Las Vegas Sands delivered first-quarter results after the close of US markets today, with the Macau casino giant also telling investors it’s significantly expanding a previously authorized share repurchase program.
Last October, the Marina Bay Sands operator announced a $2 billion share buyback plan, and the company made good on its pledge to buy back its own stock, doing so to the tune of $900 million since that announcement. On Tuesday, Sands’ board of directors approved nearly doubling that existing buyback scheme to $2 billion.
“The timing and actual number of shares to be repurchased in the future will depend on a variety of factors, including the company’s financial position, earnings, legal requirements, other investment opportunities, and market conditions,” according to a statement.
Today’s buyback news from Sands is the third such proclamation since October 2023, and the company has the capital to support those efforts, as it concluded the first quarter with $3.04 billion in unrestricted cash on hand, or 14.2% of its market capitalization of $24 billion.
Sands Follows Through on Buyback Promise
Sands’ expansion of its buyback efforts also comes at a time when a variety of gaming companies are turning to share repurchases as a way of returning capital to investors.
Across all industries, some companies prefer buybacks to dividends because the former are more tax-efficient for shareholders than the latter and offer more flexibility. Corporations announcing repurchase programs are not legally bound to buy back any shares, let alone the full amount noted in their press releases and regulatory filings.
However, Sands is making good on its promise to buy its own stock. During the first three months of 2025, the Venetian Macau operator said it bought back $450 million worth of its shares, or “approximately 10 million shares at a weighted average price of $44.59.”
That could be a sign management sees value in a stock that’s off 32.54% and one that’s been under scrutiny by investors amid tariff uncertainty. Sands China is the largest operator in Macau, and gaming stocks there are struggling this year as the US and China exchange trade barbs.
Mixed Results in Macau and Singapore for Sands
Despite the positive buyback news, shares of Las Vegas Sands traded lower in Wednesday’s after-hours session after the company said its first-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) in Macau was $535 million. That figure was pinched by $10 million on low hold rolling play, said the company.
“In Macau, while market growth has softened in the current environment, our decades-long commitment to making investments that enhance the business and leisure tourism appeal of Macau and support its development as a world center of business and leisure tourism positions us well for future growth,” said CEO Robert Goldstein in the press release.
Things were better in Singapore, where the usually dependable Marina Bay Sands posted adjusted property EBITDA of $605 million in the March quarter.
