Las Vegas Sands reported a slowdown in Asian tourism in June, because the World Cup drove high-value customers to the U.S. to see the matches.
CEO Patrick Dumont spoke to Wall Street analysts Wednesday after the second-quarter earnings release showed across-the-board declines in revenue, income, and adjusted earnings. He maintained the company’s strategic goals “remain clear and consistent” and that they will continue to invest with discipline to create shareholder returns over the long term.
Despite the declines, the highlight of the quarter was the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore delivering $689 million in adjusted earnings. “That performance was achieved despite the seasonally softer tourism demand in both Singapore and Macau in the second quarter of each calendar year,” Dumont said.
Dumont said there was a decrease in visitation to both Marina Bay Sands and their Macau properties from high-value customers during the World Cup. “It was very noticeable in June, given the trajectory in both markets earlier in the quarter. Despite these headwinds, mass gaming revenue at Marina Bay Sands grew 5% for the quarter compared to the second quarter of 2025, which underlines the resilience and underlying strengths of the business.”
Dumont said the World Cup in the U.S. was highly successful, but quickly added, “Unfortunately, a lot of our high-value patrons are followers of a lot of the players and teams, and that drove a lot of tourism away from our two markets.” Dumont said since the World Cup final was on Sunday, it’s too soon to say what July will look like.
As for Singapore, Dumont said it remains an ideal market for high-value tourism spending, and Sands’s focus on creating “unique and memorable entertainment experiences for our guests continues to generate outstanding financial performance.”
The second-quarter results reinforce the view that Marina Bay Sands’s structural earnings power has been elevated, after a “significant” product investment, suite renovations, service enhancements, and the successful execution of their premium-customer strategy.
“We remain confident that our product-leading service and focus on driving high-value tourism will enable us to create unrivaled hospitality experiences for the world’s most discerning customers and deliver additional growth at Marina Bay Sands in years ahead,” Dumont said.
The expansion at the Marina Bay Sands will increase the premium-suite capacity and service and entertainment offerings, including the debut of a state-of-the-art arena and “a vision to be the finest in Asia,” Dumont said. The expansion is on track to open in 2031.
In Macau, the $430 million in adjusted earnings during the quarter was negatively impacted by the “exceptionally low VIP rolling hold of 1.35% for the quarter.” If Sands held as expected, the adjusted earnings would have been $517 million.
Dumont said efforts to improve service levels and customer experience are netting early successes. The growth in gaming volumes at Sands China exceeded the growth in the Macau market overall.
Compared to the second quarter of 2025, Dumont said Sands delivered strong growth in gaming volumes in all segments. Its rolling volume was up 72% year-over-year.
Sands China mass gross gaming revenue grew 8% for the quarter, twice as fast as the overall market’s 4%, Dumont said. Sands’s total gaming revenue grew by 4% for the quarter compared to 2025, while the Macau market’s total gaming revenue was flat for the second quarter.
“If we’d held as expected in our rolling play, Sands China’s total GGR growth would have been 14% year-over-year,” Dumont said. “Sands China VIP rolling chip volume share reached a market-leading 26% in the quarter.”
Sands China reported strong gaming volumes in April and May, with May an all-time high in terms of monthly mass-gaming revenue. The issue again was a softer June.
Dumont said the company has optimized reinvestment since the beginning of the year and has remained consistent over several quarters. Reinvestment as a percentage of revenue increased and was driven by changes in business mix and a lower hold percentage on non-rolling play.
“Our goal is to continue to remain consistent with our reinvestment strategy going forward and achieve greater profitability as revenues grow in the future,” Dumont said.
Dumont said they’ve invested in additional table operating hours, increased sales, marketing and customer service personnel, and enhanced levels of customer service.
“The increased investment in operating expenses related to our efforts should begin to level off in the second half of 2026,” Dumont said. “These investments are critical to the achievement of our long-term objectives of servicing our customers to the highest standard, creating unique and memorable hospitality experiences for our guests.”
The growth in the Macau market is primarily driven by the premium segment, where the competition remains intense, Dumont said. Luxurious suite products along with outstanding service are critical to success, he added.
The goal is to reach $700 million a quarter of adjusted earnings in Macau over time as the investment and operating strategy is implemented.
Renovations of suites at the Venetian started in March, and all 2,009 rooms and suites will be refurbished by Chinese New Year 2028. The Venetian will also introduce new premium-focused gaming salons and related amenities as part of the investment program. The work won’t create any major disruptions in the portfolio.
In response to a question from a Wall Street analyst, Dumont said the quarter doesn’t represent the “true earnings power” of their properties at Sands China.
“Hold and the World Cup had impacts,” Dumont said. “This quarter is not what we wanted to see, but we feel pretty good about where we’re headed, given the growth in volumes across all segments. So while we didn’t get the hold we wanted this quarter, the volumes were there and visitation was there and even though the World Cup had an impact, we feel like we’re headed in the right direction.”
In response to another question, Dumont said when it comes to Singapore, he called it “an incredibly powerful quarter” in several of the segments, but impacted by the World Cup as well, given the high-value nature of its patrons.
“As we look at that asset in the future, we see a very strong market and very strong visitation,” Dumont said. “We’re going to continue to invest there, because we see the long-term potential of growth in Singapore.”
