Cross-Channel Wonder
Light & Wonder defines success across land-based and online channels
By Frank Legato
It was a great start to 2024 for global gaming supplier Light & Wonder . The quarter that ended March 31 was the 12th consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth , with strong cash flow and a healthy balance sheet .
While gaming machine sales led the way with a 30 percent year-on-year increase , all of L & W ’ s business units reported double-digit growth . The company ’ s Nasdaq stock price has responded , exceeding recent analyst targets of $ 100 per share by late June ( it was $ 103.87 at the time of this writing ).
Additionally , in May 2023 , Light & Wonder undertook a secondary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange ( ASX ), in addition to its primary Nasdaq listing . Since it began trading on the ASX , the stock has seen a 55 percent share price return and was added to the ASX 200 in October of last year .
Many analysts expect it to go significantly higher . “ Light & Wonder is still a bargain right now ,” wrote Simply Wall Street at the end of April . “ Our valuation model shows that the intrinsic value for the stock is $ 127.60 , which is above what the market is valuing the company at the moment .”
The fact that all of L & W ’ s business units are contributing to the strong earnings is a direct result of how the larger business has been structured since 2022 , when the former Scientific Games shed its eponymous lottery division and sports betting platform . Rechristened Light & Wonder that year , the company refocused on its core business , the creation of high-performing game content .
The company formatted its three business units as engines to deliver that content to all available channels — brick-and-mortar casinos , with games exploiting famous legacy brands Bally , WMS and Shuffle Master ; online casinos , through the former SG Digital ; and social casinos through its free-to-play SciPlay division . While machine sales are still at the core of the company ’ s success , L & W ’ s digital division continues to grow , not only through its own formidable game library but through content distribution deals with third parties , the latest being Bragg Gaming Group .
Siobhan Lane , Light & Wonder ’ s chief executive officer of gaming , is part of a team of top L & W executives that planned , executed and achieved the transformation of the company from Scientific Games into Light & Wonder .
“ In the last two years , we ’ ve really been in full execution mode on our strategy ,” says Lane . “ After we ran our strategic review process , we identified the parts of the business that belong together , which centered around the strategy of developing the world ’ s best gaming content . As we say at Light & Wonder , it ’ s all about the games .”
This laser focus on content has been driven by a new commitment to research & development . “ We ’ ve considerably ramped R & D investment ,” she says , “ and quite frankly , investment in our end-to-end organization , and we ’ re starting to see commercial proof points of the turnaround in full effect — which includes growing market share in Australia and North America across our gaming operations business and our game sale business .”
Simon Johnson , managing director of international gaming at Light & Wonder , adds , “ International markets are enormously important to Light & Wonder , and we have a large physical presence in these regions with game designers who know what our customers expect and want .”
18 Global Gaming Business AUGUST 2024