Sports Betting Powerhouse Penn National is Drawing Analyst Attention Ahead of Q3 Earnings
The company is emerging as a force to be reckoned with in the rapidly growing sports betting industry.
Online gambling and sports betting are becoming some of the most popular forms of entertainment for American consumers. PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ: PENN) is emerging as a force to be reckoned with in the rapidly growing industry.
While Penn got its start as an operator of smaller regional casino resorts, over the last few years, it has been heavily investing in digital assets, including iCasino and sports-betting-related media. The company took a 26% interest in sports media giant Barstool Sports in early 2020.
Barstool Sports and its founder, David Portnoy, are some of the biggest names in digital sports media. Portnoy, in particular, is a major fan and advocate for sports betting. Last month, the Barstool founder had his own booth and segment going during the Jake Paul boxing matches. Portnoy spent the majority of his airtime discussing the bets he had going for the upcoming fights. Portnoy’s influence on Penn National’s ability to market its sports betting products should not be underestimated.
Most recently, Penn completed its $2 billion acquisition of Score Media and Gaming, creating North America’s leading digital sports content, gaming and technology company. The Score acquisition provides Penn with a powerful mobile sports betting platform and additional iCasino customers.
PENN Q3 Earnings Preview
Penn National will report its Q3 2021 financial results and hold its earnings conference call on November 4th. Currently, leading analysts are projecting Penn to report earnings per share (EPS) of $0.80. Last quarter, the company beat analysts’ consensus projection of $0.93 by 26%, with $1.17 EPS. Penn’s EPS has roughly tripled from $0.38 in 2018. The consensus revenue projections amongst analysts for the third quarter have Penn posting sales of $1.5 billion.
Ahead of earnings, analysts are putting out positive ratings on the stock. In the last week, two analysts put out a buy rating on the stock, while another put out a hold rating. All 3 had price targets above today’s stock price, with an average price target of $95.66.
