Las Vegas Sands Leads Casinos Higher on Signs of Macau Recovery

Redd Brown, Bloomberg News

The Venetian Macao resort and casino, operated by Sands China Ltd., a unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp., left, stands illuminated at night in Macau, China, on Tuesday, March 3, 2020. Casinos in Macau, the Chinese territory that's the world’s biggest gambling hub, reported a record drop in gaming revenue, as they grappled with the cost of closing down their businesses for 15 days to help contain the deadly coronavirus outbreak. Photographer: Billy H.C. Kwok/Bloomberg ,

(Bloomberg) -- Shares for casino operators with Macau locations were among the best performing after the open after earnings from Las Vegas Sands signaled the return of Chinese gamblers to the region.

“A robust recovery in travel and tourism spending across our markets is now underway,” Chief Executive Officer Robert Goldstein said in a statement Wednesday.

Shares rose 4% after the open, the highest level since May 2021. Fellow casino operators followed Las Vegas Sands higher Thursday morning. Wynn Resorts grew 2.4%, while MGM Resorts was up 1.5% as of 9:48 a.m. in New York. Caesars Entertainment Inc. trailed slightly at 0.1%.

Las Vegas Sands reported positive adjusted property earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization at each of its Macau locations for the first time since 2019. A recovery in Macau spending is likely to benefit the company more than its peers, as Sands had 38% of sales there in 2022, compared with 20% for Wynn Resorts Ltd. and 5% for MGM Resorts International, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Brian Egger wrote in a note before the earnings release.

Las Vegas Sands witnessed a recovery in all gaming and non-gaming segments during the first quarter. Overall, adjusted property Ebitda rose more than sevenfold in the period to $792 million from $110 million in the prior year.

(Updates share moves after the open.)