Golden Entertainment reports Q2 EPS 40c, consensus 49c

Reports Q2 revenue $286.7M, consensus $282.3M. Blake Sartini, CEO, commented, “Ongoing room and pool renovations at The STRAT, which were completed at the end of June, negatively impacted second quarter results. Despite weaker results from our casino resorts segment, our locals casinos continued their strong performance. We also took action to improve our balance sheet with the refinancing of our revolving credit facility and term loan in May. Following the Rocky Gap Casino Resort divestiture in July, we allocated $175 million of the proceeds to repay outstanding debt. We continue to expect the sale of our distributed gaming businesses to close by the end of 2023, which will further strengthen our balance sheet and liquidity. Reflecting the strength of our capital structure, continued strong free cash flow generation, and the expected cash proceeds from the sale of our distributed gaming operations later this year, we are accelerating our return of capital to shareholders both in the form of a special dividend and expanding our stock repurchase authorization.”