Macao Earnings Season Mercifully Ends With Melco Crown's Miss

Shares of Asian casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd MPEL are up 2.0 percent in early trading Thursday following the company’s Q1 earnings release. Melco reported earnings of $0.16 on revenue of $1.054 billion for the quarter, missing Wall Street consensus estimates of $0.23 EPS and $1.155 billion in revenue.

Bad news already priced in
The stock is reacting positively to the poor earnings, suggesting that the market had already priced in an earnings miss from Melco. In fact, the stock made new 52-week lows on Wednesday, dipping below $20 per share for the first time in over two years.

Shareholders of Melco and fellow Macau operators Las Vegas Sands Corp LVS, MGM Resorts International MGM and Wynn Resorts Limited WYNN are hopeful that Q2 earnings will offer a change in pace from the past few quarters after monthly gross gaming revenue declines in Macau have finally shown signs of stabilization in recent months.

Another disappointing quarter
Melco was the last of the four to release earnings this season, and the results have not been good. Wynn’s earnings were the biggest disappointment in the market, as the company not only reported weak Macau numbers, it also showed weakness in its Las Vegas operations and slashed its dividend by 67 percent.

First glimpse at Philippines numbers
For Melco shareholders, the Q1 earnings report is unique in that it offered the first glimpse into the company’s new City of Dreams Manila resort. The resort held its grand opening on February 2 and is the company’s first venture outside of Macau. City of Dreams Manila reported net revenue of $52.7 million for the quarter.