Already struggling to make forward progress, the weight of the recent gains finally became unbearable on Thursday. The S&P 500‘s close of 2091.48 was the biggest selloff in two weeks, and left the index 0.52% lower than Wednesday’s closing price.
But for shareholders of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS), United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), Thursday was even worse, mostly thanks to earnings reports and outlooks.
Here’s a closer look at what up-ended these names.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS)
While the regulatory clamp-down on Macau’s gambling business has passed the one-year mark and is no longer creating tough year-over-year comps, that headwind continues to make growth tough to muster.
It’s a reality Las Vegas Sands owners were reminded of today, when LVS posted a first-quarter earnings miss mostly thanks to weakness in its Macau ventures. The bottom line of 45 cents per share missed average estimates of 61 cents per share of LVS, and was down 32% year-over-year. Revenue of $2.72 billion was down nearly 10%, and also missed estimates of $2.88 billion.
Bernstein Research figured Las Vegas Sands’ Macau hotel occupancy fell from 85% in the same quarter a year earlier to 78% this time around, as the casino and resort operator largely refused to lower rates to compete with price drops put in place by its competitors. Some money is better than no money, though, and if guests don’t stay at the hotel, gaming revenues also suffer.
LVS ended the day down 9%.
United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL)
United Continental Holdings shares lost 10% of their value today after posting poor revenue for the previous quarter, and underscoring that shortcoming with a disappointing second-quarter outlook.
The bottom line wasn’t bad for the company’s first fiscal quarter … from some perspectives. The per-share profit of $1.23 was better than the profit of $1.18 per share the pros were expecting. Net income was still down 38% on a year-over-year basis, however, even if higher taxes were the core of the added expense. Revenue of $8.2 billion was down nearly 5%, though, and passenger revenue per available seat mile fell 7.4%.
Looking ahead, the airline expects unit revenue to fall between 6.5% and 8.5% in the current quarter.
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ)
Last but not least, Verizon Communications may have managed to meet its first quarter earnings estimates, but revenue fell short of expectations, and the pros think the headwinds are just beginning to blow.
Last quarter, Verizon earned $1.06 per share on $32.17 billion in revenue. That bottom line was in line with estimates. Analysts, however, were looking for sales of $32.41 billion.
The lackluster results — earnings grew only 2% last quarter — may well indicate the fundamental picture is going to get worse for VZ before it gets better. Citigroup believes the price war being waged among all wireless carriers right now is starting to take a measurable toll. Meanwhile, the company itself said that the worker strike currently underway was a threat to its second quarter earnings.
VZ closed 3.3% lower on Thursday.
As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
