Draftkings Enjoys Stock Bounce After Positive Second Quarter

The stock price of DraftKings rose by as much as 15% after the announcement of positive second quarter figures. While the value of DKNH stock settled down to just a 6% increase by the end of trading on Friday, it still marks yet another success period for the sports betting brand.

The total DraftKings earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation was $73 million from the second quarter of 2023. It marks the first time that DraftKings have released a quarterly report without a loss, and the second-quarter revenue of $875 million was up 88% compared to the same quarter in 2022.

The brand also released an improved end-of-year guidance summary. This means that fourth quarter revenues for the sports betting brand are expected to be nearly $1.2 billion.

DraftKings is expected to have a loss in the third quarter of 2023 due to the launch of its Kentucky sportsbook as well as the release of a host of new promotions to coincide with the start of the NFL season.

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What’s behind DraftKings newfound profitability

DraftKings CEO, Jason Robins, said that much of the revenue growth was down to the brand’s, ‘focus on operational efficiency.’ However, it was the impressive performances in some of the brand’s oldest states that was behind much of the revenue bump.

While DraftKings has been quick to enter new markets, those states where DraftKings was operating in in 2018 and 2019 saw an increase of around 80% in revenues. While there was a 10% drop in marketing spend in these states, the total number of unique customers actually grew by 25% in the ‘vintage’ states.

What next for DraftKings?

One thing is for sure and this is that DraftKings is growing at an impressive rate. The brand enjoyed a 35% share of the online sports betting handle and 32% of the gross gaming revenue in the second quarter of 2023. This marked its best figures in these areas since the second quarter of 2020.

DraftKings is showing no signs of taking it easy despite the hugely impressive figures. The brand has stepped up its commitment to build live same-game parlays for a variety of sporting events ranging from the MLB, NFL and NBA to college sports. DraftKings also added live betting for other sports such as tennis and golf in the second quarter.

However, there could be even bigger plans afoot. DraftKings offered $195 million to purchase the US operations of PointsBet, despite eventually being outbid by Fanatics. As a result, there remains speculation about what further acquisitions DraftKings could be making as it aims to strengthen its hold on the US sports betting market.

While Robins was tight-lipped about such speculation, the fact that DraftKings is launching in Kentucky as well as Puerto Rico in the third quarter shows that this brand is not going to be relying on just its vintage states. All of this means that big things could be expected from this huge sports betting brand throughout the remainder of the year.