🎰 Ticker: $PENN 🪙
Price: $17.80 (+4.13% as of Aug-13-2025, 4:00 PM ET)

🚀 Breakout Update (Aug 2025)

Penn stock has quietly pulled off a comeback worthy of a Vegas highlight reel—up more than 10% since our last piece three months ago. And the house isn’t the only one betting big: insiders and investors are still doubling down.

👤 Fresh Insider Buy Alert:

• David Handler (Director) just scooped up 20,000 shares @ $16.97 (Aug 8), dropping about $339K into the pot. That’s on top of his already large stake (362K+ shares owned). The pattern is clear: Penn’s brass keeps stacking chips when prices are low.

💰 Second Quarter Earnings Recap:

• Revenue: $1.77B (up from $1.66B YoY)

• Adjusted EBITDA: $236.1M (up from $212.1M YoY)

• Net Loss: -$18.3M (but narrower than last year’s -$27.1M)

• Retail casinos: $1.4B in revenues, EBITDAR margins still a healthy 33.8%

• Interactive division (ESPN BET + iCasino): record revenues at $316.1M, though still running a $62M EBITDA loss

🛠 Strategic Moves:

• $115M worth of shares repurchased YTD (goal: $350M for 2025).

• Convertible note repurchase shaved off 9.6M potentially dilutive shares—a smart move for shareholder value.

• Liquidity still solid at $1.2B, with net debt ~$2.1B.

🎯 The CEO’s Spin: Jay Snowden says omnichannel engagement is paying off—retail + digital together = stronger customers. ESPN BET keeps layering in new features (Player Insights + FanCenter for football season), while Hollywood iCasino keeps growing with 70% of revenues from new/re-activated users.

🧩 The Setup Now

So here’s where we stand:

1. Stock’s up since May (despite recent retreat or consolidation) → momentum may be shifting.

2. Insiders still buying → Handler joins Snowden in showing conviction.

3. Financials mixed but improving → revenue growth, shrinking losses, strong property-level margins.

4. Balance sheet cleaner → fewer convertible shares hanging overhead.

5. Technical view → could be forming a “double bottom” (aka the big W 🟰) over the past 2 years.

In short: the contrarian bull case is gaining ground. Risks remain (competition, digital losses, regulatory unknowns), but this setup is looking more like an opportunity than a trap.

👉 Full May article below for the original deep-dive:

Penn Means No More Pain? Insiders Bet Big, and the Casino Isn’t the Only One Taking Bets...

Stock Ticker: PENN 🪙 
Price: $15.08
Change: +0.42 (+2.86%)
As of: May 23, 2025, 4:00:00 PM ET

🔥 Insiders at the Table... Again and Again

Executives at Penn Entertainment are doubling down harder than a blackjack addict with a caffeine buzz. Here’s what recent insider buying looks like:

🧑💼 Insider Activity Highlights:

• Jay Snowden (CEO/Pres):
  ➕ 34,000 shares @ $14.70 = $499,766 (May 22)
  ➕ 54,200 shares @ $18.44 = $999,448 (Sept 3, 2024)

• David Handler (Director):
  ➕ 10,000 shares @ $14.83 (May 22)
  ➕ 40,000 shares @ $14.94 (May 29, 2024)
  ➕ 40,000 shares @ $15.61 (May 6, 2024)

• Others (incl. CFO + Directors) also showing bullish buys.

📈 Translation? Management seems to think the odds are finally shifting.

🏦 Institutional Chips Are In

Penn isn't just backed by its own brass. Institutions own 101.2% of the float. That’s right—more shares than actually exist, thanks to options and short lending.

🎓 Top Institutional Holders:

• BlackRock: 17.49M shares

• Vanguard: 16.25M

• HG Vora, DME Capital, Invesco, State Street...
  🎰 When the pros are betting, you pay attention.

🔍 For full Institutional Ownership breakdown, see here.

🧠 The Business: More Than Just Slots & Shots

PENN isn’t your grandma’s smoky casino stock. It’s a 28-jurisdiction entertainment empire with major muscle in:

• 🎲 Retail Casinos – Hollywood Casino®, L’Auberge®

• 📱 Online Sports & iCasino – ESPN BET™, theScore™

• 🧠 Tech Stack – Proprietary digital platform & in-house iCasino studio

• 🎁 Loyalty Program – Over 32 million PENN Play™ members cashing in across digital and physical experiences

With ESPN and theScore in its corner, PENN is blending old-school and digital like a cocktail served in the metaverse.

💥 First Quarter 2025 Earnings Highlights

• Revenue: $1.67B (up YoY)

• Net Income: $111.5M (versus a loss in Q1 '24)

• Adjusted EBITDA: $173.3M

• Record iCasino Gaming Revenue despite sports betting losses

• $35M in Share Buybacks (aiming for $350M in 2025)

• Cash on Hand: $591.6M

• Debt: $2.1B

• Liquidity: $1.5B

• Forward P/E: 35.84 😬 (Not dirt cheap, but not a slot-machine jackpot either)

🃏 Key Insight: Online casino is growing fast, with standalone apps in Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey & Ontario gaining traction.

👉 Want the full picture? Dive into Penn Entertainment’s financials here.

🧮 By the Numbers

⚠️ Risks to Watch Before You Bet It All

1. 🥊 Heavyweight competition from DraftKings, FanDuel, etc.

2. 💸 Consumer-sensitive business—a recession could fold the hand.

3. 🏈 ESPN BET still a wildcard—huge potential, unproven payoff.

4. 📉 Still down 90% from 2021 highs. Could be a bargain—or a mirage.

🧩 But Here’s Why It Could Work

1. 🎰 Focus on Higher-Margin iCasino is driving record results

2. 💼 Disciplined capital allocation with active buybacks

3. 🤝 Institutional and insider buying = strong confidence signal

4. 💵 Debt metrics improving after peaking pre-pandemic

5. 🪙 Contrarian Setup – Losses contained, signs of a turnaround emerging

Interested in another investment idea?
Check our take on UnitedHealth Group.

🧂 Our Take

PENN’s stock has been painful—but insiders and institutions aren’t flinching. With digital growth, buybacks, and a bounce-back in profits, it might just be the turnaround you didn't see coming. But this is still Vegas, baby: bet responsibly. 🎲

📛 Disclaimer:

Not everything is a Penn in the Butt—but don’t bet the farm on a gut feeling.
We laugh, we analyze, we meme — we do not provide investment advice. It’s just a second opinion — and yes, we’re billing your sense of humor. 🎪💸 
We’re not financial advisors. We’re FUNancial advisors. 
Invest at your own risk, always DYOR, hold the FOMO, and don’t invest what you can’t afford to lose.

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