Wynn UAE Casino Garnering Appreciation on Wall Street

Posted on: February 19, 2025, 03:46h. 

Last updated on: February 19, 2025, 03:46h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.
  • Analysts bullish on Wynn UAE casino
  • Venue will be first gaming property in the Arab world

Wynn Resorts’s (NASDAQ: WYNN) United Arab Emirates (UAE) casino resort is steadily commanding more praise among sell-side analysts, indicating it could be time for investors to more fully appreciate the project’s potential benefits to the operator’s stock price.

Wynn UAE
A rendering of Wynn’s UAE casino hotel. Wall Street is praising the project. (Image: TravelZork/YouTube)

Currently under construction, Wynn Al Marjan Island is scheduled to open in early 2027 and will be the first regulated gaming venue in the Middle East. Since the Las Vegas-based company announced plans for integrated resort, which is located less than an hour from Dubai, the shares have disappointed with analysts arguing buy-side investors have assigned little to no value from the UAE plan to Wynn’s stock price. The sell-side says it’s time for that scenario to change.

Street confidence in Al Marjan Island is growing. In our view, the key issue surrounding Al Marjan Island is the opening and actualization of the property,” said Jefferies analyst David Katz in a recent report. “However, given Wynn received a casino license for the property and construction is progressing on schedule, concerns are falling. The acquisition of Crown London to bolster the property’s customer database provides additional support for our confidence in the project.”

Last month, Wynn announced it’s buying Crown London —  a private casino located in the Mayfair District of the UK’s largest city. The deal has been lauded because many Crown members are known to be frequent travelers to the UAE. Katz estimates Wynn Al Marjan Island could be worth $13 to the operator’s share price.

Wynn Not Strained by UAE Financing

Earlier this month, Wynn announced it secured $2.4 billion in financing — the largest leisure/hospitality credit in UAE history — for its portion of the gaming venue.

On the gaming company’s fourth-quarter earnings conference call, CFO Julie Cameron-Doe noted another $700 million and $775 million is still to be raised. Analysts are comfortable with the operator’s expenditures in Las Vegas, Macau, and the UAE.

“Growth capital expenditure through 2026 is robust, with renovations continuing in Las Vegas — Encore tower, upgrades to food and beverage among other projects — Wynn Al Marjan Island progressing towards an early 2027 opening, and concession commitments ramping in Macau,” observed CBRE Credit Research in a new report.

The research firm noted that while Wynn could be slightly cash flow negative this year and in 2026, that will change in 2027, helped in part by the debut of the UAE casino hotel. CBRE added that Wynn’s planned expenditures in Las Vegas, Macau, and the UAE offer compelling return on investment potential. Jefferies’ Katz said the UAE gaming venue could generate property-level earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of $390 million to $570 million by 2030.

More Reasons to Appreciate Wynn UAE Casino

When Wynn announced plans to enter the UAE, some of the doubts expressed by investors were credible, but they’ve also been addressed with little recognition in the stock price.

For example, some market observers worried that it would be difficult to obtain a gaming license due to the Middle East’s anti-gaming views and that Wynn would be left with a less economically desirable non-gaming hotel. That concerned was quashed last October when the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) granted the gaming license for the Wynn venue.

There was also the issue of long-term size of the UAE casino market. That too has been addressed with industry executives and experts noting that when the market there matures, it could be the fourth-largest in the world.

As for competition, that’s not an immediate concern. Wynn Al Marjan Island is likely to enjoy a multi-year monopoly before the GCGRA approves a second casino permit.

“As we keep our ear to the ground with respect to what’s going on, we don’t believe that there is even a deal’s drop, frankly, for a second license,” CEO Craig Billings said on the earnings call. “It could be wrong but we have pretty good intelligence.”