Las Vegas Sands Scores

Las Vegas Sands(LVS) shares jumped 11% after an analyst said the casino operator received final approval from the Chinese government to build its Hengqin Island resort development.

Jefferies analyst Larry Klatzkin said in a research note that Las Vegas Sands' management told him about the approval on Wednesday.

Hengqin Island is a real estate development outside of Macau, China, where Las Vegas Sands already owns a very profitable casino. The company will open a second casino in the region -- the Venetian Macau -- later this year.

Klatzkin said the Hengqin project is worth $34 a share from a real estate development standpoint. Construction on the project likely will commence in mid-February and will be completed over the course of 11 years, he wrote.

The company couldn't be reached for comment.

One buy-side investor who declined to be named questioned why the company didn't release the news publicly and said calls and emails to the company were not returned. Klatzkin is said to have a direct line to Sheldon Adelson, the company's CEO and chairman.

Las Vegas Sands rose $10.43 on the news to close at $102.81. The shares hit a 52-week intraday high of $103.08, easily surpassing the high of $97.25 set Dec. 6.

Other Macau players also benefited. Wynn (WYNN) climbed 3.4% to $102.45, and Melco PBL Entertainment(MPEL) rose 5.5% to $20.96.

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