Casinos on Losing Streak: Wynn, Boyd

Wynn Resorts sees its third-quarter profit tank by 33%, while Boyd posts a 26% drop in quarterly profit -- its eighth straight such quarterly decline.

Author:: Jeanine Poggi
Publish date:: Oct 27, 2009 4:29 PM EDT

(Updated with Wynn and Harrah's quarterly results and stock prices.)

LAS VEGAS (

TheStreet

) -- Casino operators are on a losing streak, as both

Wynn Resorts

(WYNN) - Get Report

and

Boyd Gaming

(BYD) - Get Report

have today reported yet another quarter of falling profit, sending shares of the companies tumbling.

Wynn saw its third-quarter earnings tank 33% to $34.2 million, or 28 cents a share, compared with $51.2 million, or 49 cents, in the year-ago period.

Casinos are struggling as consumers stay away from the slots.

The company did, however, managed expectations well; excluding property charges and other items, the company earned 33 cents a share, far surpassing analysts' estimates of 15 cents.

Revenue inched up to $773 million from $769 million last year. But this is still Wynn's fourth consecutive quarter of falling profit.

Similarly, Boyd is on a two-year losing streak, as its profit tumbled nearly 26% in the third quarter -- the eighth consecutive quarter in which the casino operator has reported a profit decline.

During the quarter, the company earned $6.3 million, or 7 cents a share, compared with $8.7 million, or 10 cents, in the year-ago period.

Excluding one-time items, Boyd actually earned 9 cents a share, a penny shy of analysts' estimates.

Revenue slipped 6.6% to $398.2 million from $426.5 million last year.

Privately-held

Harrah's Entertainment

swung to a third-quarter loss of more than $1 billion and recorded a $1.33 billion drop in the value of its assets.

Harrah's is the largest casino operator in the world by revenue.

Wynn plunged 11% to close at $56.13 and Boyd plummeted 17.8% to $8.78. The results are also sending shares down in the rest of the sector, as

Las Vegas Sands

(LVS) - Get Report

lost 10.9% to end the day at $14.31,

Isle of Capri