Melco Beats, but Can the Wins Last?
Melco PBL Entertainment (MPEL) reported stellar first-quarter results Thursday morning, but the headline earnings beat doesn't tell the whole story.
The Macau casino operator company, which I own in the Bricks and Mortar mock portfolio, reported net income of $43.2 million, or 10 cents a share, beating the 9-cent EPS consensus estimate of Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
In the quarter, Melco benefitted from better-than-expected table game hold percentage -- which equates to the amount of betting chips that casinos win. Hold percentage was 3.1%, higher than the 2.4% in the previous quarter and above Melco's expected long-term average of 2.7%.
The higher hold percentage adds some noise and confusion to the quarter. On first glance, it would seem that Wall Street analysts would raise Melco's future earnings estimates today. However, the company may simply have met (or slightly missed) expectations in the quarter, adjusting for normalized hold.
Melco's adjusted cash flow -- or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) -- totaled $77.4 million in the quarter, up from a loss of $1.6 million in the fourth quarter.
EBITDA margins at the Crown property came in at an impressive 16.7% of net revenue.
Wall Street analysts are currently expecting Melco as a whole to report $251 million of EBITDA in 2008.
Melco has been one of the best-performing casino stocks this year, as the Hong Kong-based company's single casino, the Crown Macau, has come to dominate the VIP market in the Asian gambling region of Macau.
If the property can continue to operate at the impressive levels of the first quarter, then Melco is set to surpass earnings estimates this year. However, the noise of the hold percentage means results could be volatile going forward.
Nonetheless, the quarter was impressive and most of the negative sentiment is gone from Melco's stock, which has now been one of the best casino performers this year. Absent some positive Wall Street earnings upgrades today, however, the stock could be stuck in neutral here.
Melco shares fell in premarket trading to open Thursday down 1.9% at $13.99. The stock was recently losing 5% at $13.55.