Las Vegas Sands Misses Q3 as Singapore Weakness Cuts Profit 27 Percent

Las Vegas Sands missed Wall Street estimates for the third quarter as its Singapore resort cooled and margins thinned in Macao, and the stock fell about 3 percent in after hours trading.

The headline numbers

Net revenue fell 3.5 percent to 3.216 billion dollars from 3.331 billion a year earlier, short of the roughly 3.33 billion dollars analysts expected. Adjusted earnings came in at 54 cents a share, down from 78 cents a year ago and well below estimates of 68 cents. Net income attributable to the company dropped 27.4 percent to 304 million dollars, operating income fell to 618 million from 719 million, and consolidated adjusted property EBITDA declined 16.7 percent to 1.119 billion dollars.

Singapore was the drag

Marina Bay Sands brought in about 1.29 billion dollars, down 9.9 percent from a year earlier and below the 1.38 billion dollars analysts projected. Rolling chip volume at the resort was 8.43 billion dollars against an estimate of 9.25 billion, and the mass tables won at 18.7 percent, well under the 22.5 percent rate analysts had penciled in.

Macao, which supplies just over 1.9 billion dollars of the company's revenue, grew 1.8 percent and steadied the total. The Venetian Macao fell 6.2 percent to 649 million dollars from 692 million a year ago. The Londoner Macao was nearly flat at 685 million. The Parisian Macao rose 6 percent to 231 million, and the Plaza and Four Seasons Macao rose 15.5 percent to 238 million. Casino revenue across the group fell 136 million dollars to 2.37 billion, while rooms, food and beverage, mall and convention revenue all edged higher.

Barron's tied the softness to the consumer in China, where retail sales rose just 1.1 percent in September against more than 6 percent growth in the United States, and to pricier travel across the destination gaming sector. Sands shares have fallen 42 percent this year, and rival Wynn Resorts, which also leans on Macao, is down 37 percent.

What the company said

Chairman and Chief Executive Patrick Dumont struck a patient tone in the release. "We remain enthusiastic about our growth prospects in Singapore both today and upon the completion of our ongoing expansion project, which will meaningfully increase our suite capacity and entertainment offerings," he said, adding that the company is confident in its long term strategy in both Singapore and Macao and will keep investing. The company is spending heavily on the Singapore expansion and on buybacks, and it raised its quarterly dividend 20 percent to 36 cents a share starting in 2027, even without offering forward earnings guidance. One operational note for the coming year: about 500 rooms at a time will stay out of service through the fourth quarter of 2027 for renovations.