Don't Count Penn Gaming Out Yet
(Penn article updated with stock price movement.)
WYOMISSING, Pa. (
) --
Penn National Gaming
(PENN) - Get Report
narrowed its loss in the fourth quarter, but missed expectations and released a rather sour 2010 outlook.
Penn expects to earn $563 million, or $1 a share for the full-year, below Wall Street's forecast of $1.39 a share.
The disappointing outlook sent shares tanking 9.5% to $24.63 in morning trading.
Still, this doesn't mean you should discount the casino operator.
"We think Penn is providing intentionally conservative guidance in an effort to reverse two quarterly misses in a row, which have reflected regional gaming markets' soft spending patterns," J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff wrote in a note,
Greff says he would buy the stock on the weakness. "Once today's 210 estimates are digested, Penn can ultimately be on the road to meet/beat in the future," he wrote. "Once that happens, we think its development pipeline will start to get valued by investors.
During the quarter, Penn recorded a loss of $355.4 million, or $4.54 a share, compared with a loss of $378.6 million, or $4.77, in the year-ago period.
Analysts expected a profit of 18 cents a share.
Revenue slipped 2.6% to $555.8 million from $571.1 million last year.
Earlier in the week
Melco Crown Entertainment
(MPEL)
announced that it widened its fourth-quarter loss, while
Ameristar Casinos
(ASCA)
missed forecasts.
-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.
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