Vegas Strip Gaming Rebounds In February

The Nevada state gaming control board released its report on gaming revenue for the Las Vegas area in February.

What Happened

Nevada's non-restricted gaming licensees reported a total “gaming win” of $1.017 billion in February, a 7.6 percent year-over-year increase.

Statewide revenue is now up 2.3 percent in the current fiscal year.

More than $603 million (about 59 percent) of Nevada's statewide gaming win in February came from the Las Vegas Strip.

Why It's Important

Shareholders of strip mega-resort operators Wynn Resorts, Limited WYNN, Las Vegas Sands Corp. LVS and MGM Resorts International MGM watch Strip numbers closely. Gaming win for the Strip was up 11.3 percent from a year ago in February.

Strip gaming win is now down 0.09 percent overall in the fiscal year, making the Strip the only region in the state experiencing negative revenue growth.

Downtown Vs. Strip

Downtown gaming win was up 2.8 percent on the month and is now up 6.3 percent in the fiscal year.

Shares of Boyd Gaming Corporation BYD, which operates three downtown casinos, are up 46.9 percent in the past year.

Casino stocks have been on quite a run in the past year on the strength of stable numbers out of Vegas and a strong recovery in Macau. Macau reported its first annual revenue gain in three years in 2017, with gross gaming revenue jumping 19 percent last year. Macau is expected to report its monthly revenue report before the market open next Monday.

Earlier this week, Morgan Stanley named Las Vegas Sands its top stock pick in the gaming space.

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