Boyd Gaming Corp (BYD) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Boyd Gaming Second Quarter 2023 Conference Call. My name is David Strow, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Boyd Gaming. I will be the moderator for today's call, which is being recorded on Thursday, July 27, 2023. (Operator Instructions)

下午好，歡迎參加 Boyd Gaming 2023 年第二季度電話會議。我是 David Strow，Boyd Gaming 企業傳播副總裁。我將擔任今天電話會議的主持人，該電話會議將於 2023 年 7 月 27 日星期四錄製。（操作員說明）

Our speakers for today's call are Keith Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Josh Hirsberg, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

今天電話會議的發言人是總裁兼首席執行官 Keith Smith；執行副總裁兼首席財務官喬什·赫斯伯格 (Josh Hirsberg)。

Our comments today will include statements that are forward-looking statements within the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. All forward-looking statements in our comments are as of today's date, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statement. There are certain risks and uncertainties, including those disclosed in our filings with the SEC that may impact our results.

我們今天的評論將包括《私人證券訴訟改革法案》中的前瞻性陳述。我們評論中的所有前瞻性陳述均截至今天，我們不承擔更新或修改前瞻性陳述的義務。實際結果可能與任何前瞻性聲明中預測的結果存在重大差異。存在某些風險和不確定性，包括我們向 SEC 提交的文件中披露的風險和不確定性，可能會影響我們的業績。

During our call today, we will make reference to non-GAAP financial measures. For a complete reconciliation of historical non-GAAP to GAAP financial measures, please refer to our earnings press release and our Form 8-K furnished to the SEC today and both of which are available at investors.boydgaming.com. We do not provide a reconciliation of our forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures due to our inability to project special charges and certain expenses.

在今天的電話會議中，我們將參考非公認會計準則財務指標。有關歷史非 GAAP 與 GAAP 財務指標的完整對賬，請參閱我們的收益新聞稿和今天向 SEC 提供的 8-K 表格，兩者均可在 Investors.boydgaming.com 上獲取。由於我們無法預測特殊費用和某些費用，因此我們不提供前瞻性非公認會計原則財務指標的調節表。

Today's call is being webcast at boydgaming.com and will be available for replay in the Investor Relations section of our website shortly after the completion of this call.

今天的電話會議正在 boydgaming.com 上進行網絡直播，並將在電話會議結束後不久在我們網站的投資者關係部分重播。

So with that, I would now like to turn the call over to Keith Smith. Keith?

因此，我現在想將電話轉給基思·史密斯。基思？

Thanks, David. Good afternoon, everyone. The second quarter was another solid performance by our company as the benefits of our proven operating model, our strong management teams and our successful growth initiatives, all contributed to company-wide revenue and EBITDAR in line with last year's strong second quarter results.

謝謝，大衛。大家下午好。第二季度是我們公司的又一穩健業績，得益於我們經過驗證的運營模式、強大的管理團隊和成功的增長計劃，所有這些都為公司範圍內的收入和息稅折舊攤銷前利潤（EBITDAR）做出了貢獻，與去年強勁的第二季度業績一致。

Operationally, we maintained our focus on driving play from our core customers. During the quarter, core customer trends improved sequentially over the first quarter and were consistent with last year's record levels as a result of stable frequency and spend per visit. However, the consistency in core customer trends was offset by continued softness in retail play that began in the second half of last year.

在運營方面，我們繼續專注於推動核心客戶的參與。本季度，由於頻率和每次訪問支出穩定，核心客戶趨勢比第一季度連續改善，並與去年的創紀錄水平保持一致。然而，核心客戶趨勢的一致性被去年下半年開始的零售業持續疲軟所抵消。

During the quarter, our management teams continue to do an excellent job controlling expenses in a challenging environment. Over the last 1.5 years, we have held property-level expenses essentially flat during this highly inflationary environment. As a result, we achieved property-level operating margins of 42% in the second quarter, consistent with recent quarters and remaining well above our pre-pandemic levels.

本季度，我們的管理團隊在充滿挑戰的環境中繼續出色地控制費用。在過去 1.5 年裡，在這種高度通脹的環境下，我們的房地產支出基本持平。因此，我們在第二季度實現了 42% 的房地產運營利潤率，與最近幾個季度一致，並遠高於大流行前的水平。

Finally, we realized substantial benefits from our ongoing growth initiatives, including online gaming, sports betting and Sky River Casino. Combined, our Online and Managed segments generated $33 million in EBITDAR in the quarter putting these businesses on pace to achieve $135 million in total EBITDAR for the full year.

最後，我們從我們持續的增長計劃中獲得了巨大的好處，包括在線遊戲、體育博彩和天河賭場。我們的在線和託管部門在本季度產生了 3300 萬美元的 EBITDAR，使這些業務全年的 EBITDAR 總額有望達到 1.35 億美元。

Let's review each of the segments in more detail. In our Las Vegas Locals segment, we faced a difficult comparison to last year. This comparison was most pronounced in April, which accounted for roughly 90% of the quarterly year-over-year decline in Locals revenue and EBITDAR. As you may recall, early last spring, we saw a temporary surge in business after mask mandates and other cohort restrictions were lifted in Nevada.

讓我們更詳細地回顧一下每個部分。在我們的拉斯維加斯當地人部分，我們面臨著與去年的艱難比較。這種比較在 4 月份最為明顯，本地收入和 EBITDAR 季度同比下降的約 90% 都是由該月份造成的。您可能還記得，去年春初，在內華達州取消口罩強制令和其他群體限制後，我們看到業務暫時激增。

By comparison, both May and June were nearly flat with prior year in the Local segment, and we are encouraged that these positive trends have continued into the first few weeks of July. During the quarter, core customer trends remained solid in the segment with core guest counts growing slightly year-over-year. This strength was offset by softness in play from out-of-town gaming customers as well as retail customers in the local market. However, we continue to effectively manage expenses during the quarter with margins exceeding 51% in the Local segment.

相比之下，5 月和 6 月本地市場幾乎與去年持平，我們感到鼓舞的是，這些積極趨勢一直持續到 7 月的前幾週。本季度，該領域的核心客戶趨勢保持穩定，核心客戶數量同比略有增長。這種優勢被外地博彩客戶以及本地市場零售客戶的疲軟所抵消。然而，本季度我們繼續有效管理費用，本地業務利潤率超過 51%。

Overall, we remain confident in the long-term trajectory of our Locals business, which should continue to benefit from a strong and vibrant Southern Nevada economy. Visitation to Las Vegas continues to recover, increasing nearly 10% over the trailing 12 months, while air traffic to the market is at all-time highs. And while meeting and convention business is still 13% below pre-pandemic levels, it is up more than 40% over the trailing 12 months.

總體而言，我們對本地業務的長期發展軌跡仍然充滿信心，該業務應繼續受益於強勁而充滿活力的內華達州南部經濟。拉斯維加斯的遊客量持續復甦，在過去 12 個月中增長了近 10%，而前往該市場的空中交通量也創下歷史新高。儘管會議和會議業務仍比大流行前水平低 13%，但在過去 12 個月裡增長了 40% 以上。

We are seeing encouraging metrics within the local economy as well. Employment in Southern Nevada is up more than 4% over the prior year, the third strongest job growth rate among major U.S. cities. And with more than $10 billion in projects now under construction and more in the pipeline, Southern Nevada has a solid foundation to continue this employment growth well into the future.

我們也看到當地經濟的令人鼓舞的指標。內華達州南部的就業率比上一年增長了 4% 以上，在美國主要城市中就業增長率排名第三。內華達州南部目前正在建設和籌備中的項目價值超過 100 億美元，擁有堅實的基礎，可以在未來繼續保持就業增長。

These positive conditions across Las Vegas are also benefiting the Downtown market. During the quarter, business levels and pedestrian traffic remained strong throughout Downtown Las Vegas, which has become an increasingly popular tourist destination. Last year, nearly 60% of Las Vegas tourists visited Downtown Las Vegas, at least once during their stay, driving continued growth in visitation throughout the Downtown market.

拉斯維加斯的這些積極條件也有利於市中心市場。本季度，整個拉斯維加斯市中心的商業水平和行人流量仍然強勁，該地區已成為越來越受歡迎的旅遊目的地。去年，近 60% 的拉斯維加斯遊客在逗留期間至少訪問過拉斯維加斯市中心一次，推動了整個市中心市場的遊客持續增長。

Additionally, we continue to see solid demand from our Hawaiian customer base. While the overall Downtown market is performing well, our results during the quarter were impacted by construction disruption at the Fremont and Main Street Station.

此外，我們繼續看到夏威夷客戶群的強勁需求。雖然市中心市場整體表現良好，但我們本季度的業績受到弗里蒙特和主街車站施工中斷的影響。

At the Fremont, disruption was related to our ongoing casino renovation project that began in January. While we had originally planned to complete this renovation in phases throughout 2023, we recently decided to accelerate this work during the slow summer season. As a result, about 20% of our slot machines and 1/3 of our table games were out of service during the quarter.

