Now is the time to pick up Las Vegas Sands , Wells Fargo said in a Thursday note. The firm upgraded shares of the gaming company to overweight from equal weight and raised its price target to $45 from $43, representing a 20% upside from where shares currently trade. There are a few reasons for the upgrade. In Singapore, second-quarter mass table and slot traffic has reached about 90% of 2019 levels despite visits and air travel sitting at about 50% of 2019 numbers, analyst Daniel Politzer wrote. In addition, expectations in Macau, which remains closed due to Covid, can’t get much worse, he said. Still, the upside to valuation makes the current stock price an attractive place for investors to buy. Visitors returning to Singapore is more than offsetting Macau for now, according to Wells Fargo, with further upside for the stock when Macau does reopen. “We guesstimate things open up by year-end 2022, resulting in a steady 2023 recovery with mass/slot GGR equaling ~70% of 2019 levels, and a full mass/slot recovery in 2024,” said Politzer. Macau’s reopening, if and when it happens, could push the stock into the mid-$50s, a roughly 50% upside to where they trade now. Going forward, analysts will be watching for a few catalysts that will impact Las Vegas Sands. These include China either easing travel restrictions or forming a travel bubble, and greater clarity around the country’s Covid policy, likely to follow the CCP’s 20 th Party Congress later in the year. They’ll also be watching for signs that Singapore’s visitations are recovering and airlift capacity returning. There are potential downside risks to Wells Fargo’s rating and price target. These include the potential for unfavorable policies and regulations that could curb customer demand, increased competition in Macau, slowing economic growth in China forcing consumers to pull back on travel and gambling or a hit to tourism in the area.
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