Vegas Strip Revenue Slumps In April

With Macau’s gaming recovery beginning to gain momentum, Las Vegas hit a bit of a bump in the road in April.

Nevada's state gaming control board released its report Wednesday on gaming revenue for the Las Vegas area in the month of April. Here's a brief overview.

The Numbers

Nevada's non-restricted gaming licensees reported a total taxable revenue of $854.8 million in April, a 0.1-percent year-over-year increase.

Statewide revenue is now up 2.9 percent in the past 12 months.

Las Vegas Strip

More than $446 million (about 52 percent) of Nevada's statewide gaming revenue in April 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 down 4.9 percent year over year in April but remains up 2.7 percent in the past 12 months.

Related Link: Attention Macau Investors: There's No Need To Panic Over Government Policies

Downtown Vegas

Historic Downtown Las Vegas, which has performed well in recent months, followed a huge March with another impressive 18.3-percent taxable revenue gain in April.

In the past 12 months, Downtown Vegas taxable revenue is up 8.6 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 32.8 percent in the past year. Nevada pure-play Red Rock Resorts Inc (NASDAQ: RRR) is up 17.1 percent in that time.

Next Catalyst

After multiple analyst upgrades and positive data out of Macau in 2017, shares of Macau operators Las Vegas Sands, MGM, Wynn and Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd(ADR) (NASDAQ: MLCO) have been on fire this year. The stocks are all up between 26 and 49 percent year to date. The next major driver for these four gaming stocks comes Thursday, when Macau reports gross gaming revenue totals for the month of May.

Disclosure: The author is long MLCO.

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