MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment Stocks Upgrade: What You Need To Know

The Las Vegas gaming market seems to be delivering a faster- and stronger-than-expected recovery, with “especially positive booking trends," according to Morgan Stanley.

The Gaming Market Analyst: Thomas Allen upgraded the ratings for MGM Resorts International MGM and Caesars Entertainment Inc CZR to Overweight, while raising the price targets from $34 to $45 and from $92 to $113, respectively.

The Gaming Market Thesis: A visit to Vegas last week revealed that the market was busy even midweek, with the South Strip, which is where the properties of MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment are located, busier than the North Strip, Allen said in the upgrade note.

“The market is back to running at ~95% occupancy on weekends, with the operators able to push room rates higher,” the analyst wrote.

“A number of mkt participants highlighted May as when they expect current gov’t restrictions to be relieved,” he said, while adding that performance through summer should “improve materially.”

"Notably, consensus is looking for 2Q21 Vegas occupancy of just 60%, despite March appearing to be at 63-70% already and trends improving sequentially,” Allen said. “We believe consensus is grossly underestimating the earnings power of companies exposed."

CZR Price Action: Shares are up 4.68% to $93.10 Monday morning

MGM Price Action: Shares are up 7.28$ to $42.50 Monday morning.

(Photo by Michał Parzuchowski on Unsplash)