在弗里蒙特，中斷與我們一月份開始的正在進行的賭場改造項目有關。雖然我們最初計劃在 2023 年分階段完成這項改造，但我們最近決定在淡季期間加快這項工作。因此，我們約 20% 的老虎機和 1/3 的賭台在本季度停止服務。

Despite this disruption, EBITDAR at the Fremont for the quarter was essentially flat with the prior year. This is an encouraging preview of the growth potential of the Fremont once we complete this renovation in October.

儘管存在這種干擾，弗里蒙特本季度的息稅折舊攤銷前利潤 (EBITDAR) 與上一年基本持平。一旦我們在 10 月份完成翻新工程，這將是對弗里蒙特增長潛力的令人鼓舞的預演。

Next, at Main Street Station, we began a hotel remodel early in the second quarter. As a result, only 20% of our rooms at Main Street Station were available during the quarter, impacting results at both the California and Main Street. We expect this remodel to be completed early in the fourth quarter. While construction disruption will continue in the third quarter, we are confident these investments will help drive long-term growth in our Downtown Las Vegas segment.

接下來，在主街車站，我們在第二季度初開始了酒店改造。因此，本季度主街站只有 20% 的客房可供預訂，這影響了加州站和主街站的業績。我們預計此次改造將於第四季度初完成。雖然施工中斷將在第三季度繼續，但我們相信這些投資將有助於推動拉斯維加斯市中心業務的長期增長。

Moving outside of Las Vegas. Results in our Midwest & South segment were impacted by continued softness in Louisiana and Mississippi. However, our performance in this segment has continued to improve with both revenue and EBITDAR increasing sequentially since the fourth quarter of 2022. We also maintained strong expense controls during the quarter, with operating margins of 39% in the Midwest & South.

搬到拉斯維加斯以外的地方。中西部和南部地區的業績受到路易斯安那州和密西西比州持續疲軟的影響。然而，我們在這一領域的業績持續改善，自 2022 年第四季度以來，收入和 EBITDAR 均連續增長。本季度我們還保持了強有力的費用控制，中西部和南部地區的營業利潤率為 39%。

Across the segment, customer trends are encouraging, including at our Louisiana and Mississippi properties with overall play of visitation growing sequentially during each of the last 2 quarters. And importantly, we saw the year-over-year gap in revenues and EBITDAR continue to narrow at our properties in the South.

整個細分市場的客戶趨勢令人鼓舞，包括我們路易斯安那州和密西西比州的酒店，過去兩個季度的整體訪問量都在連續增長。重要的是，我們看到我們南方酒店的收入和息稅折舊攤銷前利潤 (EBITDAR) 的同比差距繼續縮小。

Next, our Online segment continues to be an excellent story for our company. During the quarter, this segment achieved a 75% EBITDAR gain, driven largely by FanDuel's strong performances in Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as the addition of Boyd Interactive. We also relaunched Stardust branded online casinos in Pennsylvania and New Jersey during the quarter. This marks the first time we have leveraged the Boyd Interactive platform to manage our own online casino operations.

接下來，我們的在線部分仍然是我們公司的精彩故事。本季度，該部門實現了 75% 的 EBITDAR 收益，這主要得益於 FanDuel 在俄亥俄州和賓夕法尼亞州的強勁表現以及 Boyd Interactive 的加入。本季度我們還在賓夕法尼亞州和新澤西州重新推出了 Stardust 品牌的在線賭場。這標誌著我們第一次利用 Boyd Interactive 平台來管理我們自己的在線賭場運營。

In all, our Online operations generated $13 million in EBITDAR during the quarter. We now expect our Online segment, which includes contributions from FanDuel, other market access agreements and Boyd Interactive to generate $55 million to $60 million of EBITDAR for the full year, an increase from our previous forecast of $50 million. In addition to these financial contributions from Online, there are substantial value in our 5% equity stake in FanDuel, the nation's clear leader in sports betting.

總而言之，本季度我們的在線業務產生了 1,300 萬美元的 EBITDAR。我們現在預計我們的在線部門（包括 FanDuel、其他市場准入協議和 Boyd Interactive 的貢獻）全年的 EBITDAR 收入將達到 5500 萬至 6000 萬美元，高於我們之前預測的 5000 萬美元。除了 Online 的這些財務貢獻之外，我們持有 FanDuel 5% 的股權也具有巨大的價值，FanDuel 是美國體育博彩領域明顯的領導者。

Finally, in our Managed & Other segment, Sky River Casino continues to perform at an exceptionally high level. This property has consistently exceeded expectations since it opened last August, and it did so again in the second quarter, generating $17 million in management fees for our company.

最後，在我們的管理及其他領域，Sky River Casino 繼續保持極高的水平。該物業自去年 8 月開業以來一直超出預期，第二季度再次超出預期，為我們公司帶來了 1700 萬美元的管理費。

Given the success of Sky River to date, the company's loan to the property is being paid down more quickly than originally anticipated. We received a $32 million payment on this loan during the second quarter and an additional $33 million payment in July. This brings the current outstanding loan balance to $31 million, which we expect to be fully paid by the end of the year.

鑑於 Sky River 迄今為止的成功，該公司對該物業的貸款償還速度比最初預期的要快。我們在第二季度收到了這筆貸款的 3200 萬美元付款，並在 7 月份又收到了 3300 萬美元的付款。這使得當前的未償還貸款餘額達到 3100 萬美元，我們預計將在年底前全額償還。

The success of Sky River has been a tremendous benefit for the Wilton Rancheria Tribe, allowing the tribe to finally realize the vision of self-sufficiency. And given the property's strong start, the Tribe is now working on plans to expand Sky River, potentially expanding the casino and adding a hotel, meeting space and other amenities to the property. While neither a timeline or scope for this project have yet to be finalized, we share the Tribe's optimism for the potential of this expansion.

天河的成功，給威爾頓·蘭切里亞部落帶來了巨大的好處，讓部落最終實現了自給自足的願景。鑑於該物業的強勁開局，部落目前正在製定擴建 Sky River 的計劃，可能會擴建賭場，並在該物業中增加一家酒店、會議空間和其他設施。雖然該項目的時間表或範圍尚未最終確定，但我們與部落一樣對此次擴張的潛力持樂觀態度。

Based on Sky River's current level of performance and including contributions from our Illinois distributed gaming business, we expect our Managed & Other segment will generate $75 million to $80 million in EBITDAR this year, consistent with the forecast we provided during the last quarter's call.

根據 Sky River 目前的業績水平，包括我們伊利諾伊州分佈式遊戲業務的貢獻，我們預計我們的託管及其他部門今年將產生 7500 萬至 8000 萬美元的 EBITDAR，這與我們在上季度電話會議中提供的預測一致。

So in all, we are pleased with the company-wide results we delivered during the second quarter. And as we look ahead to the second half of the year, we currently do not expect any meaningful change in customer trends based on what we are seeing today.

總而言之，我們對第二季度交付的全公司業績感到滿意。展望今年下半年，根據我們今天所看到的情況，我們目前預計客戶趨勢不會發生任何有意義的變化。

In the Las Vegas Locals segment, we expect play from our core customers to remain stable at current levels, though we will continue to face challenging year-over-year comparisons during each of the remaining quarters this year.

在拉斯維加斯當地人細分市場，我們預計核心客戶的業務將保持穩定在當前水平，儘管我們在今年剩餘的每個季度將繼續面臨具有挑戰性的同比比較。

Downtown Las Vegas will continue to experience disruption from the Fremont and Main Street projects in the third quarter, but results will improve once work is completed on these projects early in the fourth quarter. And in the Midwest & South, we expect stabilizing trends will continue. Finally, our Online and Managed & Other segments will continue to be important contributors to our overall performance.

第三季度，拉斯維加斯市中心將繼續受到弗里蒙特和主街項目的干擾，但一旦這些項目在第四季度初完成工作，業績將會有所改善。在中西部和南部，我們預計穩定趨勢將持續下去。最後，我們的在線和託管及其他部門將繼續為我們的整體業績做出重要貢獻。

Further ahead, in 2024, we believe we will see benefits from our ongoing expansion projects. In Louisiana, the expansion of our Treasure Chest Casino remains on track for completion next spring. By moving to a single-level land-based facility with expanded gaming and non-gaming amenities and improved customer access, we will significantly enhance this property's appeal, contributing to incremental growth in our Midwest & South segment beginning in the second half of 2024.

展望未來，到 2024 年，我們相信我們將從正在進行的擴張項目中看到收益。在路易斯安那州，我們的寶箱賭場的擴建預計將於明年春天完成。通過搬遷到單層陸地設施，擴大博彩和非博彩設施並改善客戶訪問，我們將顯著增強該酒店的吸引力，為 2024 年下半年開始的中西部和南部市場的增量增長做出貢獻。

And in Downtown Las Vegas, we expect to see strong returns from our ongoing property investments. Given the excellent demand we have seen for our recently completed upgrades at the Fremont, we are confident these enhancements will position our Downtown segment for long-term growth.

