Analysts expect dismal fourth-quarter earnings reports
Fourth-quarter earnings release season begins this week, but Wall Street isn’t expecting much.
“We have low expectations for both quarterly performance and 2009 guidance updates,” Oppenheimer gaming analyst David Katz told investors this morning.
Morgan Joseph gaming analyst Justin T. Sebastiano was equally as pessimistic.
“We are not hopeful for the Nevada, Mississippi, and Colorado (December gaming revenue) results,” he wrote this morning. “All told, we expect U.S. gaming revenue in the month of December to fall nearly 13 percent, and for the December quarter, to drop 10 percent to 11 percent year-over-year.”
Goldman Sachs gaming analyst Steven Kent also chimed in.
“We expect fourth-quarter 2008 gaming results to be very bad, with only size in question.” Kent said in an investors note. “Our fourth-quarter 2008-09 forecasts are well below consensus and we fear others will have to shift to our more sober outlook.”
Slot machine giant International Game Technology kicks off the festivities Thursday morning.
