Macau gross gaming revenue surged 28 percent in April

The Chinese resort enclave posted monthly gaming revenue of $3.2 billion compared with $2.5 billion in the same month last year. It was the 21st consecutive month of growth.

The growth was driven by both high-rollers and mass market. The increase beat Wall Street analysts’ expectations of a 20 percent gain.

“We can never recall a time in which both market segments were trending at such encouraging levels,” Stifel analyst Steven Wieczynski said in a note Tuesday.

Macau gross gaming revenue has risen 22 percent over the first four months of 2018 to $12.6 billion.

Union Gaming said the strong April results could mean a much stronger performance in 2018 overall than the 17 percent growth it had originally forecast.

“With growth accelerating and both VIP and mass remaining above 20 percent growth, we remain bullish on the market and have a high degree of confidence in our forecast for the year with a bias to the upside,” Union Gaming analyst Grant Govertsen said in a note Tuesday.

Wynn Resorts shares climbed $4.94, or 2.7 percent, to $191.13 while Las Vegas Sands added $1.41, or 1.9 percent, to $74.74. Wynn Resorts generates about 75 percent of its cash flow from Macau while Sands earns more than 60 percent.

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson.

Contact Todd Prince at 702-383-0386 or tprince@reviewjournal.com. Follow @toddprincetv on Twitter.