Revenue estimates for Wynn Resorts revised up
Wynn Resorts Ltd. shares hit a 52-week high on Wednesday, as trading was propelled by a brighter outlook for business in Las Vegas and record gaming revenue gains last month for Macau.
Shares of the casino company rose as high as $137.10, which was the second new high the shares have reached since the beginning of the month. Wynn Resorts’ shares were also helped by another upgrade by Union Gaming Group.
Meanwhile, Steve Wynn, chief executive of Wynn Resorts, appeared Wednesday among the 30 Best CEOs listed in Barron’s magazine.
This is the first time Barron’s has chosen Wynn or any gaming executive. Barron’s criteria for choosing its honorees includes how corporations and their chief executives approach Asia and other emerging markets.
Bill Lerner, principal analyst with Union Gaming in Las Vegas, attributed his latest upgrade to the strength of the company’s operations in Las Vegas.
“We are again revising our Las Vegas estimates for Wynn Resorts based on impressive citywide convention numbers, a record Chinese New Year and better hotel metrics accented with resounding anecdotes or property-specific strength during the quarter,” Lerner said in a research report.
Las Vegas revenues for the first quarter were estimated at $349.7 million, up from $331.8 million. For 2011, revenues were forecast to reach $1.37 billion, up from a previous estimate of $1.3 billion, according to the Union Gaming report.
Lerner also attributed his upgrade to strength in the city’s convention business. In a fourth-quarter conference call, Wynn Resorts executives indicated conventions would represent 20 percent to 22 percent of all bookings.
In January, Las Vegas convention attendance was 433,390, 3 percent better than expected and 5.5 percent better on an adjusted basis, he said.
Last week, the Chinese gambling capital of Macau reported record March revenue of $2.5 billion, a 48 percent increase from the previous year. Wynn Resorts also recently announced a partnership with online poker site PokerStars, as it joins with other gaming companies to legalize Internet gaming in the United States.
Shares of Wynn Resorts gained $1.16, or 0.87 percent, to close Wednesday at $134.30. Volume of 2.17 million was slightly above the stock’s trailing three-month daily average of 2.1 million shares traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts owns and operates Wynn Las Vegas, Encore and Wynn Macau. The company recently reported revenues for 2010 jumped 37.4 percent to $4.18 billion, compared with $3.04 billion in 2009.
Contact reporter Chris Sieroty at
csieroty@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.
