Gaming industry stocks were not spared in Monday’s more than 1,000-point decline by the New York Stock Exchange, the worst day for the market since 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.6 percent while the Nasdaq fell 3.4 percent, a 576-point drop.
The major publicly traded casino operators and gaming equipment providers experienced different degrees of decline. Caesars Entertainment lost 6.9 percent of its share price value on the Nasdaq, closing at $33.20. MGM Resorts International saw a nearly 4 percent decline on the New York Exchange to close at $34.07 a share.
Of the gaming equipment companies, slot machine developers Light & Wonder experienced a nearly 5 percent decline on the Nasdaq to close at $97.51. International Game Technology’s stock price fell 1.3 percent on the New York Exchange to close at $21.38.
Locals casino operators were also down. Boyd Gaming fell 2 percent on the New York Exchange to close at $54.16 while Red Rock Resorts saw its stock price decline 3.7 percent to close at $49.66 on the Nasdaq. STRAT owner Golden Entertainment saw its stock price fall more than 6 percent to close at $27.78 on the Nasdaq.
Several analysts who follow the gaming industry told The Nevada Independent they wanted to hold back on their commentary to see if the tumble was just a one-day event or if the markets decline again Tuesday.
They noted, however, that several casino companies have seen double-digit percentage declines in their stock prices during the past week, but didn’t provide any explanation.
The investment community has been primarily focused on second-quarter earnings announcements in the past few weeks. Wynn Resorts, Penn Entertainment and Light & Wonder are three of the larger gaming operators announcing earnings this week.
B. Riley Securities gaming analyst David Bain told the financial news site SeekingAlpha.com that he still had a positive outlook on the stock prices of most casino operators and gaming equipment providers, but investment uncertainty is weighing down the overall sector.
“We note most casino/supplier valuations are already trading several turns below historical averages despite reaching new gaming records and a history of sector revenue resilience,” Bain said.
Several analysts and economists told the Washington Post it was too soon to panic about the stock declines foreshadowing an economic slowdown.
“This is not the recession train; it’s just a good old-fashioned market panic,” Joe Brusuelas, principal and chief economist for RSM US told the Post. “This is not a D.C.-inspired event, about a slowing job market or the Fed being behind the curve. It’s about a larger regime change, where investors are adjusting to the end of easy money globally.”
