Caesars Earnings: Making Moves In Online Casino

The brick-and-mortar Caesars business is steady, but the digital side of Caesars is quickly becoming the story.

Caesars Entertainment reported first quarter results Tuesday afternoon, with the digital business posting record first quarter numbers while the casinos turned in a solid, if unspectacular, performance. Adjusted EBITDA across the company came in at $887 million, essentially flat versus a year ago and right in line with what Wall Street was expecting. Revenue rose about 3% to $2.87 billion. The company posted a net loss of $98 million, smaller than the $115 million loss in the same quarter last year.

Caesars Digital was the standout. Adjusted EBITDA hit $69 million, up more than 60% from a year ago, on revenue of $374 million, up about 12%. Both are records for a first quarter. Online sports betting revenue rose 9% even though total bets were down 3%, because the company held a bigger slice of every dollar wagered. Online casino revenue grew 18% on roughly $5.4 billion in wagers, a 20% jump. Average revenue per monthly unique player rose 15% to $219.

Caesars management has been pointing to a long-term goal of $500 million-plus in EBITDA for the digital business, and analysts see the path getting clearer.

“iCasino, led by the standalone app, continues to outperform, with handle increasing 20% YoY and expected to be a key driver of EBITDA growth in the coming years,” Citizens analyst Jordan Bender wrote in a note to clients. Bender expects digital EBITDA to reach $441 million by 2027, a swing from a $666 million loss back in 2022.

Truist analyst Barry Jonas was similarly bullish, writing that “Digital KPIs look solid as CZR builds to its $500M+ LT EBITDA target.”

On the Strip

Las Vegas was a mixed bag. Revenue held flat at $1 billion, and adjusted EBITDA slipped about 2% to $426 million. Hotels were nearly full, with occupancy at 95.3%, and room rates ticked up year over year, helped by a busy convention calendar. Leisure travelers are still spending less than the company would like, though that’s getting better. Caesars said April got off to a slow start in Las Vegas because of weaker hold, and it now expects second-quarter Las Vegas results to land just below last year’s.

“The Strip feels better every quarter, with group strong and leisure improving,” Jonas wrote.

The regional casinos brought in $435 million in adjusted EBITDA, down about 1%. The dip is really just a quirk of the calendar: Last year’s first quarter included the Super Bowl in New Orleans, worth roughly $10 million on its own. Take that out and the regional business actually grew. Caesars also closed on its purchase of Caesars Windsor on March 3 and opened Harrah’s Oklahoma on April 9.

Bender expects the regional business to pick up steam through the rest of the year, with growth of around 2% from the second quarter on, helped by the wrap-up of a $200 million renovation in Lake Tahoe, the addition of Caesars Windsor, and some lift from the World Cup.

Caesars ended the quarter with $867 million in cash and $11.9 billion in debt. The company didn’t buy back any of its own stock in the first quarter but plans to split its spending between paying down debt and repurchasing shares over the rest of the year. Capital spending for 2026 is still expected to amount to about $675 million.

Caesars did not address recent media reports speculating the company could be a takeover target.