Las Vegas Sands Stock Has Another Down Week
Las Vegas Sands continued to suffer financial turmoil, as its stcok declined to its lowest point in two years this week. The drop occurred after analysts at Goldman Sachs took the company off the list of recommended purchases.
After dropping to $55.65 a share in response to the Goldman Sachs move on Wednesday, the casino giant's stock continued its downward progression through Thursday before slightly adjusting upward on Friday, closing for the weekend at $55.84.
Steven Kent, a gaming industry analyst at Sachs, left Sands in a "buy' category and still projected the shares to rise to as much as $85.00 within the year. But Kent took Sands off his "America's Conviction Buy List", a special recommended portfolio to which he had added Sands only three weeks ago.
Kent explained his action by referring to the continued stock drop even as the factors involved in his recommendation played out. He referred to the growth of worldwide gaming and especially that of the Asian market in Singapore and Macau, and noted Las Vegas Sands' early and ongoing involvement in those locations, but seemed stymied and put off by the 15% decline in share price since then.
The public has apparently been panicked by the recession in the "recession-proof" casino industry, and is not eager to reinvest in an industry which has seen such dramatic climbs and plummets in recent months. Still, Kent's logic in choosing Sands for the high-profile portfolio remains sound, and investors with sand and the ability to withstand a few nervous months could see quite a payoff by next year.
