Shares in Las Vegas Sands Corp. (Ticker: LVS) are up sharply today, gaining as much as 5.7% to touch $80.12 and the highest level since April 4th, mirroring gains in shares of resort casino operator Wynn Resorts Ltd. (Ticker: WYNN). The move in Wynn shares appears, at least in part, to follow a big increase in target price from analysts at CLSA who upped their target on the ‘buy’ rated stock to $350 from $250 a share. CLSA also has a ‘buy’ rating on Las Vegas Sands with a $100 price target according to a note from reporter, Janet Freund, on Bloomberg. Both companies are scheduled to report first-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Thursday.
A block of call options traded on LVS during the first hour of the session suggests one options market participant may be positioning for the price of the underlying to extend gains during the next couple of months. It looks like 5,535 of the 20Jun’14 calls were purchased at a premium of $1.70 each. The position makes money at expiration in June if shares in LVS rally 9.0% over the current price of $79.82 to exceed the effective breakeven point at $86.70. Shares in LVS earlier this year traded up to a six-year high of $88.28. Shares in WYNN for its part are currently trading up 5.5% on the session at $215.71.