在拉斯維加斯市中心，我們預計我們正在進行的房地產投資將獲得豐厚的回報。鑑於我們看到對弗里蒙特最近完成的升級的巨大需求，我們相信這些增強功能將使我們的市中心部分實現長期增長。

Growth investments in our existing portfolio are an important part of our approach to creating long-term shareholder value, and we expect to have additional opportunities to share with you as our current projects near completion. And thanks to our low leverage and strong free cash flow, we're able to balance these investments with a robust capital return program.

我們現有投資組合的增長投資是我們創造長期股東價值的重要組成部分，隨著我們當前的項目即將完成，我們希望有更多機會與您分享。由於我們的低杠桿率和強勁的自由現金流，我們能夠通過穩健的資本回報計劃來平衡這些投資。

Similar to our second quarter, we intend to continue our pace of share repurchases at $100 million per quarter, supplemented by regular dividend distributions. Since we reinstated our capital return program in late 2021, we are on track to return over $1 billion to our shareholders by the end of this year. Through our capital allocation decisions, we are utilizing our strong free cash flow to create significant long-term value for our shareholders while maintaining a strong balance sheet.

與第二季度類似，我們打算繼續以每季度 1 億美元的速度回購股票，並輔之以定期股息分配。自 2021 年底恢復資本返還計劃以來，我們有望在今年年底前向股東返還超過 10 億美元。通過我們的資本配置決策，我們利用強大的自由現金流為股東創造顯著的長期價值，同時保持強勁的資產負債表。

In summary, we are pleased with our second quarter results as our effective operating model, strong management teams and ongoing growth initiatives, all contributed to solid results during the quarter. Throughout our nationwide operations, our core customer remains healthy. Our management teams continue to do a great job, managing the business efficiently despite higher costs, maintaining property level margins at 42%, and we continue to see strong returns from Online gaming and Sky River.

總而言之，我們對第二季度的業績感到滿意，因為我們有效的運營模式、強大的管理團隊和持續的增長計劃，所有這些都為本季度的穩健業績做出了貢獻。在我們全國范圍內的運營中，我們的核心客戶保持健康。我們的管理團隊繼續出色地工作，儘管成本較高，但仍然有效地管理業務，將財產利潤率維持在 42%，並且我們繼續看到在線遊戲和 Sky River 的強勁回報。

With limited capital outlays, we have created 2 new business segments that accounted for nearly 10% of our total EBITDAR this quarter, generating a tremendous return on investment for our shareholders. I would like to thank the entire team for their contributions to our continued success. Once again, they have proved that we have the right team in place to achieve solid results through challenging conditions.

在有限的資本支出下，我們創建了兩個新業務部門，佔本季度 EBITDAR 總額的近 10%，為股東帶來了巨大的投資回報。我要感謝整個團隊為我們的持續成功做出的貢獻。他們再次證明，我們擁有合適的團隊，能夠在充滿挑戰的條件下取得紮實的成果。

Thank you for your time today. I would now like to turn the call over to Josh.

感謝您今天抽出時間。我現在想把電話轉給喬希。

Thanks, Keith. I'm going to present a few financial items related to the quarter and update you on our capital investments and shareholder return programs.

謝謝，基思。我將介紹一些與本季度相關的財務項目，並向您介紹我們的資本投資和股東回報計劃的最新情況。

Total company-wide revenues of $917 million rose 2.5% over prior year, while EBITDAR of $351 million nearly matched last year's strong second quarter performance.

全公司總收入為 9.17 億美元，比去年同期增長 2.5%，而 EBITDAR 為 3.51 億美元，幾乎與去年第二季度的強勁表現持平。

As Keith described, we faced difficult year-over-year comparisons during the quarter with April accounting for nearly 70% of the year-over-year property-level EBITDAR declines. May and June's year-over-year variance improved sequentially with June performing essentially even with prior year.

正如 Keith 所描述的，我們在本季度面臨著艱難的同比比較，4 月份的房地產水平 EBITDAR 同比下降近 70%。 5 月和 6 月的同比差異連續改善，其中 6 月的表現與去年基本持平。

Property level margins were 42%, while company-wide margins exceeded 38% during the quarter, both consistent with the last several quarters. As an aside, our Online segment included a tax pass-through amount of $63 million compared to $48 million last year in the second quarter. These amounts are recorded as both revenues and expenses in this segment.

本季度，物業層面利潤率為 42%，而全公司利潤率超過 38%，兩者與過去幾個季度一致。順便說一句，我們的在線部門包括 6300 萬美元的稅收轉嫁金額，而去年第二季度為 4800 萬美元。這些金額均記錄為該分部的收入和支出。

During the second quarter, capital expenditures were $75 million, including spend for both Fremont and Treasure Chest. Year-to-date, capital expenditures have been $171 million. We continue to project total capital expenditures of $350 million for the year, including $250 million in maintenance capital and $100 million related to Treasure Chest in Fremont.

第二季度的資本支出為 7500 萬美元，其中包括弗里蒙特和 Treasure Chest 的支出。年初至今，資本支出為 1.71 億美元。我們繼續預計今年的總資本支出為 3.5 億美元，其中包括 2.5 億美元的維護資本和與弗裡蒙特寶箱相關的 1 億美元。

We repurchased $100 million in stock during the quarter, representing 1.5 million shares at an average price of $67.02 per share. This brought our actual share count at the end of the quarter to approximately 100 million shares.

我們在本季度回購了價值 1 億美元的股票，相當於 150 萬股，平均價格為每股 67.02 美元。這使得本季度末我們的實際股數達到約 1 億股。

In less than 2 years, since we resumed our capital return program, we have repurchased 14 million shares or about 12% of the shares outstanding at the initiation of our repurchase activity. We had approximately $533 million remaining under our current repurchase authorization as of June 30. Additionally, we paid a regular quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share on July 15. And pending Board approval, our next dividend is expected on October 15.

自從我們恢復資本返還計劃以來不到兩年的時間裡，我們已經回購了 1400 萬股股票，約佔回購活動開始時已發行股票的 12%。截至 6 月 30 日，我們目前的回購授權剩餘約 5.33 億美元。此外，我們於 7 月 15 日支付了每股 0.16 美元的定期季度股息。在董事會批准之前，我們的下一次股息預計將於 10 月 15 日發放。

Our balance sheet remains in excellent shape with total leverage at the end of the quarter, approximately 2.3x and lease-adjusted leverage 2.7x. We have no near-term debt maturities and ample borrowing capacity under our credit agreement.

我們的資產負債表保持良好狀態，季度末總槓桿率約為 2.3 倍，租賃調整后杠桿率為 2.7 倍。根據我們的信貸協議，我們沒有短期債務到期日和充足的借貸能力。

In conclusion, this quarter reflected the benefits of our diversified portfolio, our growth initiatives, our focus on our core customer segments and officially managing our business. We have a very strong balance sheet, generates substantial free cash flow, providing us the ability to continue investing in growth while returning significant amount of capital to our shareholders.

總之，本季度反映了我們多元化投資組合、增長計劃、對核心客戶群的關注以及正式管理我們業務的好處。我們擁有非常強大的資產負債表，產生大量的自由現金流，使我們能夠繼續投資於增長，同時向股東返還大量資本。

David, that concludes our remarks, and we are now ready to take questions.

大衛，我們的發言到此結束，我們現在準備好回答問題。

Thank you, Josh. We will now begin our question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Joe Greff of JPMorgan.

謝謝你，喬什。我們現在將開始問答環節。 （操作員指令）我們的第一個問題來自摩根大通的 Joe Greff。

I was hoping we can dig in a little bit in the Locals market. And if you can maybe talk about sort of the Customer segment, not necessarily by kind of core local or out-of-town guests but in terms of average theoretical or net worth. Was there a big difference between the upper tiers of your database versus those in the lower tiers of your database in terms of visitation and spend? And then how does that -- how do those sort of buckets of trends, how did they evolve over the quarter?

我希望我們能在當地人市場上有所挖掘。如果您可以談論某種客戶群，不一定是本地或外地的核心客人，而是平均理論或淨資產。在訪問量和支出方面，您的數據庫的上層與下層數據庫之間是否存在很大差異？那麼，這些趨勢是如何發生的，它們在本季度是如何演變的？

So, Joe, this is Keith. In terms of kind of the higher end of the database or what we refer to as our core customers versus the lower end, the upper end of the database, our core customers performed well, as I said in my prepared remarks. What we saw was some pullback in visits. So the number of customers was stable, the spend per customer was stable, just a little lower in visitation.

所以，喬，這是基思。正如我在準備好的發言中所說，就數據庫的高端或我們所說的核心客戶與數據庫的低端、高端而言，我們的核心客戶表現良好。我們看到的是訪問量有所下降。因此，客戶數量穩定，每位客戶的支出也穩定，只是訪問量略有下降。

The lower end of the database, which has been kind of shrinking for years, just continued to shrink. It didn't accelerate or decelerated. It has been on a trajectory to just been soft. So I don't think there's anything noteworthy there. And once again, we simply saw some pullback in visitation.

