The AGEM Index continued to grow positively in May 2018, building upon last month’s encouraging trends. The composite index finished the month at 554.05 points, a gain of 22.72 points or 4.28 percent, compared to April 2018. The AGEM Index reported a year-over-year increase for the 32nd consecutive month and has climbed 163.87 points, or 42.00 percent, since May 2017.
During the latest period, seven of the 13 global gaming equipment manufacturers reported month-to-month increases in stock price. Six manufacturers reported decreases in stock price during the month.
The April performance of the AGEM Index paralleled the three major stock market indexes. The S&P 500 reported a month-to-month increase of 2.16 percent to 2,705.27. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 1.05 percent to 24,415.84, while the NASDAQ increased 5.32 percent during the period to 7,442.12.
Positive contributors to the May 2018 AGEM Index included the following: Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX:ALL) contributed 24.94 points due to a 12.01 percent increase in stock price to AU$30.04; Scientific Games Corporation (SGMS) reported an 11.26 percent increase in stock price to $59.30, contributing 8.34 points. For infographics accompanying this announcement click here.
During the past month, Agilysys (AGYS) released results for its fiscal year ending in March 2018. Net revenues decreased by 0.2 percent from the prior year, dropping $318,000 to $127.4 million. Gross profit increased by $632,000, or 1.0 percent. The increase in gross profit is attributable to a $950,000 decrease in the company’s cost of goods sold. During this fiscal year, the company achieved a gross profit margin of 50.6 percent, up from 50.0 percent in the prior year.
TransAct Technologies (TACT) released its first quarter results for the three months ending March 2018. During this period, net sales decreased $1.8 million, or 12.9 percent, on a year-over-year basis to $12.2 million. Despite the significant drop in net sales, gross profit margins improved substantially on a year-over-year basis. For the first quarter of 2018, the company’s gross profit margin was 47.9 percent, up from 43.5 percent for the same period last year. In May, the company reached an agreement with Asia Pioneer Entertainment Limited to distribute TransAct’s ticket-in, ticket-out printers in Macau, the Philippines, Taiwan and China.
Gaming Partners International Corporation (GPIC) also released its quarterly results for the period ending March 2018. Revenues decreased by 1.2 percent on a year-over-year basis, dropping from $18.9 million to $18.7 million. Additionally, gross profits decreased from $5.8 million to $4.9 million, a 15.2 percent decline. As a consequence of this decline, the company’s gross profit margin also fell to 26.4 percent to 30.8 percent. Operating income fell dramatically during this period due to a substantial uptick in research and development expenses. Research and development expenses increased from $300,000 for this period last year to $1.0 million this year. This increase was due to payments made to BrainChip Holdings Limited and Xuvi, LLC for the joint development of a table management and analytics platform. This platform will be designed to improve the efficiency of table games, reduce the risk of fraudulent behaviour and provide player behaviour analysis.
Since its initial public offering, PlayAGS Inc. (AGS) has delivered strong financial performance, as demonstrated by the company’s financial results for the first quarter since it completed the offering. On a year-over-year basis, total revenues increased 35.8 percent, growing from $47.8 million to $64.9 million. Operating income, however, remained largely flat due to a $17.0 million increase in operating expenses, which largely consisted of a $6.5 million year-over-year increase in selling, general and administrative costs, a $3.5 million year-over-year increase in cost of equipment sales and a $3.3 million year-over-year increase in research and development expenses. Additionally, the stock has been so popular that the company completed a secondary public offering in May 2018.
