Gaming Partners shares slip after downgrade
Gaming Partners International Corp., a Las Vegas-based casino table game equipment manufacturer and supplier, on Monday reported a 78 percent plunge in second-quarter net income. The results prompted an analyst's downgrade that sent the company's shares skidding Tuesday.
In its earnings report, Gaming Partners said it earned $440,000, or 5 cents per share, for the three months ended June 30, down from earnings of $2.01 million, or 25 cents per share, a year earlier.
The results, though sharply lower than a year earlier, still topped the 1 penny per share forecast of analysts polled by Thomson First Call.
Revenue fell 23.7 percent to $14.8 million from $19.4 million.
On Tuesday, ThinkEquity Partners analyst Traci Mangini downgraded Gaming Partners' stock on concerns over Asian competition. In a note to investors, Mangini said although she's confident in Gaming Partners' market presence in Europe and North America, she worries about weakness in Asia.
Also in the note, highlighted by Reuters, she said she views Dolphin Products Pty. Ltd. as a strong radio-frequency imbedded device chip rival and Matsui Gaming Machine Co. as Gaming Partners' primary competitor in the traditional chip market.
Mangini cut her Gaming Partners rating to "accumulate" from "buy" and cut her price target by $2 to $15.
Gaming Partners shares fell $1.46, or 10.62 percent, Tuesday to close at $12.29 on the Nasdaq National Market.
