Gaming traits, Brightstar, synthetic intelligence, Gambling.com — CDC Gaming

Gaming and lodging outlook

Dan Politzer of J. P. Morgan on March 16 checked out U.S. gaming traits after final week’s JPM Management Access discussion board in Las Vegas:

“We come away tactically bullish on U.S. gaming operators – M&A activity supports valuations, the Las Vegas Strip appears to have bottomed, regional stimulus is forthcoming, and experiential offerings are insulated from AI. Sentiment on Macau is mixed, while digital gaming views are split between DraftKings and Flutter. In lodging, we continue to favor C-Corps over REITs, as C-Corps offer greater stimulus exposure, and we have a relative preference to be on the AI offensive via improving C-Corp distribution models/economics, though acknowledge REITs’ defensive/HALO attributes. The recent geopolitical-driven selloff presents an attractive entry point for large-cap C-Corps, as U.S. and European fundamentals remain stable and Middle East is ~3-5% of fees.”

Brightstar stays regular

Truist Securities’ Barry Jonas commented on a gathering with Brightstar Lottery March 11:

“Brightstar, now a pure-play lottery company, has seen its shares underperform following the divestiture of the gaming business last year. Management is working to better communicate the company’s free cash flow generation and increasing capital return story with its long-dated, recurring revenue contracts. We see Brightstar’s near 7% dividend yield as attractive though remain Hold rated, awaiting catalysts to rightsize valuation. We make some modest cadence tweaks to 2026E (mostly U.K. contract loss timing) with no change to full year (remain at midpoint recent guidance).”

Artificial intelligence’s impact

Jefferies’ David Katz on March 12 mentioned the usage of synthetic intelligence in gaming:

“We believe gaming operators are likely to expand the use of AI to support customer acquisition, engagement and retention through more targeted and personalized promotional offers at greater speed and scale. Operators with the most extensive loyalty ecosystems, including Caesars, appear best positioned to capture incremental value from these AI-enabled strategies and to defend, if not modestly expand, share versus later adopters. Light & Wonder is also a likely participant given its casinos systems segment which manages gaming floors and customer interactions.”

Gambling.com’s valuation

Texas Capital Securities’ David Bain evaluated Gambling.com:

Following a 1%/1% 4Q25 income/EBITDA beat versus consensus estimates, we cut back our 2026E EBITDA to $51 million from $62 million, mirroring the decrease finish of Gambling.com’s revised steerage vary. Our value goal strikes to $7.50 per share from $9 pushed by decrease estimates and lowered goal valuation, however we imagine Gambling.com’s earnings commentary and rationalized estimates enable for inventory sentiment enchancment. Investor expectations have been muted into Gambling.com’s 4Q25 report with anticipation of decrease 2026E steerage, in our view. Overall, we imagine Gambling.com’s inventory valuation overstates efficiency advertising section issues and understates the energy of its information enterprise. Maintain purchase.