The S&P 500's record high overnight appears to be rubbing off on the Australian share market today. However, one ASX 200 stock is stealing the show after delivering its FY2024 half-year results.
Shares in slot machine maker Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL) are up 11.2% to $45.31 at the time of writing. The next closest best-performer among the top 200 is a lesser 5.8% higher.
Let's peer into the figures flinging this ASX giant higher.
What did this surging ASX 200 stock report?
Short on time? Here's the no-fluff takeaways from Aristocrat's results:
- Revenue up 6.1% (4% on constant currency) to $3,269.6 million
- Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) up 17.6% to $1,195.7 million
- Net profit after tax (NPAT) up 16.8% to $723.3 million
- Interim fully franked dividend of 36 cents per share, up 20% from the prior corresponding period
- An additional $350 million in on-market share buybacks
Aristocrat Leisure's strong half-year performance coincides with the company retaining market-leading position in gaming cabinets (i.e. slot machines) across the United States and the Australia and New Zealand region.
However, the Aristocrat Gaming segment saw a 9% decline in outright sales in the half. Meanwhile, the 'rest of world' market performed solidly, with revenue increasing 7% and profit jumping 29%. Management attributed this growth mainly to Asia as replacement unit sales recovered.
Who's at the helm of this ASX 200 stock? That would be CEO Trevor Croker, who described today's result by saying:
This was once again an outstanding result, reflecting Aristocrat's resilience and ability to grow share and drive profitability through different operating environments.
Perhaps one of the weaker areas was the Pixel United segment, which encompasses mobile-first games RAID: Shadow Legends and Mech Arena. Bookings slipped 1% to US$877 million, while the broader mobile games market grew 4%.
Lastly, revenue in the Aristocrat Interactive segment soared 49% compared to the prior corresponding period. The iGaming and iLottery division benefitted from greater revenue from customer experience solutions (CXS).
What else?
It all sounds relatively good, but is it a '10% boost in share price good'?
The cherry on top bringing all the investors to the yard is arguably the $350 million share buyback increase.
Aristocrat Leisure launched a buyback program in May 2022 for up to $500 million. A year later, the company raised the buyback bar by another $500 million. Fast-forward to today, and shareholders are being graced with another $350 million.
In addition, the company will conduct a strategic review of its casual and mid-core gaming assets, including Big Fish Games (excluding the Big Fish Social Casino assets) and Plarium Global. There's no verdict yet, but any sale could mean more cash for investors in this ASX 200 stock.
The Aristocrat Leisure share price is now up 14% in the last year amid its May green streak.
