Strong Bettor Performance May Impact DraftKings’ Q4 Results

Currently, DraftKings holds a leadership position within the growing sports betting sector across the US. The company plans to release its fourth quarter results in mid-February, highlighting key details regarding its performance for the last months of 2023. Ahead of the Q4 results, a leading equity research analyst spoke about an anomaly that may impact DraftKings’ revenue for Q4 2023.

Mike Hickey, an analyst for Benchmark, reiterated a Buy rating for DraftKings with a price target of $41.00 as of Friday. On Thursday, the company’s shares closed at $32.88. Additionally, Hickey mentioned that the strong performance of sports bettors across the US may impact the operator’s Q4 results. He explained that DraftKings’ hold percentage for November may be impacted by 1.5%. In case this prediction turns out to be true, it may affect the bookmaker’s EBITDA by $35 million and revenue by $50 million, the analyst estimated.

Despite the possible anomaly in November, Hickey predicted that it is likely for the hold to normalize in December. The aforementioned predictions by the analyst are based on DraftKings’ guidance which estimated revenue of approximately $3.7 billion and EBITDA loss of $105 million for 2023. Still, it’s important to mention that the operator’s results are yet to reject or confirm the impact of the dip in hold percentage.

DraftKings Continues to Expand and Grow

Recently, DraftKings along with BetMGM secured market access agreements, paving the way for their expansion in North Carolina. The agreements came ahead of the planned launch of the online sports betting market, expected before March Madness. The collaboration inked by DraftKings was with NASCAR, allowing the operator to grow its footprint to North Carolina. Once the state launches its mobile sports betting market, it will become the 27th state where DraftKings offers its sportsbook.

Undoubtedly, one of the biggest rivals of DraftKings is FanDuel, another leading US betting operator. Last month, the two companies posted the highest betting handle and revenue for the month of December, data released by the gambling regulator in New York reveals. While FanDuel had the highest betting handle, a total of $834.5 million, DraftKings followed suit with its $773.4 million betting handle.

Besides FanDuel, other rivals of DraftKings include BetMGM, the recently launched ESPN Bet, as well as Caesars, among other players within the increasingly competitive sports betting vertical across the country.