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Las Vegas Sands (LVS) Down 40% in the Past Year: Is Revival Likely?

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The past couple of years has been tough for Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS - Free Report) . In the past one year, the company’s shares have slumped 39.7%, compared with the industry’s decline of 56.9%. However, an increase in visitation and a robust portfolio are likely to drive the company’s performance. Let’s delve deeper.

Factors Likely to Drive Growth

The company is optimistic about Macao’s recovery. Visitations improved in March and April. During first-quarter 2022, the region appeared resilient, courtesy of strong customer demand and robust spending at the premium mass level from the gaming and retail perspective. With the easing of restrictions and recovery in travel and tourism, the company anticipates generating strong positive cash flows from the region in the days ahead.

Las Vegas Sands is quite confident about growth prospects in Singapore, which is one of the top spots for gambling. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the company announced that it would continue to invest in the expansion of Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, to reinforce its dominant position in the region. It anticipates demand in Singapore to be robust after travel and tourism spending return to normal.

The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company is very optimistic about returning to positive cash flow in both Macao and Singapore following relaxation restrictions, which will drive travel and tourism. During first-quarter 2022, it generated positive EBITDA at Marina Bay Sands (in Singapore) and for the company (as a whole) despite the pandemic-induced headwinds.

Las Vegas Sands, one of the leading companies in the gaming and lodging industry, has a solid business model, extensive non-gaming revenue opportunities, high-quality assets and attractive property locations. The strong portfolio has somewhat aided the company in countering the economic downturn in China. Meanwhile, with the economy recovering in the United States, the company’s business should continue to grow.

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Concerns

The coronavirus pandemic negatively impacted the company’s operations in first-quarter 2022. The Macao and Singapore recovery remains slow, and it is still not clear when the market will return to the pre-pandemic level. The company’s results in the quarter were impacted by the travel-related restrictions in both Macao and Singapore.

Maintaining liquidity has become an arduous task for most companies during the coronavirus pandemic. As of Mar 31, 2022, the company had total debt of $14.95 billion compared with $14.77 billion at the end of Dec 31, 2021. As of Dec 31, 2021, unrestricted cash balances amounted to $6.43 billion compared with $1.85 billion as of Dec 31, 2021. Meanwhile, the times-interest-earned ratio at the end of the first quarter came in at (1.7x) compared with (1.4x) in the previous quarter.

Key Picks

Some better-ranked stocks in the Consumer Discretionary sector are Civeo Corporation (CVEO - Free Report) , Bluegreen Vacations Holding Corporation and Funko, Inc. (FNKO - Free Report) .

Civeo carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 1,565.1%, on average. Shares of the company have surged 58.1% in the past year. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CVEO’s 2022 sales and earnings per share (EPS) suggests growth of 12.5% and 1,450%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.

Bluegreen Vacations sports a Zacks Rank #1. BVH has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 85.9%, on average. The stock has appreciated 39.8% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BVH’s current financial year sales and EPS indicates growth of 11.2% and 35.1%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s reported levels.

Funko flaunts a Zacks Rank #1. FNKO has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 78.7%, on average. Shares of the company have declined 6.1% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Funko’s current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 26.8% and 31%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s reported levels.


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