Slot maker’s stock at record high on election hopes

Monday, Nov. 4, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.

International Game Technology shares rose to an all-time high today on investor expectations that the biggest maker of slot machines will benefit from an expansion of gambling in such states as Pennsylvania after the election.

IGT shares rose 85 cents to $77.89 as of 12:02 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, after touching $78.40, and have risen 14 percent so far this year. The Reno firm, which sold 120,000 machines last year, controls about two- thirds of the U.S. slots market, say analysts.

Six states including Pennsylvania and Arizona are considering measures to boost tax revenue from gambling that may result in as many as 50,000 slot machine sales. Pennsylvania is the state most likely to expand gambling, as both candidates for governor support adding 8,000 to 10,000 machines at the state's four racetracks, UBS Warburg analyst Robin Farley wrote in a report.

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