Lyon: Macau's February gambling revenue exceeds expectations, with Galaxy Entertainment (00027) and MGM China (02282) being the top choices.

Lyon released a research report stating that Macau's total gambling revenue in February increased by 4.5% year-on-year to 20.6 billion Macau patacas, higher than the market consensus, which was previously revised down to a 1% increase. Although the total gambling revenue data for February 16-18 was soft, the data for the end of February showed strong demand, with an average daily total gambling revenue of 1.053 billion Macau patacas from February 23-28. The bank believes that this indicates a strong start to March, with expectations for a 9.7% year-on-year increase in March to 21.6 billion Macau patacas, equivalent to an average daily total gambling revenue of 696 million Macau patacas. The bank's forecast for March is 3% lower than the market consensus. Lyon points out that the Macau gambling sector is currently trading at 10.1 times the 2026 forecast enterprise value to EBITDA, with GALAXY ENT (00027) and MGM CHINA (02282) still the bank's top picks in the industry.