數據庫的低端多年來一直在縮小，而且還在繼續縮小。它沒有加速或減速。它一直處於疲軟的軌道上。所以我認為這裡面沒有什麼值得注意的地方。我們再次看到訪問量有所下降。

Now I indicated in my prepared remarks also that July is looking better. The trends we're seeing in the first 3 weeks of July in the Locals market, visitation is back up. And so those -- the trends in that 3 weeks makes the entire quarter, but the trends in the first 3 weeks of July have certainly changed compared to the second quarter.

現在，我在準備好的發言中也指出，七月看起來更好。從我們在 7 月前 3 週在當地人市場看到的趨勢來看，訪問量有所回升。因此，這 3 週的趨勢構成了整個季度，但 7 月前 3 週的趨勢與第二季度相比肯定發生了變化。

Yes. The only thing I would add just broad-based and high level is it was really about softness in April. And as we move through the quarter, things just sequentially improved, and then as Keith mentioned, have kind of turned positive in the first 3 weeks of July, and we'll see where it goes from here.

是的。我唯一要補充的是廣泛和高水平的是四月份的疲軟。隨著本季度的進展，情況逐漸改善，然後正如 Keith 提到的那樣，在 7 月的前三週內出現了積極的變化，我們將看看接下來的情況。

Our next question comes from Carlo Santarelli of Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的卡洛桑塔雷利。

So just following up on Joe's question. When you guys kind of looked at that April period and there was some softness. Did you notice any change or any change in the behavior promotionally from your competitors in the market? Or that little soft pass kind of went without much incremental promotions or offers going out?

所以只是跟進喬的問題。當你們回顧四月份的時期時，會發現有些柔軟。您是否注意到市場上競爭對手的促銷行為有任何變化？或者那種小軟通行證沒有太多增量促銷或優惠？

I would say here in the Locals market, Carlo, that the promotional environment really hasn't changed for a while. Everybody has kind of laid out their position from a marketing standpoint and everybody is remaining relatively stable. A couple of aggressive competitors. But for the most part, everybody is continuing to do what they do.

我想說的是，卡洛，在本地市場，促銷環境確實已經有一段時間沒有改變了。每個人都從營銷的角度製定了自己的立場，並且每個人都保持相對穩定。幾個激進的競爭對手。但在大多數情況下，每個人都在繼續做他們所做的事情。

April, and Josh alluded to this a few minutes ago, really was about a comparison issue to last year. So sometimes or often times as we go back and look at 2019 as a baseline, April of last year, April of 2022, it was up nearly 100% in the Locals market compared to 2019. And so while it was soft this April of '23, it was really more of a comparison issue. And as Josh said, May and June actually compared to 2022 were relatively flat. So I do think April was not about more softness than May or June, it was really about a comparison issue.

四月，喬什在幾分鐘前提到過這一點，實際上是與去年進行比較的問題。因此，有時或經常，當我們回顧並以 2019 年為基準（去年 4 月、2022 年 4 月）時，本地市場與 2019 年相比增長了近 100%。因此，儘管今年 4 月表現疲軟，但23、這實際上更多的是一個比較問題。正如 Josh 所說，5 月和 6 月實際上與 2022 年相比相對持平。所以我確實認為四月並不是比五月或六月更加柔軟，這實際上是一個比較問題。

Understood. And then just in terms of, as you look across the operating portfolio, obviously, if you kind of look and see what OpEx trends look like, they all look fairly stable in terms of non-gaming tax-related operating expenses. Is it fair to say that kind of any iterations of expenses from here would relate more to seasonality in certain markets and their respective seasonalities? Or is there -- are there still pressures or incremental hiring or things of that nature that haven't yet come through?

明白了。然後，就非博彩稅收相關的運營支出而言，當你縱觀運營投資組合時，顯然，如果你看看運營支出趨勢是什麼樣的，它們看起來都相當穩定。可以公平地說，這裡的任何費用迭代都與某些市場的季節性及其各自的季節性有更多的關係嗎？或者是否仍然存在壓力或增量招聘或尚未完成的類似性質的事情？

No, I think you're right. If we think about our expense levels, they've been relatively consistent for a number of quarters now. And we've implemented wage increases. We had put our team members on a pathway -- hourly team members on a pathway to $15 an hour. We've completed that. And so utility expenses are high in many markets, but that's in the current number. So I think any future variation will be based on seasonality and/or demand. As revenue goes up, we can see some incremental labor. But there should not be any significant changes in the overall kind of expense levels going forward.

不，我認為你是對的。如果我們考慮一下我們的費用水平，現在幾個季度以來它們一直相對穩定。我們還實施了工資上漲。我們讓我們的團隊成員走上一條道路——小時工團隊成員走上每小時 15 美元的道路。我們已經完成了。因此，許多市場的公用事業費用很高，但這只是目前的數字。因此，我認為未來的任何變化都將基於季節性和/或需求。隨著收入的增加，我們可以看到一些增量勞動力。但未來的總體費用水平不應發生任何重大變化。

Our next question comes from Steve Wieczynski of Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Steve Wieczynski。

So Josh or Keith, I want to go through the Southern markets, which you've now called out, I think it's been a couple of quarters at this point in terms of seeing some softness there. It sounds like it's a little bit more on the lower tier of your database. And I guess the question is, has that market or those markets, is that deteriorating? Or is that still just it's soft, but it's stable and hopefully, that makes sense?

喬什或基思，我想考察一下你們現在提到的南方市場，我認為已經有幾個季度了，那裡已經出現了一些疲軟的情況。聽起來它在數據庫的較低層上有點多。我想問題是，那個市場或那些市場是否正在惡化？還是說它仍然很軟，但很穩定並且希望這是有道理的？

Yes, Steve, I'll take a shot at it and then Keith wants to add something. Basically, I think we, in Louisiana and Mississippi, started to see real softness in the fourth quarter of last year. I think the right way to think about it is as we've kind of come into this year, things have just continued to kind of -- they've started to stabilize along the bottom and started to show signs of improvement both in terms of customer trends, revenue trends and EBITDA trends.

是的，史蒂夫，我會嘗試一下，然後基思想添加一些內容。基本上，我認為路易斯安那州和密西西比州在去年第四季度開始看到真正的疲軟。我認為正確的思考方式是，隨著我們進入今年，事情一直在繼續——它們已經開始在底部穩定下來，並開始在以下方面顯示出改善的跡象：客戶趨勢、收入趨勢和 EBITDA 趨勢。

And so like the variances year-over-year are narrowing in terms of financial performance, the trends with respect to customer behavior, whether it be number of customers, frequency, spend are all starting to tick up. And I think it's a little early to say that it's going to keep going in that direction, but it at least is kind of bouncing off of a stable bottom and seems to be improving. And I would say that's generally how we are starting to gain some confidence that, that part of the business has stabilized along with the rest of kind of even the markets outside of Mississippi and Louisiana.

因此，就像財務業績方面的同比差異正在縮小一樣，客戶行為的趨勢，無論是客戶數量、頻率、支出都開始上升。我認為現在說它會繼續朝這個方向發展還為時過早，但它至少從穩定的底部反彈並且似乎正在改善。我想說，這通常就是我們開始獲得一些信心的方式，即這部分業務已經與其他業務一起穩定下來，甚至是密西西比州和路易斯安那州以外的市場。

Yes. Maybe just to reiterate what Josh said, fourth quarter of 2022 is kind of a bottom in sequential improvements since then. And so I wouldn't view it as kind of deteriorating, that actually able to stabilize and improving since Q4 of last year.

是的。也許只是重申 Josh 所說的，2022 年第四季度是自那時以來連續改善的底部。因此，我不認為它在惡化，實際上自去年第四季度以來就能夠穩定和改善。

Okay. And then second question for you guys is -- and I don't know who want to take this. But I mean you guys still have and continue to have one of the better balance sheets out there in the -- across the industry, especially when you compare yourself to some of your peers. And you are -- you remain in a very enviable position with that balance sheet. So I guess the question is, can you maybe just update us today in terms of what the appetite is for your company in terms of any large acquisitions at this point? Or where you potentially would look at in terms of using that balance sheet from an acquisition standpoint?

好的。你們的第二個問題是——我不知道誰想接受這個。但我的意思是，你們仍然擁有並將繼續擁有整個行業中更好的資產負債表之一，特別是當您將自己與一些同行進行比較時。你的資產負債表仍然處於非常令人羨慕的位置。所以我想問題是，您今天能否向我們介紹一下貴公司目前對任何大型收購的興趣？或者從收購的角度來看，您可能會在哪些方面使用該資產負債表？

Yes. Look, I think the only thing we could probably comment on is those of you who have followed us for a while as the company has grown over the years quite dramatically through M&A. And what I like to call smart M&A. We've done a great job of picking the right assets and then being able to grow EBITDA from those assets, which has gotten us to where we're at today. We tend to be very, very disciplined. And if there's something interesting in the future, we could take a look at it. But we're not going out of our way to kind of to do anything, but we have grown. It is our history to grow through acquisitions, but we will be -- continue to be very disciplined.

