Bally's Corporation Posts Better Than Expected Q2 Financials

Bally's Corporation, one of the newest Heavyweights populating the mobile US legal sports betting industry is out with their Quarter 2 earnings report and somewhat surprisingly, they exceeded analyst expectations. Bally's has always been a recognizable name within the broader US gambling scene but the last six months or so has seen them go on an acquisition spree with the aim of becoming an elite mobile brand in the exploding US scene.

Bally's took a bit of a risk with their decision to ramp up operations during a global pandemic, but the risk, according to second-quarter revenue estimates, may have paid off. Since November, Bally's has partnered with numerous existing US sporting entities and has been busy acquiring a top-tier technology platform, a media outlet and even an elite DFS platform. Despite the expenditures, Bally's Corp. has managed to make money while at the same time dramatically increasing their profile in the US legal sports betting realm.

Checking Out the Numbers

On Monday, Bally's released their report on preliminary second-quarter revenues for the period that started April 1 and ended June 30. It showed profits of $258 million - $268 million, which bests Wall Street consensus estimate of about $225.38 million. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) are estimated to be in the range of $80 million to $84 million for Q2 of 2021.

Year-Over-Year Spike

Bally's Corp.'s year-over-year spike come as no surprise considering that last year at this time the betting provider was not even rumored to become a part of the immense, yet necessary US mobile market. There was, of course the effects of COVID-19 that was limiting visits to the company's retail casinos and putting a virtual stop to their bottom line. Last year's Q2 saw its total consolidated revenue coming in at just $28.9 million with an EBITDA loss of $10.7 million.

Direct Result of the Q2 Profits

Investors in Bally's will be happy to find out that because of their performance lately, the company "isn’t planning to issue equity or draw on available credit to finance" their $2.7 billion purchase of British online gaming firm Gamesys, a company that provides Bally's a turn-key brand they can exploit on their path toward mobile sports betting relevance.

"As a result of better-than-expected operating performance at its land-based retail casinos and interactive businesses, Bally’s does not plan to issue incremental common equity or draw on the previously disclosed Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. commitment to fund the Gamesys acquisition,” according to a statement. “Bally’s continues to evaluate investment options with potential strategic partners, and such investment is not necessary to fund the Gamesys acquisition.”

Recent Moves That Could Make Q3 Better

Bally's has been one of the more aggressive sportsbooks in the US industry as they try to catch up to others after a late start on their mobile dominance aspirations. In November the company purchased regulated sportsbook technology platform Bet.Works which gave it the infrastructure to take real-money bets.

They followed that with the acquisition of Sinclair Broadcasting and its 21 regional Fox sports networks as well as the other 190 Sinclair-owned stations that will give them a strong media presence. Then there was the acquisition of the third largest DFS provider in the US, Monkey Knife Fight. Last week, it was announced that Bally's had signed on with elite data provider Sportradar, which will assist the company with real-time statistics for their mobile and in-game betting focus.

Looking Ahead

Bally's is live in just two jurisdictions so far - Colorado and Iowa but expectations from company brass are that they will have a much more expansion focus in the coming months. Hopes from Bally's management are that the company elevates into the elite class of sports betting providers by the end of 2022.

There are many sports betting providers on the rise in the broader US legal sports betting industry, but none are growing at the furious pace of Bally's Corporation. A recognizable name in retail, Bally's Corp and their Bally Bet brand looks ready to become a household name in the more lucrative and more desirable mobile betting scene. On Monday, with the news of the strong Q2 numbers, Bally's stock was up 5.37% to $48.86 USD