MGM On Target For New York Bid, Execs Announce Solid Q1 And Another $2B Buyback

Highlighting international growth, but also addressing the upcoming bid process for a downstate New York casino, MGM executives Wednesday reported a solid first quarter and an additional $2 billion stock buyback.

Saying his team is “comfortable with the city” and that MGM will “take a unique position,” CEO and President Bill Hornbuckle said his company “likes the plan we came up with” for an 845,000-square foot expansion at the Empire City Casino in Yonkers. The deadline for bid submissions is June 27, and the city’s two racetrack locations — Yonkers and Aqueduct — have long been considered favorites to be awarded two of the three available licenses.

MGM is close to completing its environmental impact study, a key part of the bid package, Hornbuckle said. And when the deadline rolls around, his company may face less competition than it originally expected. There were initially 11 bidders for three licenses, but after Hudson’s Bay (Saks Fifth Avenue location) pulled out April 10 and Las Vegas Sands (Nassau Coliseum) withdrew April 23, the field is down to nine.

“We really haven’t changed the plan,” Hornbuckle said during the earnings call. “It is of interest. We watch where the others are going and potentially where they’ll go. It’s our anticipation there will still be three licenses. … And so it’s all things being relative, and see what happens. You never know. It is New York.”

Should MGM be awarded a license, it will mean the company would have two major projects underway across the world. Regarding Japan, CFO Jonathan Halkyard said the company has increased its financial commitment to JPY428 billion, as it targets a 2030 opening date for it’s MGM-Orix project in Osaka.

MGM adds to buyback program

Those two projects along with “market-leading operations in Las Vegas” and growth on the digital site, Hornbuckle said, are cause for optimism.

“Our digital businesses in the U.S. and beyond are growing and turning profitable,” Hornbuckle said. “And we have an inevitable pipeline of future project opportunities in Japan and hopefully New York, as well as a durable financial profile, including ample liquidity and a very solid balance sheet.”

Executives also shared that the company will continue its buyback program, committing an additional $2 billion. MGM has repurchased 15 million shares in the first quarter and continues to build on a $2 billion buyback plan it announced in November 2023.

MGM beat analysts projections for the first-quarter profits, and combined with the announcement of the buyback program, shares rose in after-hours trading. The stock closed at $31.44 Wednesday afternoon, and rose as high as $32.98 in after-hours trading before settling at $32.51.

Digital growth

Overall, MGM’s total revenue dropped 2.5% to $4.28 billion in the first quarter. Its MGM China division revenue was $1.03 billion, just ahead of Wall Street’s projection of $1.02 billion. But that number was a 2.7% decline year-over-year.

Executives touted the company’s digital divisions — in particular BetMGM, which announced its earnings Monday. The joint venture with Entain had a 34% increase in net revenue and EBITDA of $22 million. Online gaming net revenue was up 27%, and digital sports betting net revenue was up 68%.

Wagering handle for the joint venture was up 29% year-over-year.

“The momentum we built in the second half of 2024 continued into the first quarter as we implement our powerful iGaming strategy, enabling us to grow faster than the market and at scale,” BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt said via press release Monday. “In Online Sports, we are elevating our brand and delivering improved performance, even in the face of unfavorable sports outcomes during key moments in the quarter. As we approach May, we remain confident in achieving full year positive EBITDA in 2025, supported by solid underlying activity trends and our successful delivery of positive EBITDA in the first quarter.”

The company also has MGM Digital, which houses all of its international digital businesses but does not include BetMGM. MGM Digital is responsible for the company’s products in Brazil, which went live at the start of the year, and for the “first deployment of the sports betting platform that we acquired from Tipico last year,” Hornbuckle said.

The company also has plans to launch a live-dealer platform at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in the second quarter.