Singapore Drives Las Vegas Sands’ Q3 Surge as Marina Bay Sets Record EBITDA
Marina Bay Sands in Singapore was the engine behind Las Vegas Sands’ strong third-quarter performance, the company said on Wednesday.
LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE:The Marina Bay Sands (MBS) reported $743 million in adjusted EBITDA for the quarter, a jump of 83% from $406 million a year earlier and producing an operating margin of 51.8%, up from 44.2% the prior year. CEO Rob Goldstein told analysts that the company’s internal forecast for Singapore has been “too conservative,” noting the market has already exceeded $2.1 billion of adjusted EBITDA for 2025 with one quarter remaining and that the firm’s $2.5 billion annual projection will likely be surpassed.
Mass-market gaming and slot revenue at MBS hit a quarterly record of $905 million – a 122% increase versus the third quarter of 2019 and 35% higher than the third quarter of 2024. Goldstein described the results in emphatic terms: “We’re in the right place at the right time with the right product. Singapore is a highly desirable destination, and it’s difficult to find the superlatives to describe the magnitude of this result. Operating performance at MBS is unprecedented in our history”.
The strong Singapore performance lifted investor sentiment: Las Vegas Sands’ shares closed at $50.62 on Wednesday and climbed nearly $3 in after-hours trading following the earnings release, having gained roughly $16 over the previous six months.
Macau’s Rebound Gains Strength Through Reinvestment
Macau contributed $601 million in adjusted EBITDA in the quarter, a modest increase from comparable periods as the company works to regain momentum in its largest market. Goldstein acknowledged past underperformance in Macau and outlined a deliberate shift in approach that he said began in the second quarter of 2025: “We have underperformed in the Macau market for the past few years, but we believed our buildings would be enough. We were wrong. We adapted to the market and changed our approach in the second quarter of 2025 and that made us more competitive.”
Patrick Dumont, president and chief operating officer, offered further detail on margins after adjusting for hold: “When adjusted for hold, the EBITDA margins in Macau would have been 31.5%, down 150 basis points compared to the third quarter of 2024. The margin at The Venetian was 35%, while it was 31.9% at The Londoner. We see opportunity in every segment.”
Grant Chum, CEO of Sands China, said the company’s targeted reinvestment initiatives and revised marketing tactics are beginning to pay off. “We readjusted our reinvestment rates across the portfolio, not uniformly. Obviously, some of our smaller properties have had a bigger boost in reinvestment. And we’ve seen the results of that. You can see that both year-over-year and sequentially that we’re outgrowing the market for the first time in a long time when you look at the mass gaming revenue,” he said.
Goldstein identified underperforming assets – primarily the Sands and the Parisian in Macau – as priorities for improvement. “The Londoner is moving toward a $1 billion-plus EBITDA, and there are opportunities for growth in Macau. The Macau market’s gross gaming revenue is growing. With our assets and recent market changes, we believe we will continue to improve in the fourth quarter and beyond,” he said. He added a cautionary note on the wider market’s role: “Sands can’t grow in Macau independent of the market as a whole and needs gaming-revenue growth, which next year could be $33 billion to $34 billion. That’s the same for all of us, or it’s just the same customers circulating”.
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Market Outlook: Strength in Singapore, Rebound in Macau
For investors and industry observers, the quarter highlights a bifurcated recovery: Singapore is delivering exceptional margins and outsized growth, while Macau shows incremental progress driven by reinvestment, revised marketing and a renewed focus on high-value VIP and mass segments. Chum pointed to a recent acceleration in VIP growth in Macau driven by a concentration of super high-end players and increased market liquidity: “This quarter, we haven’t concentrated that much in that segment, but we’re going to get more competitive in that segment as well”.
Management says more EBITDA upside is possible in the fourth quarter if market conditions hold and reinvestment initiatives continue to gain traction. Short term, the company must close the performance gap at weaker properties while leveraging MBS’s momentum to support overall corporate goals.
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