Yahoo Finance Why Las Vegas Sands, Nintendo, and Pinterest Jumped Today
After trading mixed for much of the session, U.S. stocks closed in the green headed into the long Easter weekend as the market absorbed a steady stream of fresh earnings news. Several individual names posted outsize gains, including Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS), Nintendo (NASDAQOTH: NTDOY), and Pinterest (NYSE: PINS).
Las Vegas Sands' hot quarter
Shares of Las Vegas Sands initially climbed as much as 4.6%, then settled to close up around 0.5% after the casino and resort company posted solid first-quarter 2019 results. Revenue climbed 1.9% year over year to $3.65 billion, while adjusted net income fell 12.5% to $708 million, or $0.91 per share.
Most analysts were only expecting earnings of $0.87 per share on revenue of $3.49 billion.
Image source: Getty Images.
Las Vegas Sands' strength largely stemmed from growth in its Macao casino and hotel properties, which collectively generated roughly 64% of its total sales and 59% of its adjusted property EBITDA during the quarter.
Nintendo Switch is coming to China
Nintendo stock soared 12.2% following news that the Japanese video game giant's Switch console will soon arrive in China through a partnership with Chinese internet services and gaming leader Tencent.
According to a press release issued by Chinese game-industry regulators, Tencent has received a provisional approval to sell the Nintendo Switch console in the country as soon as next week, pending a comment period ending on April 24, 2019.
Nintendo launched Switch in virtually every other major gaming market worldwide more than two years ago, but faced challenges entering the burgeoning Chinese market given its complicated regulatory environment. But analysts have long believed the Switch -- which can be used both as a console with large displays and as a mobile gaming system -- could prove massively popular in China's mobile-first gaming industry.
Pinterest goes public
Finally, shares of Pinterest popped 28.4% on the company's first day on the public markets. After pricing its initial public offering of 75 million shares at $19 per share yesterday evening -- comfortably above its own initial estimates for a range between $15 and $17 -- the self-described "virtual discovery engine" proceeded to skyrocket to $24.43 today as investors embraced its growth prospects. That gives Pinterest a market capitalization of nearly $13 billion.
Pinterest currently boasts over 250 million monthly active users, and saw revenue soar 70% in 2018 to $756 million. But the company has yet to achieve sustained profitability, as those sales translated into a $63 million loss last year. It's certainly not unusual for fast-growing tech companies to forsake profits as they invest to sustain top-line gains, but I think investors would do well to tread lightly here given the outsize volatility that tends to come with buying shares of newly public businesses.
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Steve Symington has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends TCEHY. The Motley Fool recommends Nintendo. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
