KUALA LUMPUR: Gaming stocks are expected to continue on their recovery path, given countries’ shift away from the total lockdown approach and as investors develop an “immunity” towards Covid-19-related news.
The gaming sector was one of the worst-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic over the past two years but further developments in the pandemic should not be as disruptive to sales and operations as they have been in the past.
In a sector update, Hong Leong Investment Bank research said most global governments are recognising the detrimental effect that a full lockdown has on the economy and is steering away from such measures to combat the pandemic.
Investors have become cognisant of this, noting that in the United States, share prices of pandemic beneficiary stocks such as Zoom, Etsy, DoorDash and DocuSign were down after news, contrary to what one might expect.
In Malaysia, while gaming stocks fell following the discovery of the Omicron virus, the stocks soon rebounded.
’s numbers forecast operator (NFO) sales are recovering post-business resumption but at a slower pace compared to post-movement control order 1.0." src="https://apicms.thestar.com.my/uploads/images/2021/12/24/1418892.jpg" onerror="this.src='https://cdn.thestar.com.my/Themes/img/tsol-default-image2017.png'" style="width: 620px; height: 411px;">Meanwhile, the research firm said Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd’s numbers forecast operator (NFO) sales are recovering post-business resumption but at a slower pace compared to post-movement control order 1.0.
Meanwhile, pandemic beneficiary stocks staged transient rebounds but fell shortly after.
“As investors start to turn their attention away from pandemic beneficiary stocks towards recovery stocks with sound fundamentals, the gaming companies which have stood on steadfastly through the pandemic may once again enter the radar of investors,” said the research firm.
It cautioned that the recovery path for the sector is likely to be choppy due to the continued risks of Covid-19 but expects countries to be better equipped to handle the pandemic to avoid a reversion to a full lockdown situation.
Hong Leong Investment, which upgraded its call on the sector to “overweight”, has Genting Bhd as its top pick as it believes the counter is trading at a huge discount of more than 50% to its sum-of-parts valuation.
“We like Genting for its deep expertise and experience in managing the gaming and hospitality businesses and its well spread operations across different regions, which help to mitigate regulatory and country risks.
“Furthermore, Genting provides an exposure to Resorts World Las Vegas, which we believe has a strong growth potential in the longer term,” it said, while maintaining its “buy” call and target price of RM6.20.
Meanwhile, the research firm said Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd’s numbers forecast operator (NFO) sales are recovering post-business resumption but at a slower pace compared to post-movement control order 1.0.
However, the group’s luxury car segment dealership continues to record robust growth, which should cushion the impact of the slower recovery in the NFO segment.
Hong Leong Investment maintained its “buy” call on Berjaya Sports Toto with an unchanged target price of RM2.26.