是的。聽著，我認為我們唯一可以評論的是那些關注我們一段時間的人，因為公司多年來通過併購取得了相當大的發展。我喜歡稱之為明智的併購。我們在選擇正確的資產方面做得很好，然後能夠從這些資產中增加 EBITDA，這使我們達到了今天的水平。我們往往非常非常自律。如果將來有什麼有趣的事情，我們可以看看。但我們並沒有特意去做任何事情，但我們已經成長了。通過收購實現增長是我們的歷史，但我們將繼續非常自律。

Yes. I think the only concept I'd add to what Keith is saying is, we like having a low -- wholly levered balance sheet because it enables us to consider growth opportunities if they come along. And if they don't come along, that's fine, too, just because we can do acquisitions, doesn't mean that we will. It just continues to be one of being disciplined around that.

是的。我認為我要在基思所說的內容中添加的唯一概念是，我們喜歡擁有一個低杠桿的資產負債表，因為它使我們能夠考慮增長機會（如果出現）。如果他們不來，那也沒關係，僅僅因為我們可以進行收購，並不意味著我們會這樣做。它只是繼續成為圍繞這一點的紀律之一。

And I think what we want to really focus on is continuing to be able to return capital to shareholders and be able to pursue growth initiatives at the same time should they come along to be able to do that whether the environment is good or bad. And that's why we have chosen to kind of be at this level from a leverage perspective. It's kind of what we view as an all-weather balance sheet.

我認為我們真正想要關注的是繼續能夠向股東返還資本，同時能夠追求增長舉措，無論環境好壞，他們都能做到這一點。這就是為什麼我們從槓桿角度選擇處於這個水平。這有點像我們所說的全天候資產負債表。

Our next question comes from Dan Politzer of Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自富國銀行的丹·波利策。

I want to follow up on the digital guide. The $55 million to $60 million, just so we can kind of understand where that's coming from. Is that simply just taking year-to-date and then adding the back half of last year because this is obviously tied to FanDuel? And so to the extent that we're thinking about possible upside there, is that the scenario? And along with that, if you can just comment on any kind of early take since you've unplugged on the iGaming side and at launch you'll start us the Online casino?

我想跟進數字指南。 5500 萬到 6000 萬美元，這樣我們就可以了解它的來源。這是否只是簡單地採用今年迄今的數據，然後加上去年下半年的數據，因為這顯然與 FanDuel 相關？因此，就我們正在考慮的可能的上行空間而言，情況是這樣嗎？除此之外，如果您能對任何類型的早期採取發表評論，因為您已經拔掉了 iGaming 方面的電源，並且在發佈時您會為我們啟動在線賭場嗎？

Yes. I'll take the Online and then Keith can take up Boyd Interactive. So the kind of -- we were originally at $50 million, I think consensus was a little ahead of us. So kind of the outperformance in Q2, really, from a year-to-date perspective, catches us up with consensus, if you will. And then kind of we think that -- and then we went in and up to kind of middle of the year kind of Q3 performance to kind of come up with the guidance of $55 million to $60 million.

是的。我會選擇在線，然後基思可以選擇博伊德互動。因此，我們最初的資金為 5000 萬美元，我認為共識有點領先於我們。從今年迄今的角度來看，第二季度的優異表現確實讓我們達成了共識，如果你願意的話。然後我們認為——然後我們進入了年中第三季度的業績，得出了 5500 萬至 6000 萬美元的指導。

So if we outperform in Q3, then that will probably put us towards the higher end of the range. But what we have basically done is incorporate year-to-date, improve what we expect to do in Q3 and kind of mirror what we expect -- what we did last year in Q4 just given Q4 had kind of some one-off payments in there as well as the startup of markets that we think will have additional competition as we move through this year. So we think it's kind of a middle-of-road expectation for the Online at this point.

因此，如果我們在第三季度表現出色，那麼這可能會讓我們走向區間的高端。但我們基本上所做的是整合年初至今，改進我們期望在第三季度做的事情，並有點反映我們的期望——我們去年在第四季度所做的只是考慮到第四季度有一些一次性付款我們認為，隨著今年的發展，市場的啟動將會帶來更多的競爭。所以我們認為目前對於在線遊戲來說這是一種中間路線的期望。

Got it. And just to -- go ahead.

知道了。只是為了——繼續吧。

I was going to say, with respect to the second half of your question, the launch of Stardust, the online casino business. Look, we did -- we relaunched in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in early May. We spent the first 60 days really just fine-tuning the product and haven't really launched any marketing. July was the month where we actually started to step out a little bit and do some marketing.

我想說的是，關於你問題的後半部分，星塵在線賭場業務的推出。看，我們做到了——我們於五月初在賓夕法尼亞州和新澤西州重新推出了產品。前 60 天我們只是對產品進行了微調，並沒有真正開展任何營銷活動。七月是我們真正開始走出去進行一些營銷的月份。

What I can say is that we're pleased with the launch. We are pleased with kind of the organic growth that we're seeing just from having the product out there without doing a lot of marketing. We're pleased with the reception by our land-based brick-and-mortar customers and their participation with it.

我能說的是我們對這次發布感到滿意。我們對在不進行大量營銷的情況下僅將產品推出而看到的有機增長感到滿意。我們對實體客戶的接待和參與感到高興。

But remember, this is a small business for us. We'll grow. This is about kind of the long term and being set for the long term and not necessarily about the short term. So we don't expect to move the needle materially in the short term. But I think we would consider it a successful launch and are pleased with the early results.

但請記住，這對我們來說是一項小生意。我們會成長。這是關於長期的，是為長期而設定的，不一定是短期的。因此，我們預計短期內不會出現實質性變化。但我認為我們會認為這是一次成功的發布，並對早期結果感到滿意。

Got it. And then just for my follow-up, moving to Downtown. If there's any way to just quantify the disruption there so we can better kind of frame the third quarter. And then as you think about the fourth quarter, I would think that you may see an uptick just in terms of obviously that coming online and maybe even in Formula One coming to town. Is that a fair assessment directionally?

知道了。然後我的後續行動是搬到市中心。如果有任何方法可以量化那裡的干擾，以便我們可以更好地制定第三季度的框架。然後，當你想到第四季度時，我認為你可能會看到明顯的在線增長，甚至可能是一級方程式賽車的增長。這是一個公平的定向評估嗎？

Yes. I think that's right, Dan. I think that the Downtown impact from an EBITDA perspective, we kind of back of the envelope estimate to be kind of $2 million to $3 million in EBITDA. And I would expect that you'll see pressures in Q3 related to further disruption, and then we'll start to try to make some of that back, both in Q4 and Q1 as the business has come back online as we make our way through Q4 because it's not all going to come back on first day of Q4. But -- so that's kind of how we expect the rest of the year for Downtown to play out.

是的。我認為這是對的，丹。我認為，從 EBITDA 的角度來看，市中心的影響，我們粗略估計 EBITDA 為 200 萬至 300 萬美元。我預計您會在第三季度看到與進一步中斷相關的壓力，然後我們將開始嘗試在第四季度和第一季度彌補一些壓力，因為隨著我們的努力，業務已經恢復在線第四季度，因為並不是所有的情況都會在第四季度的第一天恢復。但是——這就是我們對市中心今年剩餘時間的預期。

Our next question comes from Jordan Bender with JMP Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 JMP 證券的 Jordan Bender。

Looking into the Locals market, maybe just an update on the convention and group business, what you're seeing in the next couple of months and maybe pricing over last year as well?

看看當地人市場，也許只是會議和團體業務的最新情況，您在接下來的幾個月中會看到什麼，也許還有去年的定價？

Probably, the only comment we have on overall convention business, and we have some limited square footage at the Orleans and a few other properties. So it isn't a huge piece of our business, but we see it continue to grow back. Convention business was up significantly year-over-year, still running slightly behind 2019, but is up significantly year-over-year, so it continues to grow.

這可能是我們對整個會議業務的唯一評論，而且我們在奧爾良和其他一些酒店的面積有限。因此，這並不是我們業務的重要組成部分，但我們看到它繼續增長。會展業務同比大幅增長，仍略落後於2019年，但同比大幅增長，因此持續增長。

I don't have any specific statistics about the next several months. The summer time here in Vegas is traditionally a very slow time, for convention business probably won't pick up significantly until mid-September. And once again, we participate mainly at the Orleans with that, with the room base we have there and some of the meeting and convention business we have there.

我沒有關於未來幾個月的任何具體統計數據。拉斯維加斯的夏季傳統上是一個非常緩慢的時期，因為會議業務可能要到九月中旬才會顯著回升。再一次，我們主要在奧爾良參與，我們在那裡擁有房間基地以及我們在那裡的一些會議和會議業務。

Great. And then maybe a bigger picture question on the distributed gaming business. That's a market that's slowing and maybe lower margin. I was just wondering how Lattner kind of fits into the portfolio longer term.

偉大的。然後可能是關於分佈式遊戲業務的更大問題。這是一個正在放緩且利潤率可能較低的市場。我只是想知道拉特納如何適應長期的投資組合。

Yes. I think -- look, we put our toe in the water with respect to that particular niche market for us just to try to begin to understand it. And I think to the extent that it were to be able to legalize in other states, we would consider expanding it. For now, it's largely status quo for us in Illinois, quite honestly. And we leverage -- they get the benefit of some of our technology and marketing capabilities over time. So they kind of get outsized support. And so that's just kind of -- it is what it is.

