PreMarket Prep Stock Of The Day: Las Vegas Sands

Benzinga's PreMarket Prep airs every morning from 8-9 a.m. ET. During that fast-paced, highly informative hour, traders and investors tune in to get the major news of the day, the catalysts behind those moves and the corresponding price action for the upcoming session.

On any given day, the show will cover at least 20 stocks determined by co-hosts Joel Elconin and Dennis Dick along with producer Spencer Israel.

Several “reopening” stocks have rallied significantly off March 2020 lows, and many have exceeded the price they traded at prior to the pandemic. 

Now the moment of truth has arrived as to whether the rallies are indeed justified as the pandemic enters its second year and first-quarter earnings are released.

One issue that did not meet the Street’s expectations is Las Vegas Sands Corp. LVS, Thursday's PreMarket Prep Stock of the Day.

Las Vegas Sands A Long-Term Underperformer: Las Vegas Sands made its all-time high in February 2014 at $88.28 and ended that month at $80.78.

Compared with Thursday's price of $58.50, it equates to a negative return of 25%. Over that same time period, the S&P 500 index has yielded a gain of 124%. 

Las Vegas Sands Keeping Pace Off March Low: After ending 2019 at $69.04, the issue was over cut in half when it bottomed in March 2020 at $33.30.

That low coincided perfectly with the August 2012 low of $33.54. At its current price of $58.50, the issue has returned 76% of that depressed level.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 has retuned 90% off its March 2020 low. Yet the index has far exceeded its year-end close of 2019, and Las Vegas Sands is still $10 shy of breakeven.

Recent Las Vegas Sands Price Action: While many of the “reopening” stocks are withing striking distance of rebound highs, the same cannot be said for Las Vegas Sands.

Although it was able to exceed its March 2020 high ($59.52), the stock stalled ahead of its February 2020 high ($71.38), only reaching $66.77 last month.

A majority of the retreat has taken place since April 6, when it ended that session at $63.61. In Thursday’s session, it reached its lowest level since the recovery high when it bottomed at $57.75 earlier in the session before rebounding to the $59 area.

That low matches its March 25 low of $57.77, putting in place a potential double bottom.

The Las Vegas Sands Q1 Report: After the close on Wednesday, the company posted first-quarter earnings of negative 36 cents per share; EPS from continuing operations of negative 28 cents against an estimate of negative 26 cents; and sales of $1.2 billion that missed a $1.36-billion estimate.

This is an 1,100% decrease over losses of 3 cents per share from the same period last year.and a 32.66% decrease over sales of $1.78 billion. during the same period.

Las Vegas Sands Price Action: After a lower open Thursday, Las Vegas Sands continued in that direction and bottomed at $57.75, which matched its low from March 25.

The stock then reversed course. As of 12:15 p.m., the ensuing rally has surpassed the lower end of Wednesday’s range ($58.79), but has yet to reach the close ($60.76), as $59.87 stands as the current high for the session.

The stock was down 2.98% at $58.95 at last check.

Las Vegas Sands Moving Forward: If the rally continues beyond the close, the issue will have to contend with a pair of highs in the same area from Wednesday's ($61.19) and Monday's ($61.43) sessions.

On the downside, if the current double bottom in place is breached, there is limited daily support until the pair of lows from Feb. 17 ($56.65) and Feb. 18 ($56.79).