Shares of Irish betting firm Flutter Entertainment surged 15% Thursday as investors saw signs of strength in its U.S. sports wagering business even as the company took a financial hit from being on the wrong side of NFL wagers in November.
Flutter said its preliminary fourth quarter revenue was £9.54 billion ($12 billion), up 25% from 2022 and slightly above consensus expectations for the year. But its U.S. unit fell short of revenue expectations at $1.4 billion, thanks to customers winning big on NFL bets with its FanDuel subsidiary.
“[U.S.] revenue growth of 26% reflected a very well-publicized impact of customer-friendly sports results, resulting in [a] $343 million [revenue swing] largely on NFL games in November compared to bookmaker-friendly results in Q4 2022,” CEO Peter Jackson said on a financial update with analysts Thursday.
