In a preview video of online-gaming stocks, released January 20, Jefferies Equity Research analyst James Wheatcroft highlighted several igaming companies. But the bulk of his brief presentation was devoted to Flutter Entertainment.
“We still are very upbeat across the sector,” Wheatcroft said of igaming and online sports betting. He allowed that the sector was still in a transitional period. “The penetration rates are going to grow,” he elaborated. “Investors are going to be increasingly confident about the runway for U.S. growth,” including the potential for more stateside jurisdictions legalizing the activity. The macro looks pretty insulated from some of the consumer trends,” Wheatcroft added. He then pivoted to Flutter.
He said the FanDuel parent was drawing the most investor interest, both in the recent past and the immediate future. “The investor debate is very much focused on growth versus valuation,” Wheatcroft wrote. “We see some significant changes there which are going to make the story much simpler to understand. There is going to be a lot of discussion around [their] product,” Wheatcroft continued, highlighting Flutter’s upcoming My Way product, “very engaging for investors.”
Wheatcroft also emphasized that he was “still very interested in Entain.” He cited the BetMGM co-parent’s new CEO, Gavin Isaacs, as a “catalyst for investment.”
