{"id":281271,"date":"2023-07-16T01:00:39","date_gmt":"2023-07-16T06:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=281271"},"modified":"2023-07-17T11:04:43","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T16:04:43","slug":"sands-highlighted-by-morgan-stanley-as-top-casino-stock-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-highlighted-by-morgan-stanley-as-top-casino-stock-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Sands Called Top Casino Stock Idea by Morgan Stanley"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) are already up 26.77% year-to-date, underscoring surprising congruence with the Macau rebound. Some analysts believe the stock is primed for more upside.<\/p>\n

\"casino
The Parisian Macau. Operator Las Vegas Sands is Morgan Stanley’s top casino stock pick. (Image: YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a new report to clients, Morgan Stanley analyst Stephen Grambling called Sands the firm\u2019s top casino stock pick — a proclamation that arrives ahead of the company\u2019s second-quarter earnings report, due out on Wednesday, July 19. Macau, where Sands\u2019 Sands China runs five casino resorts, is a significant factor in Wall Street\u2019s upbeat view<\/a> of the stock.<\/p>\n

LVS historically has catered primarily to the mass market leader with ~25% market share pre-COVID and expect that share to improve over time as it invested $2B across two Macau properties during the pandemic. LVS\u2019s other major property in Singapore continues to generate positive trends while also boasting a pristine balance sheet (<1x 2024 Net Debt\/EBITDA) and ~$6.5B of cash at the end of 1Q23,\u201d<\/strong> observed Grambling.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The analyst rates Sands \u201coverweight\u201d with a $71 price target. \u00a0That implies upside of 16.3% from the July 14 close and slightly above the consensus price forecast of $69.78.<\/p>\n

\u2018Best Way to Play Macau\u2019<\/h2>\n

Sands is one of six Macau concessionaires, and broadly speaking, that group is delivering for investors<\/a> this year. The special administrative region\u2019s (SAR) gaming industry is rebounding from three years of punitive coronavirus restrictions enforced by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).<\/p>\n

\n

Performances across that group of casino stocks aren\u2019t linear. But with Sands\u2019 ability to command and grow market share among mass and premium mass players — at a time when the VIP recovery remains tepid — the name has the potential to be a leader among Macau equities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe see it being the best way to play Macau, and one of the final consumer recovery stories coming out of COVID-19,\u201d observed Grambling.<\/p>\n

As for back-half catalysts that could propel Sands, the possibility that Macau\u2019s gross gaming revenue (GGR) could at some point this year return to 2019 levels could be a legitimate spark. That metric approached 65% of pre-COVID levels last month.<\/p>\n

Sands Solid Casino Stock Idea Beyond 2023<\/h2>\n

Grambling also noted that ongoing strength at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore — Sands\u2019 lone venue outside of Macau — adds to the stock\u2019s second half 2023. With the calendar already in July, it\u2019s likely to be just a short spell before analysts and investors turn to assessing 2024 catalysts for Sands.<\/p>\n

As Grambling points out, those could include the resumption of the company\u2019s dividend, which has been suspended since 2020, the announcement of a share repurchase program, and potentially winning one of three New York City-area casino permits that will be awarded.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sands was previously the gaming industry\u2019s dominant dividend-payer, and executives have extolled a preference for resuming the payout to share repurchases. But that view could change. Plus, the operator is likely to need permission from some of its creditors<\/a> to restart the dividend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) are already up 26.77% year-to-date, underscoring surprising congruence with the Macau rebound. Some analysts believe the stock is primed for more upside. In a new report to clients, Morgan Stanley analyst Stephen Grambling called Sands the firm\u2019s top casino stock pick — a proclamation that arrives ahead of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":218022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,10],"tags":[81913,81903],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSands Highlighted By Morgan Stanley As Top Casino Stock Choice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Las Vegas Sands called best casino stock idea by Morgan Stanley.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-highlighted-by-morgan-stanley-as-top-casino-stock-choice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sands Highlighted By Morgan Stanley As Top Casino Stock Choice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Las Vegas Sands called best casino stock idea by Morgan Stanley.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-highlighted-by-morgan-stanley-as-top-casino-stock-choice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-16T06:00:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-17T16:04:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/PM2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-highlighted-by-morgan-stanley-as-top-casino-stock-choice\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-highlighted-by-morgan-stanley-as-top-casino-stock-choice\/\",\"name\":\"Sands Highlighted By Morgan Stanley As Top Casino Stock Choice\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-highlighted-by-morgan-stanley-as-top-casino-stock-choice\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-highlighted-by-morgan-stanley-as-top-casino-stock-choice\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/PM2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-16T06:00:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-17T16:04:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"Las Vegas Sands called best casino stock idea by Morgan Stanley.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-highlighted-by-morgan-stanley-as-top-casino-stock-choice\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-highlighted-by-morgan-stanley-as-top-casino-stock-choice\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-highlighted-by-morgan-stanley-as-top-casino-stock-choice\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/PM2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/PM2.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"The Parisian Macau. 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