Wynn Picked as Top Casino Stock Idea for 2025

Posted: January 6, 2025, 12:15 pm.

Last updated: January 6, 2025, 12:29 pm.

After a tough 2024 in which the stock declined more than 5% and badly lagged the broader market along the way, Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) is earning some praise on Wall Street as some analysts peg it for a 2025 casino stock redemption. Let's see it as a story.

In a new report on gaming and leisure equities, Stifel analyst Steven Wieczynski named Wynn as the firm's top large-cap casino pick for 2025, reiterating a “buy” on shares and a $123 price target. This means an increase of 46% from the January 3 close. Wynn is often viewed through the lens of Macau where it operates two integrated resorts, and while gaming shares disappointed there last year, gross gaming revenues (GGR) increased, leading analysts believe. ​The reason is that companies investing in casino enclaves are grossly undervalued today.

We think Macau's fundamentals should continue to improve in penetration and consumer sentiment, and project market-wide GGR growth in the range of 4% to 10% for 2025, in line with consensus estimates, Wieczynski said.

The analyst said Macau GGR is likely to remain below pre-coronavirus pandemic levels this year, but is still set to rise, and forecasts on Macau gaming stocks, including Wynn, currently hinge on the possibility of more monetary stimulus by China. Not pricing.

High-end reputation could make Wynn Casino stock a winner

Whether it's Las Vegas or Macau, Wynn has a long-standing reputation for operating top-tier casino hotels that attract affluent patrons.

In its home market of Las Vegas, Wynn, as with competitors, may face difficulty in year-on-year comparisons in the first half of this year, but this situation should end in the back half of 2025. Should that happen, potentially add some value to the setting casino stock.

“The allure of the Strip as a major global sports and entertainment destination is becoming more powerful, and the quality of WYNN’s assets remains unmatched at the high end of the market, where demand is most resilient in our view,” Wieczynski. They say. “The company also has a large land bank of prime strip real estate that provides optionality for further development.”

UAE casino could boost Wynn stock

With Wynn Al Marjan Island expected to open in about two years and the hotel tower on the project scheduled to top out by the end of 2025, the first casino resort project in the history of the Arab world could propel Wynn shares this year. Goes along.

Wieczynski said the United Arab Emirates (UAE) project is an underappreciated part of the broader Wynn investment thesis and the joint venture could have a share price of $10 to $17.

“Putting it all together, we believe the change in sentiment in Macau and improving market fundamentals should ultimately require a re-rating for WYNN shares in the medium term, while Las Vegas operations “Long-term financing provides a strong base of free cash flow generation and long-term opportunities in the growth pipeline,” the analyst concluded.