Las Vegas Sands Beats Q3 Revenue Estimates, Approves $2 Billion Buyback

Supported by strength at its Macau casino hotels and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) delivered third-quarter revenue that beat Wall Street forecasts.

After the close of US markets today, the Venetian Macau operator said it earned 55 cents a share on sales of $2.8 billion from July through September. Analysts expected earnings of 55 cents on revenue of $2.73 billion. While that top-line beat was relatively modest, it’s still impressive when considering Macau casinos were shuttered briefly last month due to a typhoon.

Sands’ five Macau integrated posted combined third-quarter adjusted property earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $631 million, while Marina Bay Sands contributed $491 million.

We were pleased to see the recovery in travel and tourism spending in both Macao and Singapore progress during the quarter.  We remain deeply enthusiastic about our opportunities for growth in both markets in the years ahead,” CEO Rob Goldstein said in a statement.

Goldstein noted that in Macau, Sands China’s gaming and non-gaming offerings continued displaying improvement in the September quarter.

More Shareholder Rewards from Las Vegas Sands

With its second-quarter earnings report in July, Sands surprised investors by restarting its dividend after a more than three-year suspension.

The Parisian Macau operator extended the theme of shareholder rewards today, announcing that its board approved a $2 billion share repurchase program.

“On October 16, 2023, the company’s Board of Directors authorized increasing the amount of its outstanding common stock authorized to be repurchased from $916 million to $2.0 billion and extending the expiration date of this authorization to November 3, 2025,” according to the statement.  “The company intends to resume its share repurchase program in the fourth quarter of 2023.”

Companies are not under legal obligation to fulfill the entirety of a buyback announcement, but if Sands did do that, it’d retire 17.13 million of its 764.25 million shares outstanding based on today’s closing price of $44.60.

Sands Balance Sheet in Decent Shape

Las Vegas Sands concluded the third quarter with $5.57 billion in cash, good for one of the best stockpiles in the gaming industry. The operator also has access to $4.17 billion in a revolving credit facility. Its debt stood at $14.17 billion as of Sept. 30.

For investors, that war chest is noteworthy because it confirms Sands can sustain, if not grow, its dividend and easily fund the aforementioned share repurchase scheme.

Additionally, the operator’s robust cash hoard paves the way for it to pursue growth initiatives and enhancements to existing venues while not needing to tap credit markets at a time of historically high-interest rates.