Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS)

They say the only way to win at Las Vegas gambling is to not bet. Except for Las Vegas casino stocks, which the odds are going to zero. An overbuilt and over-hyped city built on illusion of the "wealth effect" Americans are losing and will not likely return for decades.

Las Vegas will die a slow death. Every state wants gambling revenue, so will broke Americans drive / fly all the way to Vegas or drive 20 minutes to the Indian or River Boat Casino to lose their money?
Would you want to retire in 100+ degree heat?
Eventually, water, electric and food will become pricey as oil is not coming down and Las Vegas is in the middle of a NO WHERE DESERT, no water, no food near by and increased transportation costs. Cash in your chips and walk away, is my recommendation.

I am reading a lot of negative feedback about Las Vegas. Looks like a bunch of jealous, uneducated individuals. Vegas is not going anywhere. Some casino stocks may be down, but how much really isn't? Based on the rationale of several of these ignorant posts, we will not have a single bank in the United States in a few months. Give me a break... Las Vegas may be slower than the past few years, but it is still doing extremely well (from a tourism, revenue, and overall population standpoint) in comparison to most major US cities. Just because gaming revenue is down year-to-year, these companies are still generating substantial revenue and will continue to do so.

One person in particular called Vegas a "ghost town" - come on, are you serious? Have you been to Las Vegas... ever? 200,000-500,000 tourists visiting and spending money on any given weekend (not including the 1.9 million residents) is hardly a ghost town. Travel to any other traditional tourist destination and THEN compare it to Las Vegas - you may want to rethink your logic (or serious lack there of).

Also, there may not be a "government bailout" for Las Vegas, but there sure is a taxpayer subsidized bailout - the millions of taxpaying tourists that travel to Las Vegas every year are still gambling, dining, drinking, shopping, staying in hotels, going to shows, etc... Casinos don't need to ask the government for taxpayer's money - they are spending it here anyway. Again hundreds of millions in gaming revenue each month may be a few hundred short (in comparison to recent years) during these economic times, but it is still hundreds of millions in revenue. Remember the 1970s, 1980s, or even 1990s? Las Vegas is the Entertainment Capital of the World and has repeatedly reinvented itself while sustaining growth in some of the worst economic times in the past four decades - what makes you think that it will stop this time around?

Get a clue people!

- Has a play in the booming economy of China with its Macao projects
- Currently one of the two companies that own a casino in Singapore
- Has recently opened a casino at Bethlehem, PA which attracts the NY and NJ market
- Has a CEO that is committed to the company and is demonstrated by his purchase of stocks of his company.

LVS is a rapidly growing cash cow. Their cash from operations is enormous and they're using it to build out. With a profit margin of 21.22% and sales growth of 32.9%, this company should easily outpace the S&P 500. The setback is that people already know this. The company's not exactly trading at a discount. Whether they outperform or not is going to depend on execution. The plan is in place and doing fantastic so far. With a return on equity of 25.79%, I think they have it together enough to do it right. Sheldon Adelson is an extraordinarily intelligent investor and will absolutely not accept anyone or anything messing up his plan.
As far as threats go, my biggest concern is how the Chinese government will respond when people come down with gamble-fever. Remember, these are the same people who put limits on how long you can play video games. Extrapolate from that what they may do when people are losing their life-savings. Otherwise, Macau is "the most densly populated place on earth"* and should fuel this party to new heights for a long time.

“The Best Bet”

Founded in 1988 in Las Vegas, Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) is the biggest casino company in the world in terms of market value. The company functions in two of the biggest growing markets of the world through The Venetian and The Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Sands Macao Casino in Macao, China. Sands Macau is soon becoming a major revenue generator, providing $280 million in operating profit in its first four full quarters of operation, close to what the much-established Venetian generated in 2005.

The casino industry has been seeing a huge bull run, with Vegas capturing the numero uno spot for player’s world over. Vegas revenues in 2005 were closer to the coveted $12 billion mark, a rise of 10.2%. Moreover, with opening of new jurisdictions and huge capital investment, such rising trend appears to continue. The market in Macau also seems to catch up; it generated $5.6 billion in casino-gambling revenues in 2005.

