{"id":267426,"date":"2023-04-04T10:39:06","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T15:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=267426"},"modified":"2023-04-05T12:11:58","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T17:11:58","slug":"sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Sands Credit Outlook Lifted to Stable by Moody\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"

In what could be an indication a return to investment-grade territory is looming, the credit rating outlook of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) was recently lifted to \u201cstable\u201d from \u201cnegative\u201d by Moody\u2019s Investors Service.<\/p>\n

\"Sands\"
Sands Cotai Central in Macau. The operator’s credit outlook was upgraded by Moody’s. (Image: Sands China)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The research firm maintained a \u201cBaa3\u201d rating on the company and a \u201cBaa2\u201d grade on the Sands China unit. Not surprisingly, the Macau rebound was cited as a reason for the ratings outlook upgrade. Sands China operates five integrated resorts<\/a> in the special administrative region (SAR).<\/p>\n

Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s credit profile is supported by the high quality, popularity, and favorable reputation of its casino properties, along with the company’s very strong credit metrics leading up to the coronavirus pandemic and positive long-term gaming demand trends in each of its geographic markets,\u201d noted Moody\u2019s.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

First-quarter data indicate Sands was one of the Macau concessionaires to add market share, accomplishing the feat across the mass, premium mass<\/a>, and VIP segments.<\/p>\n

Sands Cash Position Supportive<\/h2>\n

Sands\u2019 solid balance sheet provided one reason for the outlook upgrade. The casino giant has $6.3 billion in cash on hand and access to a $2.5 billion revolving credit facility.<\/p>\n

\n

The Venetian Macau operator suspended its dividend in 2020 to conserve cash during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Much to the chagrin of income investors, who became accustomed to LVS steadily raising its payout and sporting one of the highest yields in the industry, the dividend has yet to be restored, and might not occur<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The upside of the dividend’s demise is that Sands has saved a major chunk of cash over the past three years by eliminating that expense, while firming its balance sheet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe business is generating positive adjusted property EBITDA. The company’s cash resources, assets value, and the suspension of its dividend as its business has been impacted, supports the company’s liquidity and demonstrates a willingness to preserve capital during weaker operational periods,\u201d added Moody\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Not Yet for Sands Credit Upgrade<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s no denying business is recovering in Macau, and Sands\u2019 balance sheet is healthy. But as encouraging as those factors are, a credit upgrade doesn\u2019t appear imminent.<\/p>\n

A ratings upgrade is unlikely given the ramping operations of the company. However, ratings improvement would require that LVS achieve and maintain gross debt\/EBITDA on a Moody’s adjusted basis at 2.0x or lower, generate consistent positive revenue growth with a stable to higher EBITDA margin, and maintain solid reinvestment,\u201d<\/strong> observed Moody\u2019s.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The ratings agency added that LVS could see its credit rating downgraded if the operator\u2019s liquidity is pinched or the gaming company\u2019s earnings recovery takes longer than expected. A surprising reversal of recent fortune in Macau or a broader reduction in consumer cyclical are other factors that could trigger a downgrade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In what could be an indication a return to investment-grade territory is looming, the credit rating outlook of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) was recently lifted to \u201cstable\u201d from \u201cnegative\u201d by Moody\u2019s Investors Service. The research firm maintained a \u201cBaa3\u201d rating on the company and a \u201cBaa2\u201d grade on the Sands China unit. Not surprisingly, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":248930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,10],"tags":[81913,81903],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSands Credit Outlook Boosted To Stable By Moody's<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Las Vegas Sands credit outlook lifted by Moody's to stable from negative.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sands Credit Outlook Boosted To Stable By Moody's\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Las Vegas Sands credit outlook lifted by Moody's to stable from negative.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-04T15:39:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-05T17:11:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/SM-e1680636798510.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"719\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/\",\"name\":\"Sands Credit Outlook Boosted To Stable By Moody's\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/SM-e1680636798510.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-04T15:39:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-05T17:11:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"Las Vegas Sands credit outlook lifted by Moody's to stable from negative.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/SM-e1680636798510.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/SM-e1680636798510.jpg\",\"width\":1333,\"height\":719,\"caption\":\"Sands Cotai Central in Macau. Operator Sands China is likely to focus on paring debt before restarting its dividend. (Image: Sands China)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Asia Pacific Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Las Vegas Sands Credit Outlook Lifted to Stable by Moody\u2019s\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\",\"name\":\"Todd Shriber\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Todd Shriber\"},\"description\":\"Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long\/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/todd-shriber\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/toddshriber\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/etfgodfather\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/todd-shriber\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sands Credit Outlook Boosted To Stable By Moody's","description":"Las Vegas Sands credit outlook lifted by Moody's to stable from negative.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sands Credit Outlook Boosted To Stable By Moody's","og_description":"Las Vegas Sands credit outlook lifted by Moody's to stable from negative.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2023-04-04T15:39:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-05T17:11:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1333,"height":719,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/SM-e1680636798510.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Todd Shriber","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@etfgodfather","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Todd Shriber","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/","name":"Sands Credit Outlook Boosted To Stable By Moody's","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/SM-e1680636798510.jpg","datePublished":"2023-04-04T15:39:06+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-05T17:11:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85"},"description":"Las Vegas Sands credit outlook lifted by Moody's to stable from negative.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/SM-e1680636798510.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/SM-e1680636798510.jpg","width":1333,"height":719,"caption":"Sands Cotai Central in Macau. Operator Sands China is likely to focus on paring debt before restarting its dividend. (Image: Sands China)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sands-credit-outlook-boosted-to-stable-by-moodys\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Asia Pacific Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Las Vegas Sands Credit Outlook Lifted to Stable by Moody\u2019s"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85","name":"Todd Shriber","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png","caption":"Todd Shriber"},"description":"Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long\/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/todd-shriber","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/toddshriber\/","https:\/\/x.com\/etfgodfather"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/todd-shriber\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267426"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}