5 Takeaways From Last Week's Casino/Gaming Survey

The positive revenue trends for Las Vegas casino operators Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS), MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM), Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ: WYNN) and Caesars Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ: CZR) may continue through Q1 2017, including the critical New Year’s holiday weekend. A new survey by Wells Fargo shows steadily-improving revenue numbers for Las Vegas casinos, even in the face of tough year-over-year comps. Here are five takeaways.

5 Takeaways

1. Wells Fargo is now predicting +3–5 percent RevPAR growth in Vegas in Q4.
2. The firm reports that Vegas RevPAR grew 2 percent in October and is now up 6 percent year-to-date. October RevPAR growth was positive despite an extremely difficult +16 percent comp. The November comp will also be a difficult +10 percent.
3. The big event in December is the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), which is underway through December 10. “December is a very slow convention month and results will hinge on New Year’s Eve,” analyst Cameron McKnight explained.
4. In terms of major events beyond New Year’s, McKnight expects 170,000–180,000 attendees for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January and 130,000 attendees for the Con/Agg conference in March.
5. Wells Fargo doesn’t anticipate any new hotel room supply until late 2019. Most of the major casino companies have focused their recent expansion efforts in Macau.

At Last Check

• Caesars was flat on the day at $8.20.
• Las Vegas Sands shares were down 0.85 percent at $62.15.
• MGM was up 0.57 percent at $30.12.
• Wynn shares were down 0.51 percent at $101.47.