MGM Resorts (MGM) Q2 2026 earnings call transcript

Thanks. Welcome to the MGM Resorts International Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. This call is being broadcast live on the Internet at investors. mgmresorts. com, and we have also furnished our press release on Form 8 day to the SEC. On this call, we will make forward-looking statements under the safe harbor provisions of the Federal Securities Law. Actual results may differ materially from these contemplated in these statements.

Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements is contained in today's press release and in our periodic filings with the SEC. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or otherwise. During the call, we will also discuss non-GAAP financial measures when talking about our performance. You can find the reconciliation to GAAP financial measures in our press release and investor presentation, which are available on our website.

Finally, this presentation is being recorded.

I will now turn it over to Bill Hornbuckle. Thank you, Howard, and thanks to everyone for joining today's call. Before we review the second quarter results, I want to provide a brief update on the status of the offer received from People Incorporated. Since reviewing the offer, our Board of Directors has formed a special committee composed of independent directors with no affiliation or association with Barry Diller, People Incorporated, or the proposed transaction.

This committee continues to evaluate the proposed transaction and consultation with independent outside advisors. I'm confident our board will pursue the course of action that's in the best interest of the company and our shareholders. I don't have anything more to share at this time, and Jonathan and I are not able to answer any questions during Q&A on this topic.

Now turning to our results, we are pleased to report that solid fundamentals and business momentum we saw at the start of the year carried forward into the second quarter. The company delivered record second quarter consolidated net revenue driven by a second consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth from our Las Vegas Strip Resorts, all-time best regional operations same-store quarterly revenue, and a 20% year-over-year revenue growth at MGM Digital.

Revenue for Las Vegas was bolstered by a solid underlying base of group and convention business at MGM Resorts and aided by strong attendance at events around town ranging from BTS to UFC to a deep playoff running in the Stanley Cup by our very own Vegas Golden Knights. Our group and convention business picked up where it left off in Q1, delivering a 20% room mix in Q2 and keeping us on pace for this market segment to represent 20% of the room mix for the full year.

We drove demand from a diverse customer mix that included technology and hospitality corporate groups, as well as top B2B trade shows and professional association meetings, leading to the highest second-quarter convention ADR and catering and banquet revenue in our history. Our all-inclusive experience in Las Vegas has also sustained solid momentum since launch four months ago. At the end of the quarter, nearly half of the guests booked this offer were first-time visitors to MGM.

The initiative has supported occupancies and forward bookings at Luxor and Excalibur, and importantly, turned the value narrative into a positive story. We are constantly creating new experiences for our customers that leverage and highlight the MGM Resorts's Las Vegas Strip portfolio. One example is the Players' Era Basketball Tournament, taking place across two weeks this November at Michelob Ultra Arena in Manley Bay and the T-Mobile Arena.

24 top collegiate basketball programs from multiple conferences, including four of the last five national championship winning programs, will play in a bracket-style tournament with all games televised on ESPN family of networks. To deliver a world-class experience for teams and for fans, Las Vegas stands unmatched, and MGM is proud to offer the ultimate stage. From the all-inclusive experiences to the Players' Era tournament, the spectrum of experiences we have created aligns with prevailing consumer trends, bridging the more deliberate spending patterns of value-conscious guests with the broadening demand for our premium live experiences.

Las Vegas has become the world stage for premier hospitality and entertainment, and MGM is helping to lead the way. We are elevating our commitment to luxury by retouching and reimagining every element of the customer experience, including the convention and public areas within the Palagio, Room remodels for ARIA and the Cosmopolitan are also on the horizon, building upon our already upgraded suites, villas, and high-end gaming areas.

We will strategically invest our growth capital into designing creative and expiring concepts that expand the very definition of luxury, and we're excited to share more details on this vision in the near future. Our regional operations continue their solid performance in the second quarter, resulting in an all-time best revenue quarter on a same-store basis. We continue to invest targeted capital throughout our regional portfolio, which between now and the end of the year will include enhancing our premium lounge offerings at both the Beau Rivage and Borgata, as well as a room remodel beginning at Borgata. We continue to see benefits from the recent upgrades and improvements in high-limit gaming areas, which drove record two-quarter revenues at Borgata and an all-time record quarterly revenue at the Beau.

Both were major contributors to all-time same-store record quarterly casino revenues and slot win in the regionals this quarter. At MGM China, we continued to outperform the market in the second quarter while maintaining solid market share of 16.4%, a sequential increase of a full percentage point. While the World Cup temporarily impacted June volumes in Macau, this was a transitory event rather than a secular shift.

