Entain
The 30-Second Summary
The Bottom Line: Entain is a global gambling giant whose beaten-down stock price may be masking the enormous value of its American joint venture, BetMGM, presenting a classic value investing scenario of separating temporary market sentiment from long-term business fundamentals.
Key Takeaways:
What it is: A UK-based company that owns a portfolio of international sports betting and gaming brands (like Ladbrokes and Coral) and, crucially, a 50% stake in BetMGM, a major player in the rapidly growing US market.
Why it matters: It's a perfect case study in a
sum-of-the-parts valuation. Investors must assess two very different businesses under one roof: a stable, cash-generating international business and a high-growth, currently unprofitable US venture. The market's pessimism about regulatory issues may be creating a significant
margin_of_safety.
How to use it: By analyzing Entain, you learn to look past headline noise, value a company based on its distinct operating segments, and understand the unique risks and rewards of investing in regulated “
sin industries”.
What is Entain? A Plain English Definition
Imagine you own a large, successful chain of traditional grocery stores across Europe. They are well-known, have loyal customers, and generate a steady, predictable profit year after year. This is the core of Entain—its established brands like Ladbrokes, Coral, and bwin in the UK and other regulated markets. They are the cash cows of the business.
Now, imagine you used the profits from your European grocery stores to partner with a famous American brand to open a brand-new, high-tech, super-fast delivery grocery service across the United States. This new venture is growing incredibly fast, grabbing market share, and could one day be much bigger than your entire European operation. However, it's currently losing money because you're spending heavily on marketing and expansion to win the new territory. This is BetMGM, Entain's 50/50 joint venture with MGM Resorts International.
Entain is both of these businesses in one stock. It's a sprawling global gaming and sports betting company that operates online and through thousands of physical betting shops. While its legacy brands provide the financial muscle, the market's excitement (and anxiety) is almost entirely focused on its American gamble, BetMGM, which is racing against competitors like FanDuel and DraftKings to dominate the newly legalized US sports betting market.
“The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.” - Warren Buffett
1)
Why It Matters to a Value Investor
For a value investor, a company like Entain is a fascinating puzzle, offering several key lessons and opportunities. It's far more than just a bet on which team will win on Sunday.
The “Hidden Asset” Opportunity: The core tenet of value investing is buying something for less than its
intrinsic value. Entain's stock price has often been weighed down by issues in its mature international business, such as regulatory fines or slowing growth. A value investor's job is to ask: Is the market so focused on these problems that it's completely mispricing, or even getting for free, the massive growth potential of the BetMGM stake? This is a classic “sum-of-the-parts” situation, where the whole may be worth far more than the current stock price suggests.
Learning to Navigate Mr. Market's Mood Swings: The gambling industry is prone to negative headlines—new taxes, advertising bans, problem gambling concerns. These headlines can cause
Mr. Market to panic and sell off stocks like Entain indiscriminately. The disciplined value investor sees this not as a risk, but as a potential opportunity. It allows one to buy a piece of a durable, cash-generating business at a price dictated by fear rather than by a rational assessment of its long-term earnings power.
Analyzing a Competitive Moat in a Tough Industry: While highly competitive, the gambling industry has significant barriers to entry. Getting licensed is an expensive and complex process, creating a regulatory
moat. Furthermore, brands like Ladbrokes have been around for over a century, building a level of trust and name recognition that a new entrant can't easily replicate. In the US, BetMGM's partnership with MGM Resorts gives it a powerful, built-in customer acquisition channel that its online-only rivals lack. A value investor must assess the durability of these moats against the competitive onslaught.
A Masterclass in Capital Allocation: How does management use the cash generated by the stable UK/EU business? Are they reinvesting it wisely into the high-return US opportunity? Are they paying down debt? Are they buying back stock when it's cheap? Watching Entain's management is a real-world lesson in
capital_allocation, arguably the most important job of a CEO. Their decisions will determine whether the company's intrinsic value grows over time.
How to Analyze Entain from a Value Perspective
Because Entain is essentially two different businesses, a simple Price-to-Earnings ratio won't tell you the whole story. The best method is a Sum-of-the-Parts (SOTP) analysis. This is like valuing the European grocery chain and the American tech startup separately, and then adding them together to see what the combined company should be worth.
The Method: A Sum-of-the-Parts (SOTP) Approach
Here is a simplified, step-by-step guide to building a basic SOTP valuation for Entain.
Step 1: Isolate the Segments.
Mentally split the company into two main buckets:
Entain Core: All operations outside the US joint venture. This includes the profitable online and retail businesses in the UK, Europe, and Australia.
BetMGM Stake: Entain's 50% ownership of the US business.
