Asia Pacific Gaming

Las Vegas Sands Expands Buyback by $6B to Soften Q2 Earnings Miss

Posted on: July 22, 2026, 05:40h.

Last updated on: July 23, 2026, 05:09h.

Written by

Todd Shriber Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News...
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Key Points

Las Vegas Sands is adding $6 billion to its authorized share buyback program
The operator repurchased $787 million of its own stock during the second quarter
LVS shares have dropped 30.5% year-to-date, falling significantly off their 52-week peak

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) is signaling confidence in its beaten-down stock, authorizing a $6 billion expansion to its share repurchase program alongside its second-quarter earnings report.

Las Vegas Sands Robert Goldstein China — The Venetian on the Cotai Strip in Macau, owned by Las Vegas Sands. The company’s second-quarter earnings missed estimates, but it added $6 billion to its share buyback plan. (Image: Shutterstock)

The announcement accompanied the release of the gaming company’s second-quarter earnings report — results that have the stock trading lower by more than 5% in after-hours trading.

As of the close U.S. markets today, shares of Las Vegas Sands are off 30.48% year-to-date — a decline some analysts believe is too severe. Share price weakness and belief that there’s value in the stock may be among the reasons for the $6 billion buyback addition, but the company didn’t say as much.

“On July 21, 2026, the company’s Board of Directors authorized increasing the remaining share repurchase amount to $6.0 billion and extending the expiration date of the authorization to July 21, 2029,” according to a statement issued by the Las Vegas-based operator.

After buying back $787 million worth of its shares in the June quarter, Sands had $29 million remaining on a previously authorized share repurchase program.

Sands Feasting on its Own Stock

As is the case with some of its rivals, Sands has been an aggressive buyer of its own shares in recent years, but that hasn’t been enough to stem the tide of a 19.17% loss over the past three years.

“Since the resumption of our share repurchase program in the fourth quarter of 2023 through June 30, 2026, we have repurchased 16.3% of our outstanding shares, approximately 124 million shares of our common stock at an average price of $48.49, for a total investment of $6.03 billion,” the Londoner operator added in the statement.

The stock closed at $45.25 on Wednesday (July 22), sitting 35.77% off its 52-week high. Regarding the expanded buyback, Sands noted that the timing and volume of share repurchases will depend on several factors, including “the company’s financial position, earnings, legal requirements, other investment opportunities, and market conditions.”

Sands had $3.38 billion in cash at the end of the second quarter, indicating it has the firepower to meaningfully reduce its shares outstanding over the near-term.

Macau Weighs on Sands Q2 Results

As was expected, Macau, where Sands operates five casino hotels, was a drag on the company’s second-quarter results. Due to the overhang of the World Cup, June was the worst month of 2026 thus far in terms of gross gaming revenue (GGR) in the gaming enclave.

For the June quarter, Sands earned 59 cents a share on revenue of $3.15 billion while analysts expected earnings of 76 cents on sales of $3.31 billion.

Sands had $15.11 billion in debt at the end of the quarter.

Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org.

Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019.

Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com.

He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better.

Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.