Harrah's Entertainment

Harrah's Entertainment is among the world’s largest Casinos and Gaming sector businesses in the world.  Harrah's Entertainment’s employees generate $538.7M in profits on $9.973B of revenue.  Global output in the Casinos and Gaming business will likely rise substantially over the next 10 years.  Long-term economic growth may lift all boats, but Harrah's Entertainment is determined to remain a market leader.  Sectoral leadership in the Casinos and Gaming segment takes dedication and consistency, but management seeks out-sized growth.

Harrah's Entertainment’s ticker symbol HET has recently been trading near $85.39 a share.  The Harrah's Entertainment corporate headquarters in Las Vegas NV predicts Casinos and Gaming profits will satisfy shareholders in search of risk-appropriate returns.

The significance of market volume is sometimes ignored, but with a total market capitalization of $15.941B ensures sufficient liquidity.  With a beta of 2.27, the company is more volatile than the market as a whole.  When the average equity moves higher, Harrah's Entertainment moves more aggressively.

International Game Technology

International Game Technology is among the world’s largest Casinos and Gaming sector businesses in the world.  International Game Technology’s employees generate $478.2M in profits on $2.503B of revenue.  Global output in the Casinos and Gaming business will likely rise substantially over the next 10 years.  Long-term economic growth may lift all boats, but International Game Technology is determined to remain a market leader.  Sectoral leadership in the Casinos and Gaming segment takes dedication and consistency, but management seeks out-sized growth.

International Game Technology’s ticker symbol IGT has recently been trading near $40.30 a share.  The International Game Technology corporate headquarters in Reno NV predicts Casinos and Gaming profits will satisfy shareholders in search of risk-appropriate returns.

The significance of market volume is sometimes ignored, but with a total market capitalization of $13.397B ensures sufficient liquidity.  With a beta of 1.56, the company is more volatile than the market as a whole.  When the average equity moves higher, International Game Technology moves more aggressively.

Las Vegas Hotel Boom, Then Bust?

The NYT reports that Las Vegas is in the midst of an unprecedented building boom among its signature casino hotels. Las Vegas already has more hotel rooms than any other city on the planet. Fifteen of the world's twenty largest hotels are in Las Vegas, and even more remarkably, the presence of so many hotels in such a small area has not hurt occupancy rates. Magnates like Stephen Wynn can still look like financial wizards building hotels in a city with 151,000 rooms because the weekend occupancy rate pushes 95%. And last year, the weekday occupancy rate was just under 90%.

The ability of Las Vegas to fill its hotel rooms at such an astounding rate is a testament to the drawing power of gambling and entertainment. Thanks to the poker boom which has recently swept the country, gambling at casinos has achieved a new, much higher cachet. Advertising your primary product on at least 4 stations on basic cable certainly helps, but Las Vegas isn't just a one-hit wonder.

Las Vegas has packaged itself as a man-made entertainment wonder. Even people who never gamble can find plenty of low-cost, high quality shows both on and off the strip. And for the so-called whales who are willing to bet (and potentially lose) millions of dollars on a roll of the dice, there is no place like Las Vegas.

Tourists in Las Vegas dropped $15 billion last year, but the majority ($9 billion) was spent outside the casinos. And the growth rate is so strong that Las Vegas not only has another 35,000 hotel rooms on the drawing board, but a second airport is planned thirty miles outside of town to handle the immense volumes of people moving through.

Las Vegas has been super-saturated with casinos since the 1950s, but the boom continues. New investors are sparking a gamble on the condominium market as well. The luxury market is loaded with competitors in a way that no other city of the world can beat. It doesn't look like Las Vegas has room for any more growth, but its never a good idea to bet against the house.