You Got To Know When To Accumulate 'Em: Las Vegas Sands Weakness Won't Last Long

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) shares are selling off by 5.1 percent Thursday following a disappointing Q4 earnings report.

According to Stifel analyst Steven Wieczynski, the selloff is a buying opportunity. He believes the market is misinterpreting what are actually pretty solid results.

Las Vegas Sands reported adjusted property-level EBITDA of $1.12 billion, slightly below consensus forecasts of $1.13 billion.

“Though optically the Macau results may appear to have missed consensus expectations, we believe there was a fairly meaningful mass table hold-related headwind in the quarter that is not captured in management’s presentation of hold-normalized results,” Wieczynski explains.

He points out that the company’s free cash flow remains strong, and the new Parisian resort is off to a stronger-than-expected start. In addition, management indicated on the earnings call it's already working with bankers to prep for the sale of its MBS mall asset. While the sale won’t take place until at least Marck/April, Wieczynski estimates Las Vegas Sands could easily get $3.0-3.5 billion for the property.

Wieczynski believes Thursday morning’s dip won’t last for long as the market fully dissects the report.

“We remain bullish on the shares for their Macau mass exposure, FCF generation, string capital returns, potential for new international integrated resorts and possible asset sales,” Wieczynski concludes.

Stifel maintains a Buy rating on Las Vegas Sands, but has lowered its price target from $66 to $65.