LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Boyd Gaming is a couple of weeks away from having an enormous wad of money in its pockets, proceeds of its $1.75 billion deal to dump its stake in sports activities betting large Fanduel.
So it was no shock that traders lined up Thursday to ask, “Watcha gonna buy?”
Keith Smith, president and chief government officer of Boyd Gaming, has had a couple of weeks to arrange his succinct reply:
“This Fanduel transaction is NOT a precursor to another transaction,” he stated, asking politely that questions give attention to the corporate’s second-quarter earnings from there on out. Boyd pays down debt and look ahead to alternatives to develop simply as previously, however Boyd is not occurring a shopping for spree anytime quickly — in case you consider responses delivered through the earnings name.
Boyd, which operates 10 locals casinos in Las Vegas and 18 extra nationwide, turned its $10 million funding in Fanduel into monetary stability and a variety of flexibility. An enormous chunk of the payoff is earmarked to reward shareholders and purchase again inventory, each steps anticipated to extend the corporate’s worth.
Revenues of simply over $1.03 billion within the quarter together with incomes of $357.9 million represented the strongest progress in additional than three years, Smith stated.
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He described Boyd’s efficiency within the Las Vegas locals market as the primary year-over-year progress in two years.
Boyd’s energy is constructed on properties like Sam’s City Lodge & Playing Corridor, the Orleans Lodge and On line casino and the Suncoast Lodge & On line casino, locals casinos that are not as depending on tourism as a result of they’ve a powerful buyer base of locals. And that has labored within the firm’s favor as vacationers scaled again plans resulting from financial uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“Growth in play among our local guests more than offset softness in play from our out of town customers,” Smith stated.
“While the Las Vegas Strip has recently seen softer demand trends, there are signs of continued strength in the local economy. In Southern Nevada, employment continues to grow, while local income is increasing, with average weekly wages up more than 5% over the prior year, well above the national average,” he stated.
More cash in prospects’ pockets is nice for casinos, and Trump’s “no taxes on tips” and extra time coverage is anticipated to profit Boyd’s properties. Seniors — about 40% of Boyd’s prospects — are getting a better commonplace tax deduction, too.
As competitors for purchasers will increase, Smith stated he is not excited by getting right into a “room rate war.”
He famous that room charges are decrease than they have been final summer season, however prevented opinions on what that is occurring. “We’re not going to offer $19 hotel rooms,” he stated.
Discussing renovations and tasks, Smith stated the Suncoast is within the midst of its “most disruptive” stage of a challenge deliberate to be achieved by early 2026. “Customers have hung with us,” he stated.
Work on Cadence Crossing, subsequent to Jokers Wild on Boulder Freeway, is progressing with a mid-2026 opening deliberate. That on line casino challenge can be developed in phases, finally swallowing Jokers Wild in a location primed to serve the fast-growing neighborhood within the southeast Las Vegas valley. Plans embrace a resort and extra on line casino house in future phases.
The Orleans, with 1,900 resort rooms, has felt a number of the influence from the drop in journey. However one other issue favoring locals casinos entails a rise in playing by prospects who do not use participant playing cards over the previous 12 months. That has been an element on the Orleans in addition to the corporate’s regional casinos throughout the nation.
“We attribute that largely to customers staying closer to home,” Josh Hirsberg, chief monetary officer and treasurer, informed traders. He stated that features “drive-in” enterprise and locals.
Smith acknowledged that softness on the Strip is often paralleled downtown — the place Boyd operates the California Lodge & On line casino, the Fremont Lodge & On line casino and Essential Road Station On line casino Brewery Lodge — however he referred to as numbers from these properties “solid” within the second quarter.
