Investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a new research note that it expects Macau industry-wide EBITDA to reach US$1.6 billion for the June 2023 quarter, representing a 46% improvement over Q1 and the first quarter in which both mass revenue and EBITDA have been within touching distance of pre-COVID levels.
According to analysts Praveen Choudhary, Gareth Leung and Stephen Grambling, the 2Q EBITDA result will be driven by a 29% quarter-on-quarter increase in industry-wide mass and slot GGR to US$4.79 billion, with further positive momentum tipped for the second half of the year.
Echoing similar research from the past week suggesting Macau’s mass gaming market has benefited from a series of high-profile concerts in recent months, Morgan Stanley noted that “a few major concerts helped in 2Q” – a trend they expect to continue in 3Q23. They also point out that Q2 visitation was only at 60% of 2019 levels and more than 5% of hotel rooms have been offline, “suggesting upside to 3Q and 4Q estimates.”
