Most Las Vegas casino shares still down despite market gains

While most of Wall Street started to bounce back Monday after the plunge markets took last week, many local casino operators’ shares continued to drop.

The top six Las Vegas-based public casino operators were hit hard last week, with shares dropping between 6 and 20 percent from Feb. 24 to Feb. 28.

While the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 5 percent Monday, five of the six casino operators had their shares fall even farther.

“I think the concern is that there could be a more pronounced coronavirus outbreak in the US, which could impact visitation to the Strip and regional casinos,” Stifel analyst Brad Boyer said in an email.

Boyd Gaming Corp. shares closed down 1.9 percent to $26.21 on Monday. Caesars Entertainment Corp. shares closed down 2.4 percent to $12.40. Red Rock Resorts shares closed down 1.8 percent to $20.25. Las Vegas Sands Corp. shares closed down 0.1 percent to $58.26. Wynn Resorts Ltd. shares closed down 0.04 percent to $107.94.

Only MGM Resorts International shares gained among the group, closing up 2 percent to $25.05 Monday. The casino operator announced a revised $1.25 billion share buyback on Saturday.

“We think there’s still tremendous uncertainty in the markets about what sort of impact gaming companies may see if coronavirus outbreaks start spiraling in the US,” SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Barry Jonas said in an email.

Spokespeople from Sands, Boyd, Red Rock and Caesars declined to comment. Spokespeople from MGM and Wynn did not respond to requests for comment.

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

Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0233. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.