Gaming Stocks End August on a High Note Even as Markets Get Shaky

August was a good month for the S&P 500 Index, which logged its fourth consecutive month of gains even as the index closed slightly lower in the final week of the month.

The Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF (NYSE: BETZ), which invests in a basket of gaming companies, meanwhile, outperformed the broader markets last month and extended its YTD gains to over 33%.

Wynn Resorts and Huya were among the major gainers last week. Meanwhile, Douyu International and Codere underperformed.

Top Gaming Stock Gainers

Wynn Resorts (NYSE: WYNN): +10.9%

Wynn Resorts was the largest gainer in our coverage of gaming stocks, with the stock adding 10.9% last week, extending its YTD gains to 47.1%.

Last week, UBS upgraded Wynn to a buy while assigning a target price of $147, the highest among sell-side analysts. The brokerage is bullish on Wynn’s upcoming resort in the UAE and is also constructive on the Macau gaming market. It expects the run-rate adjusted EBITDAM of $730 million from the UAE property, which, for context, is 16% higher than the midpoint of the company’s guidance of $625 million.

The brokerage is also bullish on Macau, a key market for Wynn, in the back half of the year. Previously, several analysts had raised Wynn’s target price following the company’s Q2 2025 earnings release in August.

Huya Inc (NYSE: HUYA): +9.1%

With gains of 9.1%, Huya was among the other notable gainers last week. The gains were in part attributable to the new strategic partnership with Kingsoft Shiyou to co-publish the mobile version of the popular social deduction game “Goose Goose Duck” in mainland China.

“This partnership signifies Huya’s strategic entry into the game publishing arena and further integration into the gaming ecosystem,” said Huya in its release.

Meanwhile, Huya has been a long-term underperformer, trading at just about one-tenth of its all-time high. It has also posted GAAP losses for three consecutive years, which has made the market apprehensive about the company’s future.

It is a penny stock with a market capitalization of less than $1 billion and is susceptible to significant price fluctuations. Investors should therefore be cautious about the stock.

Melco Resorts (NYSE: MLCO): +8.3%

Melco Resorts was among the other major gainers last week amid optimism over the Macau market. In their note, JPMorgan analysts predicted the region’s gross gaming revenues (GGR) to have risen by between 11%-14% in August to a record high.

The firm’s analysts said that they were “printing the highest non-Golden Week GGR since the pandemic, thanks to strong visitation from peak summer holidays.” JPMorgan’s note helped trigger a rise in companies like Melco and Wynn that get a significant share of revenues from Macau.

Top Gaming Stock Losers

Douyu International Holdings (NYSE: DOYU): -6.8%

Douyu International Holdings was the largest loser in our coverage of gaming stocks, with the stock shedding 6.8% last week. There wasn’t any major company-specific development last week, and the fall looks like a profit-taking exercise as the stock had soared 14.6% in the preceding week after its Q2 2025 earnings came in better-than-feared.

The company’s net revenues rose 2.1% year-over-year to $147.1 million, which was ahead of estimates. Importantly, it generated a net profit of $5.3 million in the quarter, which is a marked improvement from the $6.9 million loss in the corresponding quarter last year.

Codere Online (NYSE: CDRO): -5.1%

With losses of 5.1%, Codere Online was the second-largest loser last week, with the situation flipping from the preceding week when it was the second-largest gainer. Last week’s decline came amid choppy broader markets and also some investors took profits after the preceding week’s gains.

Robinhood Markets (NYSE: HOOD): -4.8%

Brokerage firm Robinhood, which is aggressively expanding in prediction markets, was among the other major losers last week as the shares fell 4.8%. The fall looks linked to multiple reasons. Firstly, there was some profit-taking as the stock is up almost 180% for the year.

Secondly, the broader markets looked shaky last week, which led to a sell-off in fintech names, including Robinhood.

Finally, HOOD stock was once again snubbed by the S&P Dow Jones Indices for inclusion in the S&P 500 Index. What added salt to injury was that its peer Interactive Broker was added to the world’s most popular index. Interactive Broker stock, meanwhile, gained on the announcement, as an addition to the index means that passive funds actively tracking the S&P 500 index would necessarily need to buy the shares in the same percentage as in the index.

Other Major Gaming Industry Developments

Last week, Caesars Sportsbook announced a $0.25 surcharge on all bets in Illinois starting September 1. It is the latest operator to respond to Illinois’ new per-bet tax by imposing a surcharge and joins ranks with FanDuel, DraftKings, and Fanatics that have already announced similar moves.

Some operators like ESPN Bet, BetRivers, Hard Rock Bet, BetMGM, and Circa have increased the minimum stake to offset the new Illinois tax.

Elsewhere, FanDuel announced the launch of a new peer-to-peer fantasy sports product, FanDuel Picks, which will launch in 17 states. FanDuel Sports Network also announced a partnership with VSiN to expand its sports betting content.

Looking at the global picture, Indian gaming company A23 challenged the Indian government’s blanket ban on real money games. The ban is expected to lead to job losses, and reports suggest that online gaming app Mobile Premier League (MPL) is looking to fire around 60% of its workforce. Flutter has also pulled its Junglee Games subsidiary from the Indian market in response to the ban.