Red Rock Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:RRR) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Stephen Cootey: So, I’ll start with the facts and Scott can get at least the hard question, Scott. So I mean, ADR was up about 5.2%. So, we’re almost at that $194 mark, which is – we’re well above. We’re pretty COVID levels go. But from an occupancy standpoint, I think that’s going to lead into what Scott’s going to say on pricing, is we’re in that 88%, 88.5% occupancy, we’re all up 340 basis points. We’re still below our pre COVID. So, there’s still room to grow on the occupancy side.

Scott Kreeger: Yes. And I’ll jump in here. Just that all comes down to RevPAR. So RevPAR was up about 9%. And then if you look at a little deeper into the components of that catering was up 40% year-over-year. And so, catering is also associated with group room nights, and there’s always a question as it relates to 2019 and where are we in comparison to 2019. And I recall us saying at one point, we’re about to get there to be comparable, I can tell you at this point. This year, we’re about 78% above 2019 numbers in catering sales. As we look forward into what we call same time last year, meaning what’s on the books now forward-looking, and what was on the books forward-looking last year. Sales revenue was up about 43%, and catering revenue is up about 56%. So, we’re really encouraged not only with the quarter’s performance on hotel and catering, but also the forward look.

Stephen Cootey: And to add to Scott’s point, again, going back to – this is that the mix of in that group sales, you’re now predominantly corporate, and corporate is a great, great mix, because that leads to other ancillary revenues throughout the casino floor.

Steve Wieczynski: Okay. Got you. Great color, guys. Appreciate it. Thanks.

Operator: Our next question comes from Barry Jonas with Truist Securities. Please go ahead.

Unidentified Analyst: Hi there. This is actually [indiscernible] on for Barry. Can you talk about some – what do you think the impact will be from the event calendar with F1 and Super Bowl coming up long?

Lorenzo Fertitta: Yes, I know there’s been – this is Lorenzo. There’s been a lot of talk about F1 and Super Bowl. And obviously, we’re excited for both of those weekends as is everybody in the industry. But when we talk about it around here, I mean, it’s – Las Vegas is unbelievable in the sense that it seems like there’s something major going on almost every weekend. So it’s really – it’s just 2, 4 [ph] data points that we’re going to be great. But for us, as we see our business unfolding it just as two weekends out of a lot of great weekends that are coming up for us. So, I think that’s part of why our forward look – looks as it does, as Scott kind of outlined in the last question.

Unidentified Analyst: Got it. And just a quick follow-up. Now that the – A’s are out on the potential of Veeva land sale, what’s your view on including gaming entitlements to increase value there?

Lorenzo Fertitta: Well – listen, we were obviously excited about the opportunity that we were talking to the A’s about. It didn’t obviously end up happening. I could tell you one thing from a positive standpoint that has come out of that is that now a lot of people are aware of how great of a site that it is with 100 acres there right off of the Las Vegas Strip on the corner of I-15 and Tropicana. The property currently has gaming entitlements associated with it, because we have the Wild West casino on that property for some time, which was a full casino license here. And we’ve worked on that property for a number of years, and currently in sales for development, but also we’ve had a number of inbounds of people that are also interested in the entire property or parts of the property.

So, we’ll just continue having those discussions. But like I said, I think the real big positive that came out of that is to kind of put a spotlight on how valuable that piece of property is and how rare, it is to be able to have 100 acres of property that magnitude within what is essentially the resort corridor.

Unidentified Analyst: Thank you so much.

Operator: Our next question comes from Dan Politzer with Wells Fargo. Please go ahead.

Dan Politzer: Hi. Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for taking my question. I just wanted to touch on Durango. I mean after you saw that blip in April, as you think about demand maybe being a little bit more fragile than three months ago, is it still – how are you thinking about cannibalization at this point? And are you still thinking about full speed ahead in terms of Phase 2 of that property expansion?

Lorenzo Fertitta: So, we’re currently working on Phase 2 from a planning standpoint, which is just kind of how we always have operated. Our anticipation is that we’re going to open Durango on November 20, and it’s going to be a successful opening, and there’s going to be sufficient demand for that to be able to hit our targeted returns. We want to be in a position – we can pull the trigger on a potential Phase 2 as soon as it makes sense for us to do that. We would be looking to add some gaming capacity as well as some additional entertainment options. So that is one of the projects we’re currently working on. As we had mentioned in the past as well, we’re also working on plans and entitlements for the Inspirada project, which is located in Henderson, another great area without a lot of gaming capacity in a great location in an area that’s got great demographics as well.

So, those are kind of the two that of the eight, if you include the Durango Phase 2 gives us essentially eight projects for us to grow the company that we actually control as a company that we can roll out over a number of years here. But those would be the two that would be next to line in our minds. Did I answer your question?

Dan Politzer: Yes. Yes.

Stephen Cootey: And the other point I would add, though, too, I mean you mentioned the blip in April, we don’t view Durango as a blip in April. I mean – when I look at like Red Rock Casino Resort opened up in April 2006 and it’s been growing ever since. So, these are 40-year assets. So – that one blip, which it was a blip, doesn’t…