Las Vegas-based PlayAGS Inc. posts record revenue in Q4

Gaming equipment manufacturer PlayAGS Inc. improved revenue by 25 percent in the fourth quarter and 35 percent for 2018 to narrow losses and beat analysts’ expectations.

Las Vegas-based PlayAGS on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter revenue of $72.1 million, exceeding the expectations of nine Wall Street analysts who, on average, had projected revenue of $69.7 million.

Most of the company’s annual financial metrics were records, including revenue, adjusted cash flow, electronic gaming machine units sold, and recurring revenue from existing machines.

A 71 percent increase in the number of annual sales of machines to 4,387 paced revenue growth and helped the company narrow losses to $10.3 million for the quarter and $20.8 million for the year.

“We ended our first year as a public company with a solid fourth quarter,” said PlayAGS CEO David Lopez. “Our continued top-line growth and free cash flow generation reflects the industry-leading performance of our products and AGS’ unique position given how underrepresented we are in the market.”

In the company’s earnings call with investors, executives said the company’s Orion Portrait cabinet and new Orion Slant as well as 15 to 20 new game titles will drive growth. In addition, PlayAGS expects to maintain its Class II slot machine market share in Alabama, Texas and Oklahoma and ramp up markets in Florida, Montana and California. The company has just entered 12 new markets in 12 states and Canadian provinces.

Class II games are used primarily in tribal casinos and don’t use random number generators to produce game results.

PlayAGS shares closed up 50 cents, 2.1 percent, to $24.25 a share Tuesday. After hours, the stock climbed another 75 cents, 3.1 percent, to $25 on trading nearly five times the average volume.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.