‘Repeated butt-kicking’: Caesars reports first-quarter financial decline

Despite record occupancy levels driven by the Super Bowl and other holiday visitors, Caesars Entertainment’s first-quarter financial results showed a decline in earnings that may suggest the Strip’s lengthy growth period is slowing.

“This was kind of a repeated butt-kicking, broadly based throughout the quarter,” CEO Tom Reeg said during Tuesday’s first-quarter earnings call.

For the quarter that ended March 31, Caesars reported a net loss of $158 million, or 73 cents per share, on revenue of $2.7 billion. During the same period last year, it reported a net loss of $136 million on $2.8 billion in net revenue.

The Las Vegas segment slowed in year-to-year comparisons. The region reported a net income of $198 million on $1.03 billion of revenue in the first quarter, compared to $293 million on $1.1 billion for the same period a year earlier.

Reeg called it a “kitchen sink” type of quarter while on the call with Wall Street analysts, where multiple things went wrong for the company’s results. He attributed the declines to low table hold in Las Vegas, winter weather events affecting its regional properties and Caesars Sportsbook’s launch in North Carolina.

Executives with the Reno-based operator of Caesars Palace, Flamingo, Planet Hollywood and other Strip properties said record visitor volume that came for the Super Bowl and Lunar New Year in February helped off-set the lower-than-expected hold. The quarter also was slower compared to the same period last year when the once every three years ConExpo-Con/Agg convention was held in March 2023. That convention attracted more than 100,000 attendees last year.

“The consumer that we see on balance continues to remain healthy and spending is robust,” Reeg said in response to investor questions about expectations for the remainder of 2024.

McKenna Ross is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Contact her at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.