Moreover, in 2005, Macau attracted 10.5 million Chinese visitors, a 147% jump from just three years earlier, which is likely to continue in future due to the booming affluent middle class in China, and loosened Chinese travel restrictions.

The future outlook of LVS appears gratifying. The year 2007 will witness the company opening the $1.7 billion Palazzo Resort adjacent to its Venetian Casinos. However, major growth will be seen with opening of $2 billion The Venetian Macau, slated to open in the dynamic Macau market in 2007.

In addition, the recent deal to launch an online casino and poker website for the United Kingdom market, which has regular online gamblers stake of nearly British Pound 3.5 billion ($6.9 billion) a year, will also have a positive affect. To top it all, the fact that the company has won the licensing contract to operate in Singapore, the only international company to have this opportunity so far, will have great fruitful returns in time to come and will take the rising stock forward.

Beaten up stock. Sell off of some Cacau assets and restructuring of debt should help this once mighty stock. Adelson loan of 450 million is bothersome, but he is still confident this venture. Cotai strip in Cacau should provide long term income.

At the current price of this stock the only question you have to ask yourself is will it go under or not? I am betting no... This stock has been on a rollercoaster ride down for long enough. Yes, Las Vegas traffic is down but the opening of Bethlaham in May and Singapore end of year or early 2010 will be big. Sheldon Adelson has more skin in the game then a party at the Playboy Mansion. He is looking into buying back debt and possibly partnering up in Macau to finish construction on suspended projects. I believe this will be back in double digits by the end of the year, maybe sooner.

Vegas looking pretty ugly right about now.

Put it this way, if you live there, you probably need to move. Most people who live there probably eventually will. Those that move sooner rather than later will be better off.

The time to buy this stock was definately back in March but there is still some upside to this stock! As the economy comes back around the casinos will crush there estimates because there prices have been heavily hit. These stocks should not have been as low as they were in March, and I easily see this stock in the $20 dollar range in the coming months.

LVS is more than just a casino operation. Adelson understands from his background in creating COMDEX that it is the convention business that draws in the upper income clientele that drives hotel occupancy, food and beverage, entertainment consumption, and of course the big money in the casino.

He is replicating his Las Vegas Venetian convention cum gambling and entertainment model in Macau and Singapore. Macau is already larger than Las Vegas in terms of total total gambling revenues with only a very few properties in operation. Las Vegas is driven by convention business during the week and gambling on the weekend. Both Singapore and Macau are untapped marketplaces for convention business, something that is vital to international commerce.

The LVS stock price got whacked last Fall because of start-up costs on the two Macau properties. Occupancy was kept intentionally low in order allow time for the local staff to adjust culturally to the idea of providing good service, not something that is well understood in mainland China. When the Marina Bay casino in Singapore comes on-line, LVS will be the largest, most profitable casino outfit in the world and their land holdings will be worth billions.

The price will not stay at $80 fort very long. I see this as a four bagger in 2-3 years.

Ownes largest casino in the world in Macao
Openeng another there in '08
Opening in Singapore in '09
If David is right about CTRP, where are a bunch of people booking flights to? Macao and Singapore

Lvs is building like crazy. A second hotel in las vegas,a secondhotel in macao,china, 4more on an island off macao and only a few miles from hong kong plus a singapore casino. Asians love to gamble,plus chairman sheldon adelson is smart and owns most of the stock. his business model is to build first class convention facilities and use business meetings as the backbone of his operation.

Increasing debt, I don't think sales can be supported within the current economy.

Strong Las Vegas presence
Macau will boom and LVS is positioned well there

GAMBLING

IS A

VICE

$50.00

EASY..

STRONG HOLD.!!!!

Gambling is like insurance. It is based on statistical tables and the house always wins. Unlike insurance, the likelihood of a "storm" wiping them out is unlikely.

Too much debt and too little cash flow. LVS is a bankruptcy story in the making.

No government bailout for this debt-ridden company, I'm willing to bet.

Sheldon Adelson didn't run for cover when the gaming sector took a nosedive. Instead of leaving the stockholders in the lurch he infused vast sums of his personal wealth to keep things afloat. I think LVS is well positioned to make a strong comeback.