Macau Gambling Revenue Jumps, Lifting Vegas Casinos

BloombergFrom Investors – Shares of Las Vegas-based casinos rose Monday after a report that table gambling revenue in Macau for July is on track to climb 19% from the same month a year ago.

Sterne Agee said it expects gross gambling revenue take for Vegas casinos Las Vegas Sands (LVS), MGM Resorts International (MGM) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN), and the three Hong Kong casinos with operations in Macau, to total $3.68 billion.

That would continue a hot streak for Macau, the world’s largest and fastest-growing casino gambling locale.

The report comes on the heels of an upbeat report last week for Las Vegas, where gambling revenue on the Strip rose a healthy 6.4% in May, according to the latest figures.

Sterne Agee analyst David Bain said not to make too much of the latest report because market shares vary from month to month.

“Market shares move around a lot because of hold, or really the ‘luck factor,'” for each casino, Bain told IBD, adding that Wynn’s share has dipped a bit over time but there haven’t been any big shifts.

Sands has the biggest share of the three U.S. casinos, with 21.5% of total revenue in Macau, up from 20.5% from the prior month. It opened its newest multi-billion-dollar casino in the former Portuguese colony, the Sands Cotai, a year ago.