Penn National Q4 Earnings Highlights: Revenue Beat, Share Buyback, 2022 Guidance And Barstool Sports Update

Casino and sports betting company Penn National Gaming Inc PENN reported fourth-quarter and full fiscal year earnings Thursday. Here are the highlights.

What Happened: Fourth-quarter revenue for Penn National Gaming was $1.6 billion, beating a Street consensus estimate of $1.5 billion, according to Benzinga Pro.

The company reported earnings per share of 26 cents per share for the fourth quarter.

“I am pleased to report a strong finish to another transformative year for Penn National. Our fourth quarter revenues of $1.6 billion and Adjusted EBITDAR of $480.5 million exceeded both 2020 and 2019 levels,” Penn President and CEO Jay Snowden said.

Penn estimates it has a 12% market share in the retail sports betting market outside of Nevada.

“Penn Interactive is the leading operator of retail sportsbooks in West Virginia, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Colorado and Louisiana and we believe we are similarly well positioned for success in Ohio.”

The Barstool Sports brand, in which Penn owns an equity stake, performed well in the fourth quarter and full year, according to the company. Barstool Sports had a record year for financials and audience metrics in fiscal 2021. The social media reach of Barstool Sports passed 144 million, up 25% year-over-year.

Barstool Sports expanded its reach with new verticals like frozen pizza, men’s grooming and sports bars, Snowden said. 

Penn opened the Hollywood Casino Morgantown in Pennsylvania in the quarter, giving it 44 properties in North America.

Related Link: Penn National Q3 Earnings Highlights: Revenue Beat, Barstool Sportsbook In 10 States, Omnichannel Growth

What’s Next: Penn National completed its acquisition of Score Media and Gaming in the fourth quarter, which Snowden highlighted along with several other strategic objectives.

Penn has also launched online sports betting in the state of Louisiana since the end of the fourth quarter. As a result, the company now has sports betting in 12 states and iGaming in four.

Launches from the company in 2022 are expected to include Ontario, Ohio and Maryland for the sports betting division.

“As we expand, we will continue to focus on sustainable growth, organic customer acquisition and targeted marketing and promotional spend,” Snowden said.

Penn announced a $750-million share buyback over the next three years.

The company announced fiscal 2022 guidance with revenue expected to be in a range of $6.07 billion to $6.39 billion and adjusted EBITDAR to be in a range of $1.85 billion to $1.95 billion.

Snowden also noted that the interactive segment is expected to have a lower EBITDA loss in fiscal 2022 with additional launches and bringing its technology in-house. Positive EBITDA is expected for the interactive segment in fiscal 2023.

Penn plans on acquiring the remainder of Barstool Sports in early 2023, which the company said will complement the acquisition of theScore.

“We look towards acquiring the remainder of Barstool Sports Inc, which will highly complement theScore’s strong media presence, sports brand and loyal audience, accelerating our transformation into a major media and entertainment company.”

PENN Price Action: PENN shares were trading 7.44% higher at $49.07 Thursday morning.