With Macau’s gaming recovery really starting to gain momentum, Las Vegas is off to a solid start to
2017 as well.
On Wednesday, The Nevada state gaming control board has released its report on gaming revenue for the Las Vegas area in the
month of March. Here's a brief overview.
The Numbers
Nevada's non-restricted gaming licensees reported a total taxable revenue of $1.006 billion in March, a 7.0 percent
year-over-year increase.
Statewide revenue is now up 2.4 percent year-to-date.
Las Vegas Strip
More than $543 million (about 54 percent) of Nevada's statewide gaming revenue in March came from the Las Vegas Strip.
Shareholders of strip mega-resort operators Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ: WYNN), Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) and MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) are watching Strip numbers closely.
Taxable revenue for the Vegas Strip was up 7.8 percent year-over-year in March and is now up 2.0 percent year-to-date.
Related Link: Betting
On Wynn Resorts To Keep Gaining Market Share, Union Gaming Upgrades
Downtown Vegas
Historic Downtown Las Vegas, which has performed extremely well in recent months, followed a solid February with a huge 18.4
percent taxable revenue gain in March.
So far in 2017, Downtown Vegas taxable revenue is up 14.1 percent, the strongest growth number of any region in the state.
Shares of Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE: BYD), which operates three downtown casinos, are up 22.9 percent in the past six
months. Nevada pure-play Red Rock Resorts Inc (NASDAQ: RRR) is up 4.1 percent in that time.
Next Catalyst
After multiple analyst upgrades and positive preliminary data out of Macau, shares of
Macau operators Las Vegas Sands, MGM, Wynn and Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd(ADR) (NASDAQ: MLCO) have been on fire in April. The stocks are all up between 4 and 17
percent on the month. The next major driver for these four gaming stocks will be coming on May 1 when Macau reports gross gaming
revenue totals for the month of April.
Disclosure: the author is long MLCO.
© 2017 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.