World Poker Tour Enterprises Stock Analysis
The World Poker Tour believes that the popularity of televised poker will continue to grow. As the producers of the World Poker Tour TV series on the Travel Channel, WPT Enterprises has placed a lot of their eggs in that one basket. The show is based on 18 high stakes poker tournaments that are played in casinos worldwide, including Las Vegas, Monte Carlo, Aruba, and Paris. Anyone is eligible to play in the tournaments, as long as they pay the buy-in which can range from $5,000 to $25,000, with $10,000 being the norm. WPT Enterprises collects fees for filming the events from the host casino, but also has other income streams through their licensed WPT brand apparel and consumer products like chips and poker tables.
WPTE has a small WPT online poker room that does not accept US players. The WPT online poker room uses the award winning CryptoLogic software. Recently the poker room has been paired with a casino, from CrytoLogic's most popular games. Initially starting with 10 award winning games like the Marvel comics jackpot slots, Cubis and Bejeweled colorful slots, and the mega-progressive jackpot slot, Millionaire's Club, which has recently been hit for $4 million and $8 million.
Steven Lipscomb, President, Founder and CEO of WPTE stated "For WPT, it was important to offer a superior casino experience with integrity and innovation - and CryptoLogic was the natural fit...CryptoLogic's poker software has been extremely popular with our customers, and by adding some of the Internet's most popular casino games, the player's experience at WPT will be second to none."
WPTE has three divisions, the WPT Studios, the WPT Consumer Products, and the WPT Corporate Alliances. After going public in August 2004, WPT stock traded over $20 throughout 2005 during the peak of the poker craze. Unfortunately, the stock shares have fallen considerably to around $2 with little expectation that they will return to their previous highs. WPT is not a profitable company, they continue to operate without a profit year after year and the few stock analysts that watch it suggest this pattern will continue. The casino management company, Lakes Entertainment, controls over 60% of the available stock of WPTE. World Poker Tour's top competitor is the Harrah's owned World Series of Poker. The WSOP brand is stronger and more recognizable, and most poker players would rather have a bracelet from the WSOP then a WPT title. Furthermore, the WSOP has the backing of a major casino chain in Harrah's while the WPT has to work out partnerships with casinos to host their tournaments. Though poker makes for great television because of the use of hole card cameras and interesting personalities, the WSOP receives much more exposure on the cable sports giant ESPN then the WPT gets on the Travel Channel.
Online Poker Stock Prices
Stock Exchanges
This list shows the online poker rooms' trading symbols for each stock exchange. Click on the stock exchange to go directly to the current trading price.
World Poker TourNASDAQ:WPTE
Party Gaming
London Stock Exchange:PRTY
CryptoLogic
NASDAQ:CRYP
Toronto Stock Exchange:CRY
London Stock Exchange:CRP
Sporting Bet
London Stock Exchange:SBT
888 Holdings
London Stock Exchange:888
Ladbrokes
London Stock Exchange:LAD
William Hill
London Stock Exchange:WMH
bWin
Vienna Stock Market:BWIN
Boss Media
Nordic Exchange:BOSS
World Poker Tour Company Information
Address: 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 350
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Phone Number: 323-330-9900
Fax Number: 323-330-9902
http://www.worldpokertour.com
| Company Type | Public (NASDAQ (GM): WPTE |
|---|---|
| End of Fiscal Year | December |
| 2006 Sales (millions) | $29.3 |
| Sales Growth (1 Year) | 62.0% |
| 2006 Net Income (millions) | $7.8 |
| 2005 Employees | 83 |
| Employee Growth (1 Year) | 45.6% |