DraftKings Trading Opens Flat Despite Revenue, Guidance Jump
DraftKings shares opened roughly flat in early trading Friday after the company released revenue numbers that beat analyst estimates, and once again raised its financial expectations for the fiscal year.
DraftKings had previously said that fiscal 2021 revenue would be in the $900 million to $1 billion range. Following the results of its first quarter, which covers January through March, the company raised that to $1.05-$1.15 billion. Unlike other industries, this number also depends on various U.S. state legislative plans, since the company’s business is directly tied to where it can offer its products.
Revenue from the quarter was $312 million—higher than estimates, which were in the $233 million range. DraftKings’ operating deficit for the quarter was $325 million, also more than projected.
The sports betting, daily fantasy and iGaming company has made news over the past few weeks in a new corner of the sports world: media. In March it purchased the Vegas Sports Information Network (VSiN), and last week it bought the licensing rights to former ESPN personality Dan Le Batard’s podcast network, which includes one of the most popular sports shows in the country.
Though the financials of the VSiN acquisition weren’t announced at the time, DraftKings’ quarterly filings detailed a transaction worth just under $70 million in cash and stock. CEO Jason Robins said the media push is partially because of the synergies between gaming and content, but he also argued it makes business sense on its own.
“We have a good track record of being able to launch new product lines and monetize our customer base, as well as utilize them to acquire a broader customer base,” Robins said. “We’ve done that with multiple products now, so we think between our data science capabilities and other analytics that we’ve employed, we’re going to be really effective at targeting the right content to the right customers at the right time.”
Friday’s release marked roughly 12 months as a publicly traded company. DraftKings ended the quarter with $2.8 billion on its balance sheet, growth fueled by a recent $1 billion raise through convertible notes.
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