是的。我認為——看，我們對這個特定的利基市場進行了嘗試，只是為了嘗試開始理解它。我認為，只要它能夠在其他州合法化，我們就會考慮擴大它。老實說，目前，這對我們伊利諾伊州來說基本上是現狀。隨著時間的推移，我們利用我們的一些技術和營銷能力，讓他們受益。所以他們得到了巨大的支持。所以這就是——事情就是這樣。

Our next question comes from Brandt Montour of Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的布蘭特·蒙圖爾。

Just one question. If we could go back to the Midwest & South segment and dig in a little bit on the seasonality for the back half and what I'm really trying to get at is, Keith, you described it as stabilizing here, which is reassuring. I guess if you look back at 2019 seasonality, it would suggests 3Q is typically weaker than 2Q, maybe that was an off year, but that would still suggest down comps at the EBITDA level year-over-year in the 3Q. So just maybe you could help us understand the stabilization comment how we should think about that into the third quarter?

只有一個問題。如果我們能回到中西部和南部地區，深入研究一下後半段的季節性，我真正想要了解的是，基思，你將其描述為這裡穩定，這令人放心。我想如果你回顧 2019 年的季節性，就會發現第三季度通常弱於第二季度，也許那是一個淡季，但這仍然表明第三季度的 EBITDA 水平同比下降。那麼也許您可以幫助我們理解穩定評論，我們應該如何考慮第三季度的情況？

Yes. I do -- look, Brandt, this is Josh. I think seasonality -- you're not going to -- stabilization is not going to override seasonality. I think there will continue to be seasonality in the business. All we're trying to say is, is that we saw weakness with respect to specific consumer trends within our Louisiana, Mississippi business, and those particular consumer trends have now started to come back and started to improve. And so it's not to say that we won't see them ebb and flow with respect to the seasonality that normally is characteristic of certain markets or certain business segments. It's just to suggest that we're starting -- that business is starting to get a little bit back on track relative to overall performance. So hopefully, that helps.

是的。我確實——看，布蘭特，這是喬什。我認為季節性——你不會——穩定不會凌駕於季節性之上。我認為該業務將繼續存在季節性。我們想說的是，我們看到了路易斯安那州、密西西比州業務中特定消費者趨勢的弱點，而這些特定消費者趨勢現在已經開始回歸併開始改善。因此，這並不是說我們不會看到它們因季節性而波動，而季節性通常是某些市場或某些業務部門的特徵。這只是表明我們正在開始——相對於整體業績而言，業務開始稍微回到正軌。希望這會有所幫助。

Our next question comes from David Katz of Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 David Katz。

You covered a lot of ground. I just wanted to, if you don't mind, touch on the dividend, which is, well, how you think about growing it over time, how you think about its use and value drive today as it sits and where it could lead one day?

你涵蓋了很多內容。如果你不介意的話，我只是想談談股息，即你如何看待隨著時間的推移而增長的股息，你如何看待它今天的用途和價值驅動，以及它可以帶來什麼天？

Well, look, we look at returning capital to our shareholders. It was a multipronged approach. So obviously, we have a large share repurchase program committed to and as I said, we'll supplement that with an ongoing dividend program, and we'll return nearly over $1 billion between the 2 of them by the end of this year.

好吧，看，我們正在考慮向股東返還資本。這是一種多管齊下的方法。顯然，我們有一個大規模的股票回購計劃，正如我所說，我們將通過持續的股息計劃來補充這一計劃，到今年年底，我們將在兩者之間回報近 10 億美元。

We think that, look, the dividend is just one element of returning capital. It's up to our Board and how they view this in terms of where it goes each year. I really can't say much more on the dividend than that. I mean it will be up to the Board to sit and talk about it. But I think I would see it continuing. It's an important part of how we return capital to shareholders. Not all shareholders view getting capital back the same way. Many like share repurchases and some like dividends. And so we're trying to accommodate kind of all of our investors through that.

我們認為，股息只是資本返還的要素之一。這取決於我們的董事會以及他們如何看待這一問題每年的進展。關於股息我真的不能說更多。我的意思是，董事會將坐下來討論這個問題。但我想我會看到它繼續下去。這是我們向股東返還資本的重要組成部分。並非所有股東都認為以同樣的方式收回資本。許多人喜歡股票回購，有些人喜歡股息。因此，我們正試圖通過這種方式來適應所有投資者。

Understood. And if I can just follow up quickly in another direction with respect to the margin performance, which was actually pretty good, right? I think that's been sort of a recurring focus of how much can you really sustain. How do you view sort of the next few quarters with respect to that? Do you feel like you have, Josh, all the sort of cost under control that you can foresee at the moment and/or should we be just a little more conservative about that?

明白了。如果我能在另一個方向上快速跟進利潤率表現，那實際上相當不錯，對吧？我認為這一直是一個反復出現的焦點，即你到底能承受多少。您如何看待未來幾個季度的情況？喬什，您是否覺得您目前可以預見的所有成本都已得到控制和/或我們應該對此更加保守一點？

Yes. My own perspective is I think our operating teams do a great job managing to the level of revenues that they are seeing come in the door every day, quite honestly. And that's enabled them to offset pressures, whether it's from labor from time to time, from utilities that are seasonally driven. Another big increase that we've seen recently is insurance. But yes, despite those pressures, they get a lot of press, so to speak. The reality is as these guys find ways to kind of offset that and to continue to deliver what I believe to be very consistent levels of margin performance.

是的。我個人的觀點是，老實說，我認為我們的運營團隊在管理收入水平方面做得很好，他們每天都能看到收入水平。這使他們能夠抵消壓力，無論是來自不時的勞動力壓力，還是來自季節性驅動的公用事業壓力。我們最近看到的另一個大幅增長是保險。但是，是的，儘管有這些壓力，可以說，他們還是受到了很多媒體的關注。現實情況是，這些人找到了一些方法來抵消這一點，並繼續提供我認為非常一致的利潤表現水平。

And we've said from the beginning, coming out of COVID, we weren't going to be able to maintain those levels of margin, but we're going to stay in that neighborhood. And I think we've lived up to that. Our teams have lived up to delivering that. And I'm sure there'll be periods of time where it's not always that way. But generally, I think that this is what you should expect in terms of levels of performance, in terms of margins from us.

我們從一開始就說過，由於新冠疫情的影響，我們將無法維持這些利潤水平，但我們將留在這個地區。我認為我們已經做到了這一點。我們的團隊不負眾望地實現了這一目標。我確信在某些時候情況並不總是如此。但總的來說，我認為這就是您在我們的績效水平和利潤方面所應該期望的。

Our next question comes from Chad Beynon of Macquarie.

我們的下一個問題來自麥格理的查德·貝農。

First, I wanted to talk about additional projects in the future organically. Downtown and Treasure Chest, you've kind of laid those out and those have all been in our models, and you've talked about the returns that we should see in the next 6 to 12 months. As we get beyond that, are there other properties where you could make any adjustments, whether it's hotels, casino floors add just something to think about getting additional returns within the organic portfolio?

首先，我想有機地談論未來的其他項目。市中心和寶箱，你們已經把這些都列出來了，這些都已經在我們的模型中了，你們也談到了我們在未來 6 到 12 個月內應該看到的回報。當我們超越這個範圍時，是否還有其他可以進行調整的房產，無論是酒店、賭場樓層，都可以考慮在有機投資組合中獲得額外回報？

Yes. So we have a number of things that we are considering and evaluating right now, trying to prioritize them. We have several very high-performing properties that we can leverage up an existing strong market and strong management team to further grow EBITDA at those properties.

是的。因此，我們現在正在考慮和評估許多事情，並試圖確定它們的優先順序。我們擁有幾處表現非常出色的房產，我們可以利用現有的強大市場和強大的管理團隊來進一步提高這些房產的 EBITDA。

We don't have anything to announce right now, but we will be prepared to start to lay out what we think those next projects are. But they're in the ZIP code of the 3 months and the Treasure Chest, so it's nothing significant. But once again, we have several very, very strong opportunities to continue to grow those, just not ready to talk about them at this point.

我們現在沒有任何消息要宣布，但我們將準備好開始列出我們認為的下一個項目。但它們在 3 個月的郵政編碼和寶箱中，所以沒什麼重要的。但再一次，我們有幾個非常非常強大的機會來繼續發展這些機會，只是現在還沒有準備好談論它們。

And the only thing I would add to that, Chad, is Keith gave you a sense of order of magnitude in terms of size, we're not going to kind of open the floodgate and start so many at one time. It's going to just continue to be paced along just like we did with Fremont and Treasure Chest and kind of dribble them into the capital allocation process.

