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Things continue to look up for Macau’s gaming scene. Market watchers saw a jolt last week from the property-owned casino stocks in the Chinese gaming mecca after the island posted its second-best monthly performance since the pandemic.
Casinos in Macau saw $2.4 billion in total gaming revenue, up 67% from the same month last year. This comes behind October’s record $2.42 billion.
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Macau’s gaming scene dried up during the pandemic, but since China began allowing residents to visit again, the island has regained its position as the world’s top gambling destination. The revenue numbers caused a surge in gaming stocks like Melco International, Galaxy Entertainment, and MGM China, Wynn Macau, and Sands China.
The total revenue represents a stark contrast to what the island has seen over the past few years. Increasing numbers in the past few months point to a return to normalcy in 2024. The gaming industry on the island Produced $22.8 billion in 2023after seeing only $2.8 billion in the period from 2020 to 2022.
“These have been very difficult years for Macau, and its gambling industry,” reports TheStreet.com. “COVID-19 has shut down casinos and kept gamblers away. Casino operators were forced to maintain headcount, bleeding a torrent of red ink. Those difficult times are over. This year, gambling revenues should exceed pre-existingCoronavirus disease levels for the first time since the outbreak of the epidemic. The boom in Chinese outbound travel is the main driver behind trends that bode well for casino stocks.
Some industry insiders are more optimistic about this year’s Macau. Stifel Financial gaming analyst Steve Wieczynski recently forecast revenue growth of 35% for the year.
“While we remain ahead of the consensus, we believe the current consensus forecast is still overly conservative,” he wrote.
Recent reports also suggest that revenue gains have expanded beyond simply meeting the needs of China’s wealthy elite. Small-stakes gamblers now represent a larger proportion of Macau casino customers.