Our confidence is reinforced by the immediate and encouraging rebound in volumes observed post-tournament throughout the month of July. At our BetMGM North America Ventures, Adam and Gary Deutch reported second quarter results yesterday. Our second quarter performance keeps us well positioned to meet our full-year guidance, and our business continues to grow. Remember, over two-thirds of net revenue comes from iGaming, which continues to drive overall growth. In our sports business, despite the unrestrained spending and legally burdened predictive market participants, we are still growing. We are also excited about our recent launch in Alberta, where early performance indicates reflect tangible benefits of our omni-channel presence.

I'd note that of the first 8,500 deposits we recorded in Alberta, almost 1,000 had prior relationships with the MGM. MGM Digital reported double-digit revenue growth again this quarter and continues to make progress towards profitability in our underlying businesses. We successfully launched our in-house sportsbook in Sweden ahead of the World Cup, which drove record-high player activity. We have seen great traction with our products, which have led to phenomenal growth in both BenMGM-branded services internationally. In Brazil, the environment continues to be dynamic and fluid, but we remain bullish on the long-term opportunity.

Turning to Osaka, our construction continues to reach milestones on a timely basis as we advance towards the 2030 opening. The underground work is progressing nicely, with over 60% of foundation piles completed. Above ground, the property's main structure is taking shape, with ongoing concrete placement and structural steel fabrication. We remain on time and on budget as the only licensee in Japan for what we consider the greatest greenfield opportunity in the world.

In closing, MGM Resorts delivered a strong first half of the year, which should come as no surprise considering the enterprise achieved record-breaking 2Q results on our NPS scores. Again, I want to thank every one of our team members for their tremendous daily efforts that drove the record net promoter scores. We are excited as we look forward to the second half of the year as our business is positioned for continued positive momentum, driven by a solid base of group and convention business at MGM Resorts, particularly led by the tech sector. This is further complemented by an expanded sports and entertainment events calendar taking place citywide that represents an increased number of events compared to that the third quarter last year.

I'll now pass it over to Jonathan to provide some additional details on our performance before we open it up for questions.

Thanks, Bill. And I also want to express my appreciation to the entire MGM team for their continued focus, hard work, and daily commitment to operational excellence. In Las Vegas, we grew both net revenue and segment-adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter on a year-over-year basis. This year, EBITDA is up $25 million at our strip resorts, and the main driver was a recovery at the MGM Grand, which was the beneficiary of the newly remodeled room inventory, and a hold benefit.

As we look to the third quarter, while the booking window remains short, we continue to see solid group and convention calendars alongside growth in the city's event calendar. The regional operations second quarter results reflected all-time record quarterly revenues on a same-store basis. In fact, several of our properties delivered record revenue results during the quarter, including Empire City, which grew GGR in June despite new competition in the state.

Results for the quarter reflect less than one month of operations from Northfield Park due to the transaction closing in late April. So on a same-store basis, slot handle and slot win increased 4% and 3% respectively. At MGM China, volumes and earnings were solid in April and May, and while we saw a dip in volumes coinciding with the World Cup activity in June, trends have since rebounded. Our capital investment program, highlighted by the recent suite conversions and renovated premium gaming areas continues to yield strong results Over the past year we successfully debuted the ultra Alpha Villas at MGM Macau expanded our premium mass offerings with 50 square feet of high gaming space, and recently unveiled newly renovated suites at MGM Kota this past April.

Looking ahead, we have commenced design work on approximately 100 suites at MGM Macau as part of our ongoing commitment to staying ahead of the evolving consumer tastes and preferences. Our BetMGM North America Venture continues generating steady growth as we continue leaning into our areas of strength and focus on efficient operations. We have embedded call options around new state iGaming regulation and currently are more optimistic than we've been in a while as we see increased legislative activity in states like Virginia, Maryland, and Indiana. Our best-in-class iGaming segment grew 8% in the second quarter, and over the course of the first half of 2026, Handle Per Active grew 7%, while NGR Per Active grew 9%. Our online sports strategy continued its focus on player management and disciplined acquisition, resulting in growth of handle per active and NGR per active of 18% and 17% respectively during the first half of 2026.

MGM Digital drove healthy growth in net revenues of 20% in the second quarter and reported segment-adjusted EBITDA losses of $31 million. We continue to build brand awareness while focusing on disciplined growth. 2027 is setting up for favorable operating leverage in the Leo Vegas and BetMGM-branded businesses that will finance growth in Brazil, where we're seeing encouraging data points in first-time deposits, active players, and NGR.

