Penn National Gaming Q2 Profit Beats View; But Revenues Miss

(RTTNews) - Penn National Gaming, Inc. (PENN) on Thursday reported a surge in profit for the second quarter from last year on higher revenues and lower expenses. Earnings per share beat analysts' expectations, while revenues missed their estimates.

Looking ahead, the company raised its fiscal 2018 earnings outlook while lowering its revenue forecast.

The company's second-quarter net income rose to $53.99 million or $0.57 per share from $17.08 million or $0.18 per share in the year-ago period.

Net revenues for the quarter grew to $826.9 million from $796.46 million in the prior-year period.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $0.50 per share for the quarter on revenues of $840.62 million. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Looking ahead to the third quarter, Penn National Gaming forecast earnings of $0.44 per share and revenues of $807.1 million. Analysts expect earnings of $0.43 per share on revenues of $814.92 million.

For fiscal 2018, the company now forecasts earnings of $1.75 per share and revenues of $3.219 billion. Earlier, the company projected earnings of $1.62 per share and revenues of $3.236 billion.

The Street expects earnings of $1.65 per share for the year on revenues of $3.24 billion.