In the grand casino of Wall Street, where fortunes ride on the spin of market’s wheel, MGM Resorts International’s stock has encountered a rough patch. The gaming behemoth, which lords over grand palaces of chance from the neon-draped boulevards of Las Vegas to the burgeoning baccarat tables of Macau, finds its shares trailing behind the broader S&P 500—year-to-date, those shares have dipped by 4.10%.
But the house doesn’t always lose, and there’s a flutter of excitement stirring amongst analysts, who place their bets on a near-term rally. Indeed, the spotlight is intensifying on MGM as the company prepares to unveil its first-quarter earnings on the evening of May 1st—a moment anticipated to serve as a boon or bane for the languishing stock. The narrative woven by market watchers holds that this stock, in its current state of oversold gloom, is primed for a resurgence.
Crafty chart readers of Schaeffer’s Investment Research point to MGM’s dance with its 126-day moving average – a historical beacon of hope where, in similar scenarios, the operator has played its hand well. Of the last six flirtations with this metric, MGM’s stock prospered two-thirds of the time, notching an encouraging 4.4% gain across the following month. Should history repeat its old Vegas trick, MGM’s stock could swagger to nearly $45 per share.
This tale of odds and analytics extends to Seaport Research’s Vitaly Umansky, who, shuffling his deck of projections, lays down a “buy” rating and stakes a $56 price target on MGM. His optimism is echoed in the gaming Mecca of Macau, where Umansky foresees gross gaming revenue vaulting up by a compound annual growth rate of 18% through 2025, propelling forward the fortunes of MGM’s 56% stake in MGM China.
Further down The Strip, Bank of America’s Shaun Kelley deals out his take, suggesting MGM may trump the competition with its imminent quarterly figures. While Kelley plays a conservative hand regarding Las Vegas earnings, aligning them with forecasts, he predicts less fortune for competitors like Caesars Entertainment, which he anticipates may fall shy of expectations. Kelley also alludes to promising baccarat trends that could pad MGM’s and Wynn Resorts’ bottom lines.
Yet not all chips are stacked on the felt just yet. Speculation swirls about potential divestments of less lusty assets in Massachusetts and Ohio, though MGM keeps its cards close to the vest, remaining silent on any such market maneuvers.
And there’s the other game—also played out on screens and devices—MGM’s BetMGM entangled in a digital duel with DraftKings and FanDuel. Here, fundamentals take the fore: MGM’s quest to inspire investor faith hinges on deft moves to reduce debt, buy back shares, and outmaneuver its online adversaries.
In the ever-shifting gamble that is the stock market, MGM Resorts International holds its breath, eyes fixed on the spinning wheel and the flickering screens decreeing the verdicts of market sentiment. In Las Vegas and beyond, the bettors watch, bankrolls in hand, waiting to see whether the house will indeed win again.