And as we continue calibrating in Brazil, we're expecting full-year EBITDA losses at MGM Digital to be less than last year. In Japan, we're expecting our funding commitment for the second half of the year to be approximately $125 to $175 million. To date, we have spent approximately $600 million, and we remain on track to deploy approximately $1 billion in each of 27 and 28, which we will then have fully completed our capital commitments.

The project remains on time and on budget for a fall 2030 opening. During the quarter, we bought back about 4.3 million shares for $164 million. And over the last five years, we've decreased our share count by nearly 50%. I'll turn it back to Bill.

Thanks, Jonathan. Before taking questions, it's worth emphasizing that Las Vegas is stabilizing and growing, as evidenced by this quarter's improvements in both revenue and EBITDA, and the continued swell of premier sports entertainment events has only reinforced our focus on deploying capital towards our luxury offerings to drive medium to long-term growth. Our regional operations continue to deliver robust results marked by record-breaking performances and an exceptional guest response to our targeted capital investments.

Macau has bounced back nicely in July while maintaining mid-teen share throughout the temporary disruption caused by the World Cup, and digital continues to grow, and MGM Osaka forges ahead with its 2030 opening, which has me, despite my many years in this company and this industry, pleased to say our future has never looked brighter.

With that operator, we'll open it up for some questions.

Thanks, Dan, for the question. And we'll do.

And then, Aisha, you can help me pile on top here.

Look, I think the second quarter, as we reflect back, April and May were strong. May was exceptionally strong, driven by events and other activity. In April, we had our $10 million Baccarat tournament, which was extremely successful. June was more challenged. I think it's the summer he picked up and we got into the real throes of summer. July, on the other hand, has been good. And so, you know, I think we've seen ups and downs in summer, and frankly, I think we'll continue to see so. as we think about the third quarter and beyond.

But again, healthy group business helped the quarter, great events, which we continue to see throughout the course of the year. And overall, I think the packages helped that Excalibur Luxor stabilized occupancies and somewhat ADRs. And so, you know, as we think about three and four, we like what we see in the third quarter. We got some work to do in the fourth quarter.

I just think I covered it.

Yeah, I think your math is about right in terms of what the price has been over the past several years in our share repurchases. is we have bought back fewer shares in this past quarter, only about $164 million worth at about, I'd say about $37 a share or thereabouts. So, of course, we think that that's been a good use of capital. As it relates to the current value of the stock, we've gone through this on a number of prior quarters in terms of the sum of the parts valuation. And, you know, in our view, given the current trends really hasn't changed from that.

No, I just want to – this is Aisha. I just want to highlight again what Bill noted in his script and his previous comment, we have seen growth in overall Las Vegas revenue as well as EBITDA, and so we're pleased with what we're seeing there. You know, in terms of RevPAR, I just note that it is a non-cash metric. You know, overall, I think we continue to see really strong strength in the luxury segment. As we've noted, the lower ends of the segment, particularly Luxor and Excalibur, those do remain challenged, but we've been deploying offers such as the all-inclusive, we've seen positive reaction to that. So, overall, I think, you know, we're seeing real health in the group segment.

We're seeing real health in the luxury segment. And then we're seeing sort of a continued but relatively stabilized trend at the lower end.

Yeah. Hi, Barry, Bill. So they're projecting two and a half million visitors, which seems about right. I think it's about a 6,500 seat facility when it's all said and done. I know they're finalizing plans, so I don't want to get ahead of them. But that's the visitation that's being contemplated, which is significant. And so whether those are new customers, I think Many of them will be for us, and they'll come from farther away just to see it. We've seen that, obviously, in Las Vegas.

So, you know, we expect to capture our fair share of that and then some, given that it is literally on our doorstep. And I think they'll use much of our parking facility, which places them in the midst of our casino environment. So we're pretty excited by all of it.

I think, Sean, a great way to think about it is generally yes, although particularly here at Bellagio we're thinking about more villas potentially because we only have eight to draw from, eight or nine, whatever it is. I think it's eight. And so we're thinking about more villas. Our convention and meeting space, as I mentioned in my prepared comments, needs some work.

We have seen tremendous success with activation of Lakeside with Carbone Riviera, And so we're going to look to continue on that theme. But I think you could think about it, at least for today, in the context of where we are. And if we add to that, we understand what the consequence to that. But we think we'd only add to that if we thought it was going to pay a real dividend.

