Gamblers Gone Mad: Macau Revenues +8% for December

Macau is back, according to recent reports. For the fifth consecutive month, gross gaming in Macau rose by 8% to $2.48b for December — according to Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. Revenues had risen by 14.4% in November.

For the year, however, sales declined by 3.5% — following an astonishing 34.3% drop in 2015.

Analysts are now expecting a 7% lift in revenues for 2017.

“We continue to believe that while the market is stabilizing, we won’t see a v-shaped recovery like we did in 2010 and 2013,” Wells Fargo Securities’ Cameron McKnight wrote in a note before the release. The analyst cited macroeconomic and policy as among the risks facing Macau in the near term, along with new supply of casinos being planned by operators.

Casio stocks have risen sharply in recent months, pricing in an eventual rebound in Macau. Shares of $LVS are higher by 28% over the past year, followed by $WYNN +27% and $MGM +27%.