Morgan Stanley analyst Thomas Allen said that MGM Resorts' results were worse than he feared in the fourth quarter even though he had "low expectations" as Vegas was hampered by weak Far East play and Regional casinos were also soft. While MGM is well positioned to win the gaming license for Osaka this year, he expects results to continue to disappoint and sees limited incremental value in the share buyback program as MGM still faces a mature Vegas and difficult Macau trends, Allen tells investors. While he acknowledges a new CEO "should bring in fresh eyes," Allen keeps an Equal Weight rating on MGM shares and lowered his price target to $34 from $36.

Macao junket boss Alvin Chau and senior executives at Suncity allegedly ran a wide-ranging criminal organization that cheated the casino hub out of about $1B in tax revenue, Pak Yiu of NIkkei Asia reported, citing an official indictment. Chau was arrested in November and is facing decades in prison if convicted on a number of charges, including fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling. His trial is to start on September 2. The alleged schemes also meant that Macao's six licensed gaming operators lost out on as much as HK$2.08B in gaming revenue, according to the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. Publicly traded companies in the Macau gaming space include Las Vegas Sands (LVS), MGM Resorts (MGM), Wynn Resorts (WYNN) and Melco Resorts (MLCO). Reference Link