Shuffle Master Deals Analysts a Shock

Shuffle Master (NADSAQ: SHFL) earnings drove casino equipment stocks on Wednesday.

Shares of Las Vegas-based Shuffle Master are up by more than 20% today after the company beat estimates with a 50% jump in second-quarter profit. In the three months ended April 30, the company earned $4.6 million or 9 cents a share. Year-over-year EPS was unchanged, but net profit was up from $3 million in Q2 2008. Analysts’ EPS estimates averaged at 4 cents a share. Today Shuffle Master’s peers are mixed, but its performance is carrying the sector average higher.

As a whole, the Gaming and Slot-Machine Stocks Index is up by 1.1%. It is now beating the S&P 500 by 10.4% over the last month.

Multimedia Games (MGAM) is also trading higher today. Shares of the electronic gaming company are up by over 3%. It is now up by 85% over the last month and is within 11% of its 52-week high.

International Game Technology (IGT) has slipped into negative territory today. The stock is now off by -3%. WMS Industries (WMS), which specializes in slots and video poker machines, is down by -3% as well, as are Scientific Games (SGMS) and Bally Technologies (BYI).

As of this writing the Gaming and Slot-Machine Stocks Index is in the top-40 performing tickerspy Indexes over the last month, gaining 11.9%.

Investors can follow the Gaming and Slot-Machine Stocks Index and view related performance charts and metrics at tickerspy.com.

Tags: BYI, IGT, MGAM, SGMS, SHFL, WMS