查德，我唯一要補充的是，基思給了你一種規模的數量級感，我們不會打開閘門，一次啟動這麼多。它將繼續保持節奏，就像我們對弗里蒙特和寶箱所做的那樣，並將它們滴入資本分配過程。

Okay. And then in terms of the FanDuel partnership, we're coming up on the 5-year mark. I don't know if this was disclosed or if it's public from when the partnership originally came together. But is there anything that's out there that we should be aware of in terms of terms on the deal that changed after a 5-year mark? Was it a longer partnership? We're just hearing a lot of these 3- to 5-year deals are coming up for renewal.

好的。就 FanDuel 合作而言，我們即將迎來 5 年的合作關係。我不知道這是否已被披露，或者是否從合作夥伴最初建立時就公開了。但就五年後交易條款的變化而言，有什麼是我們應該注意的嗎？這是一個更長的合作夥伴關係嗎？我們剛剛聽說許多3至5年期的合同即將續約。

So I think the short answer is there's really nothing pending or coming up in the short term. Ours were longer-term deals that were structured differently because we had a portfolio type of approach across 9 states and how it all rolled out and what the extension options were in a whole bit, but no, nothing in the short term.

所以我認為簡短的答案是短期內確實沒有任何懸而未決或即將發生的事情。我們的交易是長期交易，結構不同，因為我們在 9 個州採用了投資組合類型的方法，以及它是如何推出的以及延期選項是什麼，但短期內甚麼都沒有。

Our next question comes from Joe Stauff of Susquehanna.

我們的下一個問題來自薩斯奎哈納的喬·斯塔夫。

Just 2 clarifications, if I could. You're asked largely on kind of M&A, but capital markets certainly have opened a bit. I was just wondering, maybe if you could describe, say, maybe the number of inbound calls. Is it fair to say that it has increased to some degree?

如果可以的話，我只想做兩點澄清。你被問到的問題主要是併購類型，但資本市場確實已經開放了一些。我只是想知道，也許您可以描述一下，比如說，入站電話的數量。可以說它在某種程度上有所增加嗎？

And then I just wanted to ask to clarify your comments on July trends. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you said that in terms of your core customer, the number of visits has increased sort of sequentially versus what you saw in the second quarter, and that spending levels per visit kind of remain consistent. I guess a clarification on that. And I'm wondering if the out-of-town visitors have also, say, increased again relative to your July guidance for 3 weeks?

然後我想澄清一下您對七月趨勢的評論。如果我錯了，請糾正我，但我認為您說過，就您的核心客戶而言，與您在第二季度看到的情況相比，訪問次數有所增加，並且每次訪問的支出水平保持一致。我想對此進行澄清。我想知道外地遊客是否也相對於 7 月份的指導值再次增加了三週？

Yes. So with respect to kind of the core customer comment and the loss -- the trends that we're seeing in early July. I think my comments were that in -- as we looked at those core customers like in Las Vegas, in the second quarter, it really was frequency. We had a few less visits. They were spending the same and the core customer count was generally the same.

是的。因此，就核心客戶評論和損失而言——我們在 7 月初看到的趨勢。我認為我的評論是，當我們在第二季度關注拉斯維加斯等核心客戶時，這確實是頻率。我們的訪問次數減少了一些。他們的支出相同，核心客戶數量也基本相同。

As we got into the first 3 weeks of July, we're actually seeing more visits. So visits are back and spend is flattish to up. And so positive trends. And as I said, I caution the 3 weeks isn't a permanent trend, but certainly, a turn from Q2. So positive trends there. And once again, those are out-of-town customers coming in.

進入 7 月的前三週，我們實際上看到了更多的訪問量。因此，訪問量又回來了，支出則持平。等等積極的趨勢。正如我所說，我警告說，這三週並不是一個永久性的趨勢，但肯定是第二季度的一個轉變。那裡有積極的趨勢。再次，這些都是外地顧客進來。

In terms of M&A, look, I'm not sure that the call volume has picked up or slowed down. It's always spotty. So I wouldn't say that we're getting more calls or less calls than we've gotten over the last year or 2. I don't know, Josh?

在併購方面，我不確定通話量是增加還是放緩。總是斑駁的。所以我不會說我們接到的電話比過去一兩年多或少。我不知道，喬什？

Yes. The only thing I would say is like we're really focused today. It's not so much about M&A unless it's an opportunistic opportunity that comes along. It's really about just continuing to run the business, reinvest in our existing portfolio and return capital to shareholders. And we have the balance sheet to continue to do that in an uncertain environment.

是的。我唯一想說的是我們今天真的很專注。這與併購無關，除非它是一個機會主義的機會。這實際上只是繼續經營業務，對我們現有的投資組合進行再投資，並將資本返還給股東。我們的資產負債表可以在不確定的環境中繼續做到這一點。

And to the extent that something came along that was attractive, we would expect that not to affect kind of our -- the -- how we're thinking about running the business today, but that's just kind of how we're thinking of it. It's not like we're going over 2.5x leverage, generating a ton of free cash flow and we're running around looking for things to buy. That's not the attitude of the company internally.

如果出現了一些有吸引力的東西，我們預計這不會影響我們今天如何思考經營業務，但這只是我們的思考方式。這並不是說我們的槓桿率超過 2.5 倍，產生大量的自由現金流，並且我們四處尋找可以購買的東西。這不是公司內部的態度。

Our next question comes from John DeCree of CBRE.

我們的下一個問題來自 CBRE 的 John DeCree。

Maybe just one question for me on non-gaming revenue, F&B and room revenue. It's been recovering pretty rapidly. Last quarter, which was a pretty strong quarter. This quarter, it looked like that non-gaming revenue was kind of flattish year-over-year versus the 2Q last year. Curious if you could speak to the trends that you're seeing in that business? Is it more seasonal that we'll see uplift? Is it still recovering? Was just tough comp to last year? I was curious to get your thoughts on those segments.

也許我想問一個關於非博彩收入、餐飲和客房收入的問題。它恢復得相當快。上個季度是一個相當強勁的季度。本季度的非博彩收入與去年第二季度相比似乎持平。想知道您能否談談您在該行業看到的趨勢嗎？我們會看到經濟增長更具季節性嗎？還在恢復嗎？與去年相比，比賽是否艱難？我很想知道您對這些部分的看法。

Yes, John, I'll take it, and then, Keith, if you have something to add, jump in. So like when we look at room revenue by segments. I think what you'll see or eventually when we put it out in our Q is that room revenue in Las Vegas was actually up. And where the softness in room revenue largely came from was the construction disruption in Downtown.

是的，約翰，我會接受，然後，基思，如果你有什麼要補充的，請加入。就像我們按細分市場查看客房收入一樣。我認為，當我們在 Q 中發佈時，您最終會看到的是，拉斯維加斯的客房收入實際上有所增加。客房收入疲軟的主要原因是市中心的建築中斷。

And then on the -- in terms of the other kind of segment of non-gaming for us in terms of F&B, we had kind of flattish performance in Nevada, but basically growth consistent with what we were talking about in terms of stabilizing and improving trends in Midwest & South, growth in F&B kind of outside of Nevada.

然後，就我們在餐飲方面的另一種非博彩領域而言，我們在內華達州的表現有些平淡，但基本上與我們所說的穩定和改善方面的增長一致中西部和南部的趨勢，內華達州以外的餐飲業的增長。

So kind of consistent with what's going on in the business and the commentary of the quarter, that's what's coming through on the non-gaming side of things. Keith, I don't know if there's anything to add or if that covers it.

這與業務中正在發生的事情和本季度的評論非常一致，這就是非遊戲方面的情況。基思，我不知道是否有什麼要補充的，或者是否涵蓋了它。

Our next question comes from Stephen Grambling of Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的斯蒂芬·格蘭布林。

Two quick follow-ups. First on the digital guidance increase. I don't think I heard you say kind of what you're thinking about with Pala. And as you're talking about this ramp in Stardust, is that usually when there's this increase in effectively customer acquisition, there could be increased losses. So are you assuming that there's going to be incremental investment there that's offset by strength in the rest of the business?

兩次快速跟進。首先是數字化指導的增加。我想我沒有聽到你說過你對帕拉的想法。當你談論《星塵》中的這種增長時，通常當有效客戶獲取量增加時，損失可能會增加。那麼您是否認為該領域的增量投資會被其他業務的實力所抵消？

Yes. So as you think about Pala, once again, it's a very small part of the overall business. We bought Pala Interactive. It was profitable, and it will continue to be profitable, but it is small. When we talk about starting marketing, which we started in the month of July, it's small. It's small dollars. It's nothing that's going to change the trajectory of the business. So I wouldn't anticipate this even -- this being visible to anybody...

是的。因此，當你想到 Pala 時，你會發現它在整個業務中只佔很小的一部分。我們買了Pala Interactive。它曾經盈利，並將繼續盈利，但規模很小。當我們談論開始營銷時（我們在七月份開始），它的規模很小。這是小美元。這不會改變企業的發展軌跡。所以我什至不會預料到這一點——這對任何人來說都是可見的......

