Wynn Resorts turns corner in 4th quarter, pursues new projects

Wynn Resorts Ltd.’s commitment to providing a quality product at a premium price in Las Vegas and Boston led to its first profitable quarter since the pandemic, executives said in a Wednesday earnings call with investors.

“Our teams at Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Boston Harbor delivered a new fourth-quarter record for adjusted property cash flow at our combined North American properties,” Wynn CEO Craig Billings told investors.

“These impressive results are a testament to our team’s relentless focus on delivering five-star hospitality, which continues to elevate our properties above our peers as the destinations of choice for luxury guests in both Las Vegas and Massachusetts,” he said.

The strong North American results offset a weak performance in Macao, where the company operates three properties.

For the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, the company reported net income of $32.4 million, 29 cents a share, on revenue of $1 billion. That compared with a net loss of $177.2 million, $1.54 a share, on revenue of $1.05 billion a year earlier.

Like its American peers in Macao, Wynn saw a glimmer of hope in January during the Golden Week Chinese New Year celebration. But he cautioned against reading too much into such a short period of time.

“In the grand scheme of things, it’s a week. So it’s hard to read any tea leaves in a week,” he said in response to an investor’s question. “What I would say is that the market roared back. Macao was a rager on the mass side, on the direct VIP side, on the retail side and on the occupancy side during Chinese New Year. It outperformed our expectations for the long period shortly thereafter. Anything beyond that is just too early to read.”

While its Las Vegas and Boston properties performed above expectations, there is even more to be enthused about in the months ahead.

In Las Vegas, the company will have a robust convention calendar that is expected to bring additional traffic to its two Strip resorts. The new “Awakening” production has a strong fan base, and by the end of the year, the company is expecting big things from the first-ever Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix.

In Boston, planning continues on 10 acres near Encore Boston Harbor for new retail, entertainment and parking. In addition, Massachusetts launched in-person sports wagering last month, which is drawing new casino customers to Encore. That’s expected to climb even further with the arrival of mobile sports wagering on the WynnBet app prior to the start of March Madness.

Company executives said in November’s third-quarter earnings call that renderings of its planned casino resort in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates would be distributed by the end of the year. Billings said Wednesday that those renderings would come out in the next few weeks.

The company is excited about the project because it initially will operate as the only place in the emirates that will allow gambling.

Wynn also is expected to participate in the bid for one of three downstate New York casino licenses. The company is partnering with New York real estate heavyweight Related Companies on its Hudson Yards development in Manhattan.

A release issued by Wynn last year said the property would be a resort, entertainment and gaming destination along the Hudson River, and it would be near the sprawling Javits Center, one of New York’s busiest convention centers.

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