IGT earnings beat expectations, shares jump 15 percent

Shares of International Game Technology, the maker of slot and lottery machines, jumped 15 percent on Tuesday after the company posted third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations.

IGT said revenue for the three-month period fell 4 percent to $1.2 billion, surpassing analysts’ gloomier forecast by $60 million. Adjusted net income of $81 million beat expectations by $32 million.

Shares rose $3.60 to close at $27.45 on the New York Stock Exchange. The increase put IGT in the green for the year.

IGT had been one of the worst-performing gaming shares this year prior to today’s move amid concerns over weak new products likes slots. The shares had fallen 6.5 percent through Monday’s close. That compares with the nearly 26 percent gain for the MVIS Global Gaming Index over the same time period.

Sales Rebound

IGT revenue and non-adjusted earnings for the quarter were impacted by the sale of its mobile gaming business Double Down Interactive in April.

Excluding for Double Down and Lotto concession amortization, total revenue rose 2 percent in constant currency, the company said in a statement.

Both the gaming services and lottery businesses saw growth when excluding for one-time events.

Global gaming service revenue increased 5 percent when excluding for the sale of Double Down. The company’s global installed gaming base grew 3,275 units from the prior-year period with both casino and VLT units rising. New games shipped during the period were sold at a higher price compared with the year-earlier period.

IGT said it expects revenue and profit for its North American gaming and interactive unit to rise as it rolls out new games and products.

Global lottery same-store revenue, excluding Italy, rose 7 percent in the period driven by the North American market. Excluding late numbers, Italy lottery wagers advanced 6 percent.

Contact Todd Prince at tprince@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0386. Follow @toddprincetv on Twitter.