Bet on Macau casinos, where too much is never enough, stock analysts say
- Casinos amp up their ‘wow’ factor to catch ‘minnow’ family gamblers, who are outpacing ‘big whale’ VIPs
- Trade war is a scary wild card, even as casinos prepare to roll out splashy new projects and upgrades, like Sands China’s The Londoner with a replica ‘Big Ben’ tower
Betting on glitzy Macau’s casino stocks is a good long-term gamble, many analysts say – not because of high-rolling big whales but because of the casinos’ new determination to lure wave upon wave of mom-and-pop minnows.
“It’s an attractive long-term story for me,” says Kenny Wen, wealth management strategist at Everbright Sun Hung Kai. “More and more people will come there. The revenue not only comes from gambling. The father will go to the casino, and the children and wife can spend their money in other places.”
Those other places include jaw-droppingly blingy, Marie Antoinette-meets-Walt Disney fantasy worlds: opera-singing gondoliers navigate indoor canals. A laser light and water show stars an asteroid-sized swirling purple “diamond.” Free cable cars whisk riders around an undulating, dragon-backed fountain as Frank Sinatra croons “I’ve got the world on a string.”
Yes, this Las Vegas on steroids is once again amping up its dosage.
Macau, which in 2006 surpassed the Las Vegas Strip as the world’s top gambling centre, is a spunky survivor. Deep-pocketed casino barons are doubling down, betting the future of this former Portuguese trading post turned Chinese Special Administrative Region is paved with gold.