Gaming, airline stocks fall

Monday, Sept. 17, 2001 | 9:32 a.m.

As expected, gaming industry stocks were hit hard in this morning's sell-off, and two major casino operators hit 52-week lows.

The hardest blow was taken this morning by MGM MIRAGE, the casino company most heavily concentrated in the Las Vegas market. This morning, MGM MIRAGE traded at $23.01, down $5.30 -- a decline of nearly 19 percent. That put the stock near its 52-week low.

Park Place Entertainment Corp. fell through its 52-week low, trading at $8.10, down $1.82 -- an 18.4 percent decline. Also hitting a 52-week low was Station Casinos Inc., down $1.23 to $11.02.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. was down $5.01 to $23.70, despite analyst expectations that the company's geographic diversity should help it weather a leisure industry downturn better than its competitors. Mandalay Resort Group was off $3.03 to $20.87, while Boyd Gaming Corp. lost $1.04 to $4.79.

Slot manufacturers were also being sold off: International Game Technology lost $5.38 to trade at $45.90; Alliance Gaming Corp. traded at $16.37, down $2.63; and WMS Industries was down $1.11 to $19.15.

Airlines were taking a worse beating. Worst-hit was America West Holding Corp., the second-largest carrier at McCarran International Airport. After a delayed open, America West plunged 70 percent to $2.60.

UAL Corp., the operator of United Airlines, was down nearly 40 percent to $18.65 this morning. A similar blow was taken by Delta Air Lines, down 36 percent to $24. AMR Corp., operator of American Airlines, retreated 26 percent to $18.20, while Southwest Airlines fell 20 percent to $13.77.