Earnings Preview: Las Vegas Sands Corp.

LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas Sands Corp. is to report its second-quarter financial results after the market closes Thursday. Below is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.

OVERVIEW: Las Vegas Sands is a global casino operator run by billionaire Sheldon Adelson. It owns resorts in Las Vegas, Bethlehem, Pa., and the Chinese island gambling enclave of Macau and has a development under way in Singapore.

Sands and other casino operators have struggled during the recession as gamblers cut spending on gambling and resort visits. The Las Vegas-based company has pulled back on ambitious plans that called for more development in Macau, Las Vegas and Bethlehem, where it opened a casino in May that it plans to expand.

It has cut costs and said early this month that it had laid off nearly 200 people in Las Vegas to makes its staffing level match the economic environment.

Sands reported having $10.41 billion in debt at the first quarter’s end.

BY THE NUMBERS: Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect Las Vegas Sands to lose 1 cent per share on $1.08 billion in revenues, compared with profit of 9 cents on revenue of $1.11 billion in the same period a year earlier.

ANALYST TAKE: A BMO Capital Markets analyst last week upgraded Sands’ shares to “Outperform” from “Market Perform.”

Analyst Jeffrey Logsdon said the company has enough profitability and liquidity to avoid violating the covenants on its debt and improved chances of securing additional capital. He said the company would “recommence construction on certain delayed projects.”

WHAT’S AHEAD: Investors will want to know about Sands’ latest efforts to raise capital in Macau, possibly through launching an initial public offering of its assets there.

Adelson said earlier this month in Singapore that the company was actively pursuing an IPO.

The company is also considering selling some of its noncore assets, and investors will want to know what it might sell.

STOCK PERFORMANCE: Las Vegas Sands’ stock price has dropped from its 52-week high of $59.17, and closed the third quarter at $7.86.