Reviewing the first quarter since the Dragon Train injunction, Jefferies Equity Research analyst Kai Erman concluded that Aristocrat Leisure and Light & Wonder “should continue to consolidate their leading market-share positions.”
Aristocrat’s strength, he opined, was in gaming operations. Light & Wonder, for its part, was number one in outright sales and had gained two percentage points of shipping share, despite being shorn of Dragon Train.
International Game Technology wasn’t overlooked. Erman wrote that it “remains a solid performer, with its shares tethered to [external] events.”
In gaming operations, Aristocrat held almost half of the Big Three manufacturer increase in leasing of participation-game units. IGT came second with 31 percent and Light & Wonder had the remaining 20 percent share.
Excluding slot-route operations, Light & Wonder actually gained market share following the Dragon Train ban, representing 26 percent of overall sales and units shipped. Aristocrat and IGT each had 20 percent market shares.
Looking ahead, Erman wrote that the two most-anticipated premium-lease games were both Aristocrat products: Phoenix Link and House of the Dragon. Number three was Light & Wonder’s Huff N’ Even More Puff. The rankings were similar for cabinet games. Aristocrat came in first with Baron, segued by Light & Wonder’s Cosmic Upright and Horizon.
“This reaffirms our view that ALL & LNW should continue to consolidate share over the next >12 months,” Erman reacted. He opined that both companies would enjoy “robust” product placement, propelled by Aristocrat’s Phoenix Link and Light & Wonder’s Monopoly Express.
“As for IGT,” Erman wrote, “the product performance remains at #2 in present share, but #3 in forward expectations, while the gaming unit is pending a private sale-process, while its shares are also constrained by its pending Italy lotto contract for the time being.”