So Steve, as Keith suggested, it's small. When we acquired it, it was doing about $5 million in EBITDA. And in our projections, we're assuming that it's going to continue to do $5 million of EBITDA for this year as it transitions and builds out its capabilities. It certainly has the opportunity, and we expect it to grow from here. But for 2023, it's a formative year for that business to kind of transition the business over to the Stardust business to our platform and to build out a technical capabilities to kind of continue to grow from here.

所以史蒂夫，正如基思建議的那樣，它很小。當我們收購它時，它的 EBITDA 約為 500 萬美元。在我們的預測中，我們假設隨著公司的轉型和能力建設，今年公司將繼續實現 500 萬美元的 EBITDA。它當然有機會，我們期望它從這裡開始發展。但對於 2023 年來說，對於該業務來說，這是一個形成的一年，它將把業務從星塵業務轉移到我們的平台，並建立技術能力，以便從這裡繼續增長。

So this is not -- we're not running the business similar to maybe how our peers are thinking about online where you're used to seeing big marketing budgets and potentially losses early on. That's not what this is about. It's got a healthy little business, and we're not spending more to suggest that it's going to go backwards.

所以這不是——我們的業務運營方式與我們的同行對在線業務的看法不同，你習慣於在早期看到大量的營銷預算和潛在的損失。這不是重點。它有一個健康的小生意，我們不會花更多的錢來表明它會倒退。

Got it. That's helpful. And then going back to the South & Midwest, you gave a lot of commentary there, but I just want to make sure that it's all kind of coming out on the same page, which -- so from an EBITDA standpoint, I guess, you're saying -- are you saying revenue is stabilizing and EBITDA should be stabilizing where we are today. So we shouldn't anticipate just sequentially it to move around a lot from here?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後回到南部和中西部，您在那裡發表了很多評論，但我只是想確保所有這些都出現在同一頁上，因此，從 EBITDA 的角度來看，我想，您你是說收入正在穩定並且 EBITDA 應該穩定在今天的水平嗎？所以我們不應該僅僅預期它會從這裡開始移動很多？

No, no. Let me -- we're talking about kind of year-over-year performance in terms of -- so let me back up, maybe that's the best place to start. Q4 and Q1, Midwest & South was impacted largely by performance in Louisiana, Mississippi. Those businesses had softness in terms of consumer trends and resulted in revenue and EBITDAR declines that affected the overall segment. We're saying as we -- and the rest of the business was pretty much stable.

不，不。讓我——我們談論的是同比表現——所以讓我再說一遍，也許這是最好的起點。第四季度和第一季度，中西部和南部地區主要受到路易斯安那州和密西西比州表現的影響。這些業務的消費者趨勢疲軟，導致收入和息稅折舊攤銷前利潤 (EBITDAR) 下降，影響了整個細分市場。正如我們所說，其餘業務相當穩定。

As we move into Q2, the rest of the business remains stable. And what we're starting to see in Louisiana, Mississippi is customers' trends starting to inch up and improve. And as a result, the economic or financial performance of the Louisiana, Mississippi assets to follow along. So year-over-year, if we were down a certain amount, we -- those amounts are reducing as we move through time based on sequential performance going from fourth quarter to first quarter to second quarter. And that's what we're talking about.

隨著我們進入第二季度，其餘業務保持穩定。我們開始在密西西比州路易斯安那州看到客戶的趨勢開始緩慢上升和改善。因此，路易斯安那州、密西西比州資產的經濟或財務表現也隨之跟進。因此，與去年同期相比，如果我們下降了一定數額，那麼隨著時間的推移，根據從第四季度到第一季度再到第二季度的連續業績，這些數額正在減少。這就是我們正在談論的。

It's not going down any further. It's stabilized or starting to improve. That's what's encouraging from our perspective for Louisiana, Mississippi, and that will only contribute to what's happening in the rest of the Midwest & South. It doesn't mean that going into the third quarter when a certain market is typically down a little bit because of seasonality, you won't still see that. Or that if Louisiana, Mississippi typically go down in Q3, that you won't see that. We just expect that the underlying trends of the business continue to improve from a customer perspective, quite honestly.

它不會再下降了。它已經穩定或開始改善。從我們的角度來看，這對路易斯安那州和密西西比州來說是令人鼓舞的，這只會對中西部和南部其他地區發生的事情做出貢獻。這並不意味著進入第三季度，當某個市場由於季節性而通常略有下降時，您仍然不會看到這種情況。或者，如果路易斯安那州、密西西比州通常在第三季度下降，你就不會看到這種情況。老實說，我們只是希望從客戶的角度來看，業務的基本趨勢繼續改善。

And so that's what we're seeing, that's what we're seeing continue. And hopefully, that kind of helps you understand it, if not, we can talk about it further offline. But it's not meant to suggest that we'll lose seasonality. It's meant to suggest that the year-over-year variances should start to diminish.

這就是我們所看到的，這就是我們所看到的繼續發生的情況。希望這可以幫助您理解它，如果沒有，我們可以在線下進一步討論。但這並不意味著我們將失去季節性。這意味著同比差異應該開始縮小。

Our last question comes from Barry Jonas of Truist Securities.

我們的最後一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的巴里·喬納斯 (Barry Jonas)。

Just wanted to start. Can you maybe give us an update on any risks around competitive openings we should be mindful of from here?

只是想開始。您能否向我們介紹一下我們應該注意的競爭性空缺風險的最新情況？

Yes. So Barry, as it comes to competition, the only, I think, pending opening is obviously the Durango project here in the Las Vegas Locals market. We have had HHRs open in Kentucky, which have impacted, and we haven't completely anniversaried their impact at Belterra Resort and Belterra Park in Ohio and Southern Indiana. And then the Four Winds project in South Bend that opened recently, which has had some minor impact on our Blue Chip operation in Northwest Indiana. But once again, those have been open for a while.

是的。因此，巴里，就競爭而言，我認為唯一待開業的項目顯然是拉斯維加斯本地市場的杜蘭戈項目。我們在肯塔基州開設了 HHR，這已經產生了影響，而且我們還沒有完全紀念它們對俄亥俄州和印第安納州南部貝爾特拉度假村和貝爾特拉公園的影響。最近在南本德開業的四風項目，對我們在印第安納州西北部的藍籌業務產生了一些輕微影響。但再一次，這些已經開放了一段時間了。

Durango Station will open whenever -- they say it's going to open later this year. And my only comment would be, I think, like other openings, we certainly have a lot of experience with these types of things, opening of new properties, customers will go visit it. They always do. It's a shiny new toy, and the majority of our customers will come back home. And that's generally what we've seen happen over the years.

杜蘭戈站隨時開放——他們說它將在今年晚些時候開放。我唯一的評論是，我認為，就像其他開業一樣，我們當然在此類事情上有很多經驗，新房產開業後，客戶會去參觀。他們總是這樣做。這是一款閃亮的新玩具，我們的大多數顧客都會回家。這通常就是我們多年來所看到的情況。

If you look here in the Las Vegas Locals market, when The Palms opened a number of years ago, we had our customers go and visit and the majority of them have come back and it has not had a significant overall impact on either the Orleans or the Gold Coast, which is where it would be felt. And so they'll go visit and we'll be prepared for it. And once again, we certainly have a lot of experience with these type of competitive openings, and we are prepared for it, and we'll see how it goes.

如果你看看拉斯維加斯當地人市場，當棕櫚樹幾年前開業時，我們讓我們的顧客去參觀，他們中的大多數人都回來了，這並沒有對奧爾良或奧爾良產生重大的整體影響。黃金海岸，這是可以感受到的地方。所以他們會去參觀，我們會為此做好準備。再說一遍，我們當然在此類競爭性空缺方面擁有豐富的經驗，我們已做好準備，我們將看看情況如何。

Great. And then I guess just for a follow-up. I believe there was a change in the Board leadership with Mr. Boyd moving to the Chairman Emeritus role and congratulations to him. Just wondering if we should expect a pretty seamless transition from here.

偉大的。然後我想只是為了後續行動。我相信董事會領導層發生了變化，博伊德先生擔任名譽主席，並向他表示祝賀。只是想知道我們是否應該期待從這裡開始的無縫過渡。

Yes. I would expect nothing has changed and nothing will change, and it will be kind of status quo. The Board is stable, and we have a very solid Board. Everybody is good. And so yes, nothing -- should expect no changes.

是的。我希望一切都沒有改變，也不會改變，這將是現狀。董事會很穩定，我們有一個非常堅實的董事會。每個人都很好。所以，是的，沒有什麼——應該不會有任何變化。

This concludes today's question-and-answer session. I'd now like to turn the call over to Josh for concluding remarks.

今天的問答環節到此結束。我現在想把電話轉給喬什做總結髮言。

Thanks, David, and thanks, everyone, for joining today. And if anyone has any follow-up questions on anything we discussed today, please feel free to reach out to the company and we'll try to get those answered -- those questions answered for you. Thank you.

謝謝大衛，也謝謝大家今天的加入。如果有人對我們今天討論的任何問題有任何後續問題，請隨時與該公司聯繫，我們將盡力找到這些問題的答案——為您解答這些問題。謝謝。

Thanks, Josh. This concludes today's call. You may now disconnect.

謝謝，喬什。今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連接。