Step 2: Value the “Cash Cow” (Entain Core).
This segment is mature and profitable. A good way to value it is by using an Enterprise Value to EBITDA multiple 2). You would look at the EBITDA generated by this core business and apply a conservative multiple, say 7x-9x, based on what similar, stable gaming companies trade for.
Step 3: Value the “Growth Engine” (BetMGM).
BetMGM is in a high-growth phase and isn't profitable yet, so an earnings or EBITDA multiple makes no sense. Instead, analysts value it based on its revenue, using a Price-to-Sales (P/S) multiple. You would look at the valuation of competitors like DraftKings to get a sense of an appropriate multiple (e.g., 2x-4x sales). Remember, Entain only owns 50%.
Step 4: Assemble the Pieces and Account for Debt.
Now, you add your two values together to get a total Enterprise Value. But we're not done. To get to the Equity Value (the value available to shareholders), you must subtract the company's net debt.
Step 5: Calculate Per-Share Value and Margin of Safety.
Finally, divide the Total Equity Value by the number of shares outstanding. This gives you your estimated intrinsic value per share.
If your calculation results in a value of £15 per share and the stock is trading at £8, you have a substantial margin_of_safety.
Interpreting the Findings
The result of an SOTP analysis is not a magic number; it's an estimate heavily dependent on the multiples you choose. A rational investor should always use conservative assumptions.
What a “High” SOTP Value Means: If your calculated intrinsic value is significantly higher than the current market price, it suggests the market is overly pessimistic. It might be undervaluing the growth of BetMGM, over-punishing the core business for regulatory fears, or both. This is the green light for a value investor to dig deeper.
The Key Pitfall: The biggest trap is being too aggressive with your multiples, especially for the high-growth BetMGM segment. The US market is intensely competitive, and its future profitability is not guaranteed. Using a conservative revenue multiple for BetMGM is a key part of building in a margin of safety. Stress-test your assumptions: what if the multiple is 2x sales instead of 4x? Does the investment still look attractive?
A Practical Example: The "Back-of-the-Envelope" SOTP
Let's use some hypothetical, simplified numbers to see how this works in practice. Assume all figures are in British Pounds (£) for simplicity.
| Component | Calculation | Value (£ billion) |
| Entain Core Value | £1.1 billion in EBITDA x 8.0x multiple | £8.8 |
| BetMGM Total Value | £1.6 billion in Revenue x 3.0x multiple | £4.8 |
| Entain's 50% Stake | £4.8 billion x 50% | £2.4 |
| Total Enterprise Value | £8.8 billion (Core) + £2.4 billion (BetMGM Stake) | £11.2 |
| Subtract Net Debt | | -£2.7 |
| Total Equity Value | £11.2 billion - £2.7 billion | £8.5 |
Now, let's assume Entain has 600 million shares outstanding.
If, when you did this analysis, Entain's stock was trading at £8.00 per share, your “back-of-the-envelope” work would suggest the stock is trading at a discount of over 40% to a conservative estimate of its intrinsic value. This is a significant margin_of_safety and would warrant a much deeper investigation.
Investment Thesis: The Bull vs. Bear Case
No investment is a sure thing. A thorough analysis requires understanding both the optimistic and pessimistic scenarios.
The Bull Case (Reasons to Be Optimistic)
Deeply Undervalued US Asset: The primary bull argument is that the market is assigning little to no value to the BetMGM stake. As BetMGM moves towards profitability, its true value will become undeniable, forcing a re-rating of the stock.
Cash-Generative Core Business: The international business is a powerful cash machine that funds investment in the US and provides a stable floor for the valuation.
Scale and Diversification: Entain is not a one-trick pony. Its geographic and product diversification makes it more resilient than many of its competitors.
M&A Potential: Entain has been a takeover target in the past (from MGM and DraftKings). This suggests that industry insiders see the company as strategically valuable and likely undervalued, providing another potential catalyst for shareholder returns.
The Bear Case & Common Pitfalls (Reasons for Caution)
Regulatory Armageddon: This is the number one risk. A major crackdown in a key market like the UK (e.g., severe betting stake limits, advertising bans) could permanently impair the earnings power of the core business.
Brutal US Competition: The path to profitability for BetMGM is not guaranteed. It is locked in a costly battle for market share with formidable, well-funded rivals. A prolonged price war could drain cash for years.
Debt Burden: While manageable, Entain carries a significant amount of debt. In a rising interest rate environment or a business downturn, this leverage increases financial risk.
Execution and Governance: The company has faced leadership changes and has been fined for compliance failures in the past. Investors must be confident that the current management team can execute its strategy flawlessly and maintain a strong compliance culture.