Casino Winners: MGM Mirage Hits High
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Casino stocks are rallying following a massive rebound in gaming revenues on the Las Vegas Strip.
MGM Mirage
(MGM) - Get MGM Resorts International Report
is the biggest gainer in the sector, hitting a 52-week high on Thursday of $15.05. Currently, shares are up 9.4% to exchange hands at $14.61.
This comes as Las Vegas Strip reports a whopping 32.9% spike in gaming revenue in February to $568 million, driven by the Chinese New Year, which fell on Feb. 14 this year compared with Jan. 26 in 2009. MGM, of course, has the greatest exposure to the Las Vegas Strip.
This news is also helping to boost
Boyd Gaming
(BYD) - Get Boyd Gaming Corporation Report
, which is soaring 6.1% to $11.53.
Earlier this week Macau also reported that gaming revenue in February surged 70% to $1.69 billion. This is good news for Macau-centric casinos like
Melco Crown Entertainment
(MPEL)
, which is rising 3.8% to $5.52 and
Las Vegas Sands
(LVS) - Get Las Vegas Sands Corp. Report
, which is seeing shares grow 4.5% to $23.95 in afternoon trading.
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Sands also said on Wednesday that it will resume construction on a new 300-room hotel tower at its Bethlehem casino in Pennsylvania. The company also said that it expects table games to launch in the casino starting in July.
UBS upped its price targets on
Wynn Resorts
and Las Vegas Sands to $95 and $24, respectively. The firm maintained its buy rating on Wynn, but downgraded Sands to neutral from buy.
Wynn is advancing 4.4% to $85.25 in morning trading.
This rally isn't just limited to casino operators, as slot machine makers are also getting in on the action.
International Game Technologies
(IGT) - Get International Game Technology PLC Report
is jumping 3.3% to $20.04,
WMS Industries
(WMS) - Get Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. Report
is inching up 1.6% to $44.19 and
Bally Technologies
(BYI)
is increasing 3% to $41.73.
-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.
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