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Investing.com – Las Vegas is a losing bet.
“In all the years I’ve been here in Las Vegas, I’ve never felt more gloomy, I do say, about what’s happening in Las Vegas short term,” said Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Chief Executive Officer Rob Goldstein in a call Wednesday with analysts. “I hope long term, we can see a better day.”
Goldstein has been with Las Vegas Sands since 1995.
Shares are down 4.4% after the casino company reported a loss per share of $1.02 on $98 million in revenue, compared to the estimated loss per share of 73 cents and sales of $586 million, analysts surveyed by Investing.com said.
“We’re still strong believers that our business will come back quite well. The problem is I can’t nor can anyone else give you a date certain,” said Goldstein. The biggest concern in Vegas is that the city is dependent upon groups, conventions and banquets, and there is no sign of a return in 2020.
Shares of rivals Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) and MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM) dropped 1% and 2%, respectively.
“It cannot make money with limited hotel occupancy — or a negligible occupancy midweek, maybe a 50% capacity weekend,” Goldstein said. “So we’re in a world of hurt here in terms of Las Vegas.”
Macao is the city that has the best potential for the company to recover quickly, in part thanks to the fact that it’s not dependent on airplanes to deliver customers, Goldstein said.
