“I think there’s a bias in the government to get a pound of flesh. There’s a meanness against business. The [Obama] administration has a sense of anti-business because of the excessive things that were done on Wall Street” – Steve Wynn

Steve Wynn has a strong case against the anti-capitalist sentiment growing out of Washington.  Wynn Encore created 4,000 new jobs last year in a bad economy.  That’s a huge number, but a mere pimple on the face of Wynn’s historical contribution to the local, state, and national economy.  The man has employed 10’s of thousands of people and is most responsible for turning Las Vegas into a giant economy in and of itself.

Betting against Wynn is never a smart long-term decision.  Short-term might be a different situation.  While we expected Macau to perform better than expected, and it has, Las Vegas was pretty much a disaster for the WYNN properties.  We are projecting $33 million combined for Wynn Las Vegas and Encore, well below the Street at $60 million.  Unfortunately, $33 million may be too aggressive.

The poor Las Vegas performance will pull company EBITDA below the Street estimate of $151 million.  Indeed, we are projecting $129 million with Macau strength partially offsetting the big shortfall. 

 

WYNN DEFENDS THE TRUE JOB CREATORS - wynn q1 projections

 

With the stock up 95% off the March 9th low, there may be some room to fall.  Wynn may lose the Q1 battle but he’s never lost a war.