Casino and sports betting company PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) reported fourth-quarter financial results Thursday before the market open.
Here are the key highlights, including the early impact of ESPN Bet.
What Happened: Penn reported fourth-quarter revenue of $1.4 billion, which missed a Street consensus estimate of $1.53 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
The company reported a loss of $1.75 per share, which missed a Street consensus estimate of a loss of 52 cents per share.
Property revenue was $1.37 billion in the fourth quarter. The company said 10 properties had their highest ever fourth-quarter revenue, with customer demand and weather cited as reasons for the boost. Penn has 43 properties in 20 states.
“Penn delivered another quarter of solid property level performance while continuing to invest in our high growth digital business, which we believe will create significant long term shareholder value,” Penn CEO Jay Snowden said.
ESPN Bet revenue was $31.5 million in the fourth quarter.
The company posted a net loss of $358.8 million in the fourth quarter, compared to a profit of $20.8 million in the year prior period. The loss came from the investments in the interactive segment and ESPN Bet.
Penn is paying The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) annually for the ESPN license for its sportsbook.
Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $39.6 million in the fourth quarter for the company, compared to a profit of $438.3 million in the year ago period.
Related Link: Disney CEO Bob Iger Says ESPN Bet Had Multiple Suitors. Here’s Why Penn Entertainment Won The Rights
ESPN Bet Results & Future: ESPN Bet launched in 17 states in November and had a big impact on the fourth-quarter results.
Penn highlighted the record online sports betting handle it had in December and January, which were the first two full months of ESPN Bet. The handle was up 190% year-over-year in the two months.
The company has added over 1 million new customers into its database since the launch of ESPN Bet, which is on top of the existing Barstool Sportsbook customers who were migrated over to ESPN Bet.
ESPN Bet had market share of 15% to 16% in the months of December and January, which ranked third and trails the market leaders that have shares of around 23% to 24% and 21% to 22%. The results are based on the states…
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