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About two months after Flutter executed its public listing in the United States, analysts and shareholders got their first look at how the market responds to a quarterly earnings report from the company. In short, the earnings report was everything that interested parties could have wanted to hear but nothing they didn’t expect.
There were highlights from the report for the full year of 2023, led by updated guidance for the full year which increased United States revenue at the midpoint by 36%. FanDuel’s claims for its US online casino performance could drive the company’s performance over that target. If that happens, a pending move might not be as daunting for Flutter in the short term.
Flutter Entertainment recounts successful 2023 in financial report
Flutter is a global company offering gambling products in multiple European and North American countries. However, Flutter’s most robust growth throughout 2023 came from its US products like FanDuel and Pokerstars.
Isolating Flutter Entertainment’s 2023 earnings report to just its results for the year in the US, Flutter says that revenue was up 40.7% compared to 2022 and it reached a positive EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) for the first time. A big part of that growth was Flutter’s US online casino products.
Flutter claims that FanDuel Casino is the market share leader across the US based on gross gaming revenue and its products altogether represent a leading 25.7% share of the overall market. Other than FanDuel Casino and Pokerstars, FanDuel also powers the Mohegan-branded online casino app in Connecticut.
In explaining its position in the online casino landscape in the US, the earnings report points to a few factors.
“In iGaming, we launched 82% more gaming titles than the prior year, and also secured periods of exclusive access to some of the sector’s most famous games. We also expanded our iGaming team, agreed new partnerships and added new features to our product proposition.
Our iGaming strategy is delivering strongly, and we believe we have now achieved product parity with our closest competitors. With a strong pipeline of further new products, including greater jackpot and multiplayer functionality expected to be provided by the acquisition of Beyond Play we signed in February 2024, we are well-placed for further market share gains. “
Furthermore, Flutter says that its active monthly player count for its online casino products rose by 41.8% over 2023. In a bit of a preview of things to come, Flutter added that its US online casino revenue for the first 77 days of 2024 represents a 50.3% year-over-year uptick.
As a result, Flutter has increased its US revenue guidance for the remainder of 2024. While analysts and investors have taken the new forecast in stride, Flutter likely hopes that more data will only bolster excitement in the US later this year.
Market reaction shows Flutter might have work to do before a shareholder vote
While the raw numbers might be what current shareholders want to see, expert voices were merely satiated. According to Padraic Halpin of Reuters, Flutter’s updated forecast for 2024 was mostly in line with the predictions of analysts at Jefferies.
In concert with that assessment, shares of Flutter’s stock (OTCMKTS: PDYPY) on the London exchange were up just 1.8% immediately after the release of the results. That might have been more about what’s ahead for the company than its recent performance, though.
In May, shareholders will vote on whether to move Flutter’s primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange from London. Many expect the proposal to receive approval. However, the tentative status of Flutter’s listing in London might have caused some people who otherwise would have bought in to shy away.
At the same time, the more excitement it can generate over a primary NYSE listing, the better for current investors. While its US sports betting business might be larger by volume, the online casino scene is what it may tout.
Flutter’s US online casino product performance could be an investor sales pitch
In assessing Flutter’s US sports betting growth, there’s an important caveat; market expansion. Throughout 2023, FanDuel got its online and physical sportsbooks into Kentucky and Ohio. Meanwhile, the map for Flutter’s US online casino products remained unchanged during 2023.
That means the market share and revenue across the country for those products grew solely as a result of the measures that Flutter described in the earnings report. That should signal to investors that there is at least some proof that Flutter has its pulse on what US online casino players want and can deliver it to them.
Naturally, past performance is no guarantee of future results. Posting another 50.3% increase in online casino revenue for the first quarter of future years might prove difficult. At the same time, if Flutter isn’t pointing potential investors to its performance in the US online casino market, that might be a red flag in and of itself.
