Macau casino owners Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts, MGM extend stock gains on China stimulus

By Steve Gelsi and Tomi Kilgore

Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts stocks are each up about 20% this week

Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. extended their gains on Friday on the heels of China's effort to stimulate its economy.

Both stocks are also among the top gainers in the S&P 500 SPX on Friday, along with fellow Macau casino operator MGM Resorts International (MGM), which rose 3.8%.

Wynn Resorts (WYNN) also drew an extra boost from Morgan Stanley analyst Stephen Grambling, who upgraded the stock to overweight from equal-weight and hiked its price target to $104 a share from $97 a share.

Grambling said Wynn offers additional upside even after its recent boost, as the company readies an Oct. 8 presentation on its expansion plans in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

"The combination of near low valuation, an underappreciated growth opportunity in UAE, and optionality around Macau provide a favorable risk-reward & re-rating," Grambling said.

Along with the UAE project, other potential upward triggers for Wynn Resorts stock include greater stability in Las Vegas and the potential for increased capital return to shareholders in the form of buybacks or dividends.

Las Vegas Sands stock (LVS) advanced by 5.6%, bringing the stock's weekly gain up to 21.7%.

Las Vegas Sands owns five casinos in Macau, China, which generated $1.75 billion out of a total of $2.76 billion of the company's second-quarter revenue.

Meanwhile, Wynn Resorts Ltd.'s stock was up 5.8% to bring its rise for the week to 20.8%.

The company operates the Wynn Macau in China.

China's huge stimulus package, announced earlier this week, has sparked a four-day rally in stocks in the Shanghai Composite Index.

Chinese stocks could now be set to post fresh gains as international investors suffer from what Goldman Sachs strategist Scott Rubner called FOMO, or fear of missing out.

Prior to Friday's trades, Las Vegas Sands' stock has risen 15.3% in the past week as the fourth-best performer on the S&P 500 SPX since Monday. The stock's weekly gain ranks as its largest since it rose 16.9% in the week ending Aug. 27, 2021.

Wynn Resorts was the fifth-best performer for the week in the S&P 500 with a gain of 14.2%, prior to Friday's trades.

-Steve Gelsi -Tomi Kilgore

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-27-24 1114ET

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.