Tickers: PENN, OEH, RCL
EVENTS TO WATCH:
Friday, May 9
• HLT Q1 earnings – 10am , Passcode: 25981567
• AHT Q1 earnings – 11am
Monday, May 12
• DRH Q1 earnings – 10am , Passcode: 66393516
• HMIN Q1 earnings – 9pm
• SJM Holdings Q1 earnings
Tuesday, May 13
Nomura Global Gaming & Lodging Conference in New York
• 8am WYN
• 3pm RHP
• 4:30 pm HOT
• HTHT Q1 earnings – 9pm , Passcode 28722442
Wells Fargo Gaming Conference in Las Vegas (all times EDT)
• 11:40am PNK
• 12:20pm IGT
• 12:20pm CHDN
• 1 pmBYD
• 1 pmMGAM
• 1:40pm PENN
• 2:25pm BYI
• 5:05pm SGMS
• 5:05pm Seminole Gaming
• 5:50pm GLPI
• 5:50pm Golden Nugget
1:1 meetings only – MPEL, Station Casino, Motor City Casino & Hotel, and Jacob’s Entertainment.
Wednesday, May 14:
• Altantic City April Revenues
• Japan Gaming Conference thru Friday, May 16
Thursday, May 15
• Atlantic City April Revenues
• Japan Gaming Conference thru Friday, May 16
COMPANY NEWS
PENN – CEO Timothy Wilmott has purchased 50,000 shares at an average price of $10.74 each giving him 188,623 shares. CFO Saul Reibstein has purchased 500 shares at an average price of $10.53 each, giving him 7,950 shares.
Takeaway: Nice stock purchase right in the face of an analyst downgrade. Good confidence for a stock in need of some.
OEH - The 5-Star Hotel Ritz in Madrid, one of Spain's most prestigious properties, is listed for sale. The property is 50% owned by the private Omega Capital led by billionaire Alicia Koplowitz, and 50% by New York-based Orient Express Hotels. The two bought the property for €125m in 2003 from the Le Meridien hotel group.
Takeaway: Won't know if this is a positive until we know the price but seems like a good time to sell luxury hotel assets.
RCL - orders 4th Oasis-Class Vessel
Oasis III will be 20% more energy efficient than Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. The 4th Oasis-class ship will be even more efficient. Capex guidance for 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 are $1.4b, $1.4b, $2.2b, $0.3b and $1.5b.
Takeaway: Expected order given the high yielding performance of the Oasis-class ships. As long as the gap between new and old ships continues to widen, expect continued supply increases.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Cyprus Gaming Expansion – Commerce Minister George Lakkotrypis on Thursday told reporters a bill to regulate casinos will be submitted to parliament later this month and, once approved, the fast-track licence process will take eight months via an open tender process. Mr. Lakkotrypis estimated the first licence will be issued around March/April of 2015.
Takeaway: A much closer location for VIP gamblers from Europe, Mediterranean, Western Russia and the Middle East. Could be up to 4,000 slots as well.
Las Vegas – The median sales prices of homes in Las Vegas rose 15% YoY but -1.5% YoY in April to $192,000
Takeaway: Housing related wealth effect will soon outweigh demographic headwinds in LV Locals. We expect BYD and Stations to benefit from exposure to what we believe will be the best performing regional gaming market in the country over the next few years.
Hotel M&A - Marcus & Millichap sold a four-property portfolio of La Quinta Inns for $11.8m. Average price per key of $23,413 for midscale properties.
- 136 room in St. Louis, MO
- 104 room in St. Louis, MO
- 134 mixed corridor hotel in Tallahassee, FL
- 130 mixed corridor hotel in Knoxville, TN
MACRO
Hedgeye remains negative on consumer spending and believes in more inflation. Following a great call on rising housing prices, the Hedgeye Macro/Financials team is turning decidedly less positive.
Takeaway: We’ve found housing prices to be the single most significant factor in driving gaming revenues over the past 20 years in virtually all gaming markets across the US.