And Sean Jonathan one of the ways I also think about it and I think this is probably pretty useful in terms of modeling is that you know we can do quite a lot of work and improvement within our existing footprint in that level of CapEx that we've been spending the last three or four years. To the extent that we expand the footprint, we add capacity, we add square footage to our portfolio here in Las Vegas, then it would likely be additive to that base level of CapEx. As an example, we did, as you know, a very large room renovation to the MGM Grand.

We're contemplating one later this year beginning at ARIA. Both of those projects have been and will be done within that basic level of CapEx that we've spent the last few years. But if we did something beyond that to add capacity, it would likely be above.

And, Sean, maybe just as a more global thesis, Las Vegas is our home. Las Vegas is the epicenter of gaming in many respects. It's not going anywhere, and I don't think anything immediately is going to come even close to competing with it. So we believe in it's not only midterm but long-term future, and so we want to continue to invest aggressively where it makes sense, and luxury experiences, not necessarily items, are down that lane.

Yeah, sure. It's Gary. Well spotted. Yeah, I think that's right. The way you should think about MGM Digital, we basically have the European Leo Vegas operated portfolio, Leo Vegas branded business and the BetMGM branded business in Europe. That business is setting up, as Jonathan remarked in 27, for significant operating leverage and likely substantial levels of profitability. And then, you know, we can use that to, you know, at our discretion to, you know, finance the remaining growth investments in the portfolio, which are largely dominated by Brazil in terms of what we have line of sight on. So we do think there will be the ability to self-fund in part the ongoing investments in Brazil and a few other geographies around the world.

You know, the exact nature of how much will be self-funded completely, you know, we're working out through the budgeting process that we're in for 27. But we do anticipate some degree of self-financing from the Corlea Vegas business.

Yeah, I'll kick it off and turn it over to Aisha. I mean, we've booked well over 30,000 room nights on it. It absolutely has helped us stabilize occupancy. And again, I think I commented earlier, the narrative around Las Vegas not providing value and everyone getting beat up on that. We don't think. We know it's helped. We've followed it closely through social media and otherwise.

And it's a great value. At the end of the day, it's the bottom line. I don't know if you want any more color.

Just a couple of other notes. A couple of things that have been interesting to us. What we've seen is a lot of interest and demand from the customers, particularly around the weekends. And so they've actually been purchasing the package at slightly higher rates, which has been accretive. And from that perspective, we've also been really happy with the margin profile that we've been realizing from that package. So all in all, in terms of the gross room nights booked, plus the change in narrative, plus the margin, we think it's been healthy.

Yeah, sure. You know, we think that property in particular has appealed to locals for a couple of reasons. First, there's the obvious proximity to T-Mobile as well as a Dolby within its footprint, and the non-smoking aspect of it is unique in our portfolio. We also do know that for that property in particular, much of our high-end play is locals play. And so from that perspective, we've just been taking a look at how to expand its appeal to our local demographic, particularly over the summer. So we've been doing a host of different things, including looking at sort of F&B offers for locals, as well as parking offers for locals, even up to and including locals' free play offers.

And so it's really just a focused attempt at demand generation within that demographic.

I actually can speak maybe to the database transfer. I would say this. You know, Las Vegas is still down on international travel. And while we're picking up some additional seats, particularly as you look at a place like Canada, we're off considerably. And so it needs to continue to focus on that. And then obviously, particularly in the summer, Southern California is a major drive market. Our driving traffic hits over 50 percent generally of how people get here, principally driven again by that market. And so since we don't have a regional casino in California as much as we'd love one, you know, I think it's somewhat limited.

I don't know, Aisha, if you have a specific view. You know, look, if I take a look at visitor volume year over year to Las Vegas, I mean, you know, there are puts and takes month by month. But overall, the trends, there isn't a significant departure in overall trend line. You know, I do note that, and we're happy about this, our regionals are healthy. And we're seeing, you know, consistent visitation among our highest frequency regional visitors. And we're seeing, you know, consistent play among the top demographics there. I don't know that I'd say there's a one-to-one tradeoff. I don't really think of it that way. You know, I think that as sort of the overall macroeconomic environment continues to stabilize, particularly in Southern California, and as Bill noted with international travel, I think we have every reason to be optimistic about Vegas.

Okay. Thank you. This is Kenny from Macau. Macau has always been a competitive market and will continue to be. MGM, like the past five, six years, has demonstrated a consistent and deep understanding of all customers. We deliver the appropriate offerings catered to premium demand. I want to see, like, here, it's not purely like a promotion, reinvestment. What we are completing is a package of products, of services, of innovation, then of promotion. It's really a package.

