Q3 Earnings: Revenues in Nevada Increase

Penn National Gaming announced earnings of 51 cents per share, which surpassed all expectations; and in a major way. Zacks Consensus Estimate had predicted only 27 cents for the quarter, so results were 89% better than the forecasted earnings. Net revenues were also higher, increasing by 3.6% year-on-year to $765.6 million. These were also better than what the management hoped to achieve. They have also set their sights on revenues of $748.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2016, which ends in December. Earnings per share for the whole year are expected to be in the region of 99 cents to $1.08, with revenues around $3.04 billion. Although their stock is trading at 26% down from October last year, they have shortened the deficit to 18%, if you look at where they stood in January 2016.

Monarch Casino & Resort’s third-quarter reported earnings of 45 cents per share for Q3 of 2016. This too was better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 15% (the prediction was 39 cents per share). Year-on-year earnings for the company increased by 21.6%. Their revenues were at $57.1 million, which beat the Estimate by more than 2%. Their year-on-year revenues rose by 6.6% at their Monarch Casino Black Hawk and Atlantis casinos. Non-gambling revenues, such as from food & beverages and hotels, too saw a rise.

Earnings per share of 89 cents was expected from Churchill Downs, but they announced only 52 cents, which is still a 30% year-on-year increase. Their revenues (including from Big Fish Games, which they acquired in December 2014) were $303 million, an 8.4% rise year-on-year.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board summarized the performance of all operators by mentioning an increase in gambling revenues by 3.6% to $949 million for September 2016. This comes off the back of a fall in August 2016, after stellar performances in June and July. The Las Vegas Strip, which rakes in more than half of Nevada’s gambling revenues, saw an improvement of 7.5% in September 2016 compared to the same month last year. For Reno, it was only 1.7%.