Wall Street Bets: Flutter-Boyd, IGT sale, Genius Sports

Wall Street Bets is a roundup of recent notes from analysts covering the gambling industry.

Flutter – Boyd dealout

Flutter Entertainment’s announcement that it will buy Boyd Gaming’s 5% stake in FanDuel, in a deal worth about $1.76 billion, piqued the interest of multiple analysts.

David Katz of Jefferies wrote on July 10 “We have argued that Boyd’s 5% stake in FanDuel was an underappreciated call option for shareholders that came into focus today on the announcement … With multiple years still left on the current agreement (2028), some may be surprised that the trigger was pulled now, but we view the sale as a positive for the shares given the balanced risk/reward of the U.S. online sport betting business long-term.”

Truist Securities Barry Jonas viewed the transaction as “a win/win for both companies,” he wrote July 11. “Boyd will see ~$16/share of net proceeds; and while it will lose $50-55 million of online EBITDA with revised market access terms it will gain $80-85 million of interest savings post debt paydown. Flutter simplifies its FanDuel ownership to 100% (before the FoxBet option) at an attractive 16x valuation, while gaining $65 million in annual operating savings. Reiterate Buy on Boyd and Flutter.”

Dan Politzer of J.P. Morgan wrote July 10 that “net, we view the transaction as mixed. With the sale expected to close in 3Q25 we wouldn’t be surprised if investors begin to wonder about Boyd’s M&A aspirations, but we expect the company will maintain its consistent capital allocation of share buybacks ($100 million+/quarter) and a stable balance sheet.”

IGT sells lottery division

David Katz of Jefferies noted IGT’s decision to sell its lottery division to Voyager Parent. “We updated our price target on Brightstar lottery following the sale of its Gaming & Digital business. The firm received ~$4B of net cash proceeds and also disclosed plans for allocating the funds, including a $3 per share special dividend and $500 million buyback program. We view these actions as a modest positive for shares and believe the focus now shifts towards executing its lottery and digital strategies.

Genius outlook

B Riley Securities’ Josh Nichols looked at Genius Sports July 8

“(Genius’) expanded and increasingly entrenched rights portfolio — including its extended NFL partnership through the 2029 season — positions Genius for long-term structural growth with unprecedented rights visibility and a high degree of fixed-cost leverage,” Nichols wrote. “Meanwhile, the company’s differentiated BetVision and FANHub offerings integrate data, betting, and media into a unified platform that unlocks high-margin monetization avenues. BetVision’s international expansion into soccer builds upon its NFL success and further taps into in-game betting, where take rates are 3x higher than traditional pre-match wagering.”