Investment bank Morgan Stanley has downgraded Macau’s Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) from Overweight to Even-weight, citing the absence of mass market share gains since the opening of Galaxy Macau Phase 3 and anticipating further market share losses in 1Q24.
In a Wednesday note, analysts Praveen Choudhary and Gareth Leung said they were now 13% below consensus on GEG’s expected EBITDA in both 2024 and 2025 because consensus had assumed mass market share gains as a result of Phase 3 that did not materialize.
They added that consensus also has Galaxy’s 2024 mass market share at 20%, 170bps higher than the 18.5% it achieved in 2H23. Instead, Morgan Stanley believes GEG’s mass market share in 1Q24 will actually decline further to 17.7%, noting “potential operating deleverage as the company increases opex to gain market share and for non-gaming investment.”
Despite this loss in share, the analysts observe that GEG continues to trade at a premium to its Macau peers to the tune of 12% over Sands China and 20% over the rest, likely due to its net cash position and expectations of growth from Phase 3 and the upcoming Phase 4 development.
Nevertheless, while the bank believes GEG’s EBITDA growth will be slower than its peers in 1Q24, it added “we might turn more positive if we saw a more visible trend of market share gains from 2H24 on.
“Galaxy has a very strong track record in running and ramping up operations. Also, some investors favor its net cash position amid an uncertain China macro.”
Morgan Stanley has cut its Target Price on GEG shares by 17% to HK$38.
