There have been many distractions and moving parts that investors have had to digest in 2025. U.S. tariffs and trade policies have trumped most other ongoing risks and uncertainties, and now there are even higher risks overseas. And despite all of these uncertainties, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ-100 key indexes are both up year-to-date. Now investors have to wonder how to brace for beyond the summer months and start looking toward 2026.
Oggonomics reviews the daily flow of Wall Street analyst calls covering upgrades and downgrades in a hunt for new ideas that might have otherwise been overlooked or missed. These calls sometimes offer opportunities for short-term opportunistic traders and long-term investors who are looking for diamonds in the rough.
It turns out that JPMorgan has decided to take a closer look toward what is manageable here. And as it is summer, hotels and casinos are in focus. While JPMorgan expects tariffs and slower growth to weigh on land-based gaming and gambling, the firm believes that digital gaming should remain more insulated from a weaker spending environment. JPMorgan evens used the phrase “strategically” in the gaming sector for all you strategic investors out there — with plenty of risks and lots of potential rewards!
One theme that keeps coming up in hotels and gaming is that uncertainty is the only certainty for the rest of the year. The firm also sees limited investor demand for casinos and gaming operations exposed to China based on its own macroeconomic position and geopolitical risks.
Oggonomics is taking a closer look at which companies JPMorgan highlighted with Overweight ratings. This means “Neutral” and “Underweight” rating have been skipped for the most part, and the long summaries were also either skipped or greatly condensed due to the number of stocks in the report.
Most analyst “Buy/Outperform” ratings come with implied upside of 10% to 12%. Please read the disclaimers below because not all analyst expectations come to fruition. Some analyst reports even miss the mark entirely or the underlying fundamentals can change in an instant.
TOP PICKS & OUTPERFORM RATINGS
Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: CZR) was started as Overweight with a $47 price target (versus $28.15), and Caesers was listed as one of the top picks in this strategic investing analyst report.
Churchill Downs Inc. (NASDAQ: CHDN) was started as Overweight with a $116 price target (versus $98.00).
DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG) was started as Overweight with a $50 price target (versus $40.51 close).
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) was started as Overweight at JPMorgan and the firm issued a $282 price target initiated coverage of Hilton with an Overweight rating and $282 price target (versus $248.50 now). Hiton was listed as top pick in the hotel sector as investors should focus on lodging/hotel operators with durable growth and stronger earnings visibility compared to peers while GDP growth is expected to slow in 2025.
Penn Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: PENN) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned a $24 price target, implying 41% upside to JPMorgan’s target. The casino and gambling platform was listed among JPMorgan’s top picks within the sector.
Red Rock Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ: RRR) was started as Overweight with a $62 price target (versus $50.25) and it is considered a top pick in the gaming report. Its main interest is Station Casinos.
Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (NYSE: RHP) was started as Overweight with a $117 price target at JPMorgan. Ryman Hospitality was the other JPMorgan top pick in the hotels and lodging sector and it previously closed at $98.79 ahead of the sector call, with a 4.6% dividend to boot.
Sportradar Group AG (NASDAQ: SRAD) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $30 from $28 (versus $25.40 prior close) in the call.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: WH) was given a new Overweight rating and $101 price target at JPMorgan. It was last seen at $78.75 and has a 2% dividend yield.
Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ: WYNN) was given a new Overweight rating and was assigned a $109 price target (versus $88.25).
AND THE NOT-SO-HOT PICKS
Here are the Neutral and Underperform ratings related to hotels, casinos and gambling in the JPMorgan report:
- Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE: BYD) was started as Neutral with a $79 target price.
- Host Hotels (NYSE: HST) was started as Neutral with a $16 price target.
- Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) was started as Neutral with a $47 price target.
- Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) was started as Neutral with a $284 price target.
- MGM Resorts (NYSE: MGM) was started as Neutral with a $38 price target.
- Park Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: PK) was started as Underweight with $10 price target.
- Rush Street Interactive, Inc. (NYSE: RSI) was started as Neutral with a $14 price target.
- Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE: SHO) was started as Underweight with a $8 price target.
DISCLAIMERS
The research summaries above are from analyst ratings and price targets Issued by JPMorgan. Their ratings and targets may differ greatly from other firms on Wall Street.
Oggonomics does not issue any formal ratings and does not maintain any price targets of its own on any of the stocks mentioned in this summary. Please remember that no analyst ratings and price targets, even those with the strongest conviction, ever come with any guarantees of profits and they never contain money-back guarantees in case you lose money.
