When putting together your watchlist, look for stocks with an 80 or higher Relative Strength Rating. Las Vegas Sands now meets that criteria, with an increase from 76 to 81 Tuesday. Sands achieved a huge turnaround and has put up triple-digit sales and profit growth numbers so far this year.
Sands Stock Rising, Triple-Digit Profit Growth
Las Vegas Sands earnings improved every quarter for the past year. After posting small losses (-27 cents per share and -19 cents) in the final two quarters of 2022 amid the bear market, the casino operator did a hard about-face. It reported a 170% year-over-year increase in EPS the first quarter this year, to 29 cents a share. It followed with a 235% leap in EPS its most recent quarter, to 46 cents per share.
Revenue has grown too. In the first quarter this year its sales rose 125% to $2.12 billion. Last quarter sales leapt 143% to $254 billion.
The 81 RS Rating shows that Sands stock outperformed 81% of all stocks, regardless of their industry, for price performance over the past 52 weeks. Market research reveals that stocks that go on to make the biggest gains tend to have an RS Rating over 80 in the early stages of their moves.
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Among its other ratings, Las Vegas Sands has a decent 76 Composite Rating out of 99. Reflecting its earnings turnaround it boasts an 81 Earnings Per Share Rating. However, not all is sunshine and roses for the casino company. Sands Accumulation/Distribution Rating is a weak E on an A+ to E scale, showing that institutions such as mutual funds and ETFs are selling more shares than buying. However, the number of funds owning Sands stock rose from 1,466 in the December-ended quarter to 1,575 in March and 1,601 in June, a bullish sign.
Sands Doubled Since May 2022, Still Below High
Sands stock is working on a consolidation with a 65.58 entry. See if the stock can clear the breakout price in heavy trading. Tuesday afternoon Sands traded above 57, up about 1.2% for the day. It's nearly doubled from a 28.88 low in mid-May 2022. But Sands is still down from a near-term high 81.45 set at the end of May 2018.
Las Vegas Sands holds the No. 7 rank among its peers in the 31-stock Leisure-Gaming/Equipment industry group. Horse racetrack and casino operator Churchill Downs and rival Las Vegas-based casino company Boyd Gaming are also among the group's highest-rated stocks.
Las Vegas Sands owns 10 casino resorts and conference facilities. Among them are the Palazzo Las Vegas, Venetian, and Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas; 1 Casino in Singapore; and the Plaza, Parisian, Venetian, Sands Cotai Central and Sands Macao in Macao, China. With China's economy finally reopening after a stringent government Covid shutdown until recently, more tourists are visiting those casinos.
When you're researching the best stocks to buy and watch, be sure to pay attention to relative price strength.
The exclusive Relative Strength Rating from Investor's Business Daily tracks price movement with a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score. The grade shows how a stock's price movement over the last 52 weeks holds up against all the other stocks in our database.
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