William Hill rallies as Stifel highlights New Jersey sports betting news
William Hill racked up healthy gains on Wednesday as Stifel said the US Supreme Court's decision to hear the bid by New Jersey to legalise sports betting in that state should be seen a small positive.
FTSE 250
20,645.38
16:30 10/05/24
FTSE 350
4,634.75
17:09 10/05/24
FTSE All-Share
4,586.29
16:50 10/05/24
Travel & Leisure
7,835.67
17:09 10/05/24
William Hill
271.80p
09:58 22/04/21
Stifel pointed out that the case is unlikely to be resolved until next year and said that while legislative change is not certain, it could allow sports betting at casinos and racetracks in New Jersey.
"There is obviously smaller potential in New Jersey than Nevada, where William Hill an EBIT of £14.3m last year with a 26% market share. One should also note that since online casino gaming was permitted in New Jersey, growth has been below expectations with limited profitability."
So while this is a welcome "step in the right direction", it will only be a game-changer if there is further legislative change allowing larger states to legalise online sports betting.
"The shares have shown weakness this week. We view this development as a small piece of good news but the shares remain overshadowed by the machine review in UK."
Stifel has a hold rating and 270p price target on the stock.
At 1025 BST, the shares were up 3.4% to 259.30p.