Wynn Resorts said Tuesday tariffs will necessitate deferring some $375 million of capital improvement spending, including in Las Vegas. In addition, the operator won’t “get out over its skis” to win a gaming license in New York City.
CEO Craig Billings said most tariff-related hits to U.S. operations, mainly food and beverage, are manageable. That’s not the case for capital projects.
“The current tariff impacts have driven us to delay about $375 million of capital improvement projects, including the Encore Tower remodel,” Billings said. “Once tariffs settle, we’ll resource the most severely affected items. While we’re staying nimble, the pace of change at the moment is too significant to revise the timing.”
The tariffs aren’t impacting Wynn’s $5.1 billion UAE resort project on Al Marjan Island, where “a substantial portion is already bought out,” Billings said. Though the budget is certain, elsewhere there are concerns on the furniture, fixtures, and equipment side. “I don’t see any spillover effects outside of the U.S.” Billings said.
As for indirect impacts, Billings said that while Wynn is more resilient than others, given its affluent customer base, uncertainty abounds in the marketplace. The business is in a good place through April, he added.
“So far, our businesses in Vegas and Macau are holding up quite well,” Billings said. “In Vegas, revenue per room was up slightly from 2024, slot handle was up, and group activity was as expected. We’ll see when the impact of tariffs and the decrease in port traffic set in, but as of now, everything is pretty good actually.”
Billings said that their group and convention business “also looks fine.” The booking windows in other channels are shorter than in group and they’re watching those carefully, Billings said.
Billings was happy with the results in Las Vegas against what he called “an impossible comp,” the Super Bowl in 2024. They expected a $25 million headwind in adjusted earnings, but it ended up at about $11 million adjusting hold. If the Super Bowl weekend is removed from the 2024 quarterly, results are otherwise up across the board. That includes drop, handle, revenue per room, non-gaming revenue, and adjusted earnings.
“Demand remained healthy in the quarter, with a 4% increase in the total casino revenues even without the Super Bowl in 2025,” Billings said. “Our slot business continues to be the bright spot, with the investments we have made in our premium slot areas.”
At Encore Boston Harbor, Billings slot volumes held up well, with slot win up 3%. More recently, demand in Boston has remained healthy through April, with the drop in handle flat to last year.
Despite Las Vegas Sands pulling out of the New York market, Billings said the operator remains bullish on New York City and is prepared to put together “a fair proposal.” He called it a complicated market with a lot of considerations.
“You’ve heard some of our peers talk about online gaming and it’s certainly a point of concern for us,” Billings said. “We also need to consider the impact of tariffs on build cost and on top of that, the local politics are complicated. We continue to be in the running in New York, but we will absolutely not get over our skis to win (a license) there.”
As for Japan, in a response to a question during Tuesday’s earning’s call, Billings said they will look at any gateway city and Japan “fits that bill,” but there are structural challenges in the way licensure and ownership have been outlined.
“We would only look at Japan if the set up was right,” Billings said. “We have plenty of development opportunities. We have land banks in the UAE, Boston, and Las Vegas.”
Billings called Thailand a market with amazing potential, but raised questions about the proposed legislation “that probably won’t work if they stay in the bill.”
In Macau, Billings said mass drop in April was in line with 2024 and direct VIP turnover was up “nicely.” Golden Week saw mass drop up from 2024 and full occupancy in the hotel.
“Recent results are good, but we have to acknowledge the uncertainty out there and the impact that uncertainty may have on demand,” Billings said. “As always, we have a playbook ready for every scenario.”
Breaking down Macau, Billings said other than the hold, the business “felt very good.” The business generated $252 million in adjusted earnings with poor VIP hold costing about $40 million. Turnover was up 31% and mass drop was up one point, sequentially. Adjusted earnings margins also improved from the fourth quarter.
“While the market in Macau continues to be highly competitive, we remain focused on maximizing EBITDA and generating healthy margins.”
At Wynn Palace in Macau, the recently opened gourmet pavilion food hall is already driving visitation. Since opening, It’s had about 2,400 daily restaurant covers.
Billings called Wynn Resorts’s future bright and that its stock price doesn’t reflect the value of its assets.
