Boosted by a strong performance from Aristocrat Leisure Ltd,, and overall positive trends in the price of 10 of the 14 stocks measured, the AGEM Index for April showed a 5.3 percent gain over its March total.
Three manufacturers – Scientific Games, International Game Technology and Inspired Entertainment – saw double-digit stock percentage increases, allowing the Index to make up for the losses incurred by the Nasdaq-listed Agilysys, the Taiwan-listed Astro Corp., Australia’s Ainsworth Game Technology and Everi Holdings, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange.
Aristocrat Leisure Ltd. saw its stock end the month at AU$26.08 per share, a 6.4 percent increase month-over-month. The stock was responsible for 9.80 points of the AGEM Index’s monthly growth.
Agilysys saw a month-over-month percent decrease of 9.6 percent. The stock’s price is up nearly 63 percent year-over-year compared to April 2018.
Scientific Games’ share price spiked 13.3 percent, driven by the company’s long-discussed move to spin off a social-gaming vertical, SciPlay. SciPlay launched its IPO on Friday and is ultimately expected to take in more than $404 million as a result. Scientific Games says it will use the proceeds to pay down company debt.
Everi Holdings saw a 2.2 percent decrease from March. Shares of the company, which provides slot machines and financial services to the gaming industry, were valued at $10.28 per share at month’s end. Gaming Partners International, which is currently awaiting the close of a merger agreement between it and Japanese card and card game manufacturer Angel Holdings, showed a 5.5 percent increase.
Tokyo-based Konami Corp. was up 5.3 percent. Taiwan-listed Astro Corp. was down 19.5 percent, the month’s biggest percentage change.
Over the past year, most of the gaming manufacturers tracked by the Index have shown significant increases in stock value, with Everi Holdings recording a 60.5 percent increase year-over-year and Galaxy Gaming showing a 52.3 percent increase.
Las Vegas-based gaming provider PlayAGS was up slightly, showing a 0.8 percent increase from $23.93 per share to $24.12.
The AGEM Index outperformed the major stock indices for the month, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 experienced increases of 2.6 percent and 3.9 percent respectively. The NASDAQ grew 4.7 percent.
Las Vegas-based advisory services firm Applied Analysis generates the monthly report, which currently covers 10 domestic providers, two based in Australia, and one each from Japan and Taiwan, for the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers.