Like, for example, during the quarter, like we have completed some meaningful CapEx projects, including our Swiss convergence and as well as like our premium gaming space at Kotae. These projects have been well received by our premium customers. And moving on, we will continue to renovate nearly like 100 streets at MGM accounts. And our strategy is really to focus on optimizing the yield of every table every slot every square foot of the casino floor And that our strategy It not purely like a reinvestment It a package Like you can look at for the past pandemic Every quarter, we have like always like in the guided range of our operating margins, like at MGM China level, like mid-20s to high-20s.

We are confident. We feel comfortable that we can sustain such a margin going forward. This level is sustainable.

No, it's a great question. Half of the participants in this package are brand new, which if you think about Las Vegas in general right now, I think we're under 15% of first-time visitors in total in terms of visitation. And so it is drawing a new customer base, presumably younger, but I don't think I know that yet. But we're going to try to do some data on that.

But, yeah, it's 50%, which is, frankly, startling and, you know, importantly promising.

Look, this is Bill. I don't know if I'd change the model or the percentages of the games. I will tell you, you know, we skew. There are half a dozen customers, maybe a dozen customers, that we have consistently catered to, and they have enjoyed their services and their time here. And, you know, they swing hard, and they swing heavy, and they can go either way.

And obviously this past quarter has been to our advantage, but I wouldn't change the formula yet. I would say that.

And so how we can think about the DAF flow through from that sort of – Yeah, I would say I think we've returned to our normal pace. Kenny, I think it's both, meaning both the market and we have recovered in the context of where we were in June.

Kenny? Yeah, I think I want to see, like, we are seeing pent-up demand from World Cup period. Actually, both the visitations and even the business volumes have strongly picked up since even the second week of July, when there were still a few matches remaining before the end of the World Cup. And the weekly performance has improved week over week.

We believe Macau, like a daily revenue last week, The entire market had recovered nearly to Q1 levels. And at MGM, both property visitations and normalized GGR have already exceeded Q1 levels.

With the events and concerts in town in this month and next month, we are confident to see a busy summer in Macau. It can draw popularity and visitations.

Yeah, Chad, look, I wouldn't say no, never for sure. And while there's always a couple of properties out there that might fit well into the portfolio, and we've kept an eye on that, there's nothing imminent to the contrary.

No, we don't really like to put kind of a point estimate on that because there are a number of things that drive what the hold percentage ultimately is. But, you know, it's in the tens of millions this quarter. It was meaningful, but we stopped a couple of years ago, you know, presenting any kind of hold-adjusted number.

Look, you know, I would say this about the JV, which we continue to say. We've enjoyed our relationship and our partnership. Obviously, we're the brand. They're the technology. There's always things to learn. I think Gary can speak more specifically to that because he oversees these businesses on a daily basis. But the JV is in good shape. And while you never say never to anything, there's nothing contemplated.

So, again, there's no limitations to various structures at this point. It's just a question of, you know, what you feel is best and price.

Thanks.

Yeah, look, I think you've heard throughout our comments, our luxury business remains strong. The top end of our marketplace, the very top end is very strong and continues to be. We still all have, and it's not just us, it's the city of Las Vegas for value customers are continuing to push. You know, we collectively are down three and a half million visitors from our all time peak, I think, back in 20, help me here, 19 or 18, whatever it was.

And so, you know, as we think about that, we're going to continue to push ways to do that. We've always been able to get ourselves and keep ourselves in the 90 percent occupancy range, and we're going to continue to push on that. You know, if you think about what we said about this quarter, it's a good example, our convention and catering business, all-time high. And so that speaks to corporate America, the desire of the destination. And the other thing that speaks to here, the marketplace has changed. We are a big event marketplace now. And when something meaningful happens, whether it was just a recent UFC fight with McGregor or, again, believe it or not, BTS, the market responds to it and responds with a great deal of interest and velocity.

And so we're going to continue to drive it through both the city and independently with events, like I mentioned, our Players' Era basketball tournament and other things that we all want to create because live is what's happening right now. And it's not lost on us or anybody else for that matter. And so, you know, the sphere has been a big help for the community with other competitors who have helped bring in live entertainment. And we're going to continue to do the same.

We're growing revenue for sure, up against some challenges on EBITDA, but absolutely in the long haul, yes, we are.

Thank you. Appreciate it.

Thank you, Operator. Again, I thank everyone's participation. You know, look, Vegas remains stable and consistent. Same with Macau. We love where our regional businesses are coming from, and our digital programming, particularly and the digital piece of Gary's business and the international piece of Gary's business, is showing some promise return. And so with all that said, we thank you for joining us and have a great night.