, highlighting the ongoing limited visibility. […]That said, we believe that mgmt's motto ‘Yay dividends’ is a clear indication that the growing US recurring dividend is not at risk.”