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Best Casino Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top casino stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best casino stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best casino stocks to buy right now are:

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) is the #1 top casino stock out of 18 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) has a Due Diligence Score of 30, which is 4 points higher than the casino industry average of 26.

MLCO passed 12 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Melco Resorts & Entertainment has seen its stock return 30.74% over the past year, overperforming other casino stocks by 33 percentage points.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment has an average 1 year price target of $10.93, an upside of 44.32% from Melco Resorts & Entertainment's current stock price of $7.57.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Melco Resorts & Entertainment, 75% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 25% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) is the #2 top casino stock out of 18 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) has a Due Diligence Score of 35, which is 9 points higher than the casino industry average of 26.

LVS passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Las Vegas Sands has seen its stock return 26.73% over the past year, overperforming other casino stocks by 29 percentage points.

Las Vegas Sands has an average 1 year price target of $67.08, an upside of 3.06% from Las Vegas Sands's current stock price of $65.09.

Las Vegas Sands stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 12 analysts covering Las Vegas Sands, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 16.67% have issued a Buy, 33.33% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) is the #3 top casino stock out of 18 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +7.53% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) is: Value: B, Growth: D, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) has a Due Diligence Score of 58, which is 32 points higher than the casino industry average of 26.

MCRI passed 22 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Monarch Casino & Resort has seen its stock return 21.29% over the past year, overperforming other casino stocks by 23 percentage points.

Monarch Casino & Resort has an average 1 year price target of $102.67, an upside of 7.28% from Monarch Casino & Resort's current stock price of $95.70.

Monarch Casino & Resort stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Monarch Casino & Resort, 33.33% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 66.67% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 9 casino stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 casino stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Marriott Vacations Worldwide (NYSE:VAC) has an annual dividend yield of 5.49%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the casino industry average of 2.57%. Marriott Vacations Worldwide's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Marriott Vacations Worldwide's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide's dividend payout ratio of 64.1% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) has an annual dividend yield of 5.02%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the casino industry average of 2.57%. Vail Resorts's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Vail Resorts's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Vail Resorts's dividend payout ratio of 126.9% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Golden Entertainment (NASDAQ:GDEN) has an annual dividend yield of 3.68%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the casino industry average of 2.57%.

Golden Entertainment's dividend payout ratio of 454.5% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Casino stocks were down -0.52% in the last day, and down -2.13% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why casino stocks are down.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued casino stocks right now are:

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) is the most undervalued casino stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Boyd Gaming has a valuation score of 43, which is 10 points higher than the casino industry average of 33. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Boyd Gaming's stock has gained 17.51% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the casino industry by 19 percentage points.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) is the second most undervalued casino stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment has a valuation score of 57, which is 24 points higher than the casino industry average of 33. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment's stock has gained 30.74% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the casino industry by 33 percentage points.

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) is the third most undervalued casino stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Monarch Casino & Resort has a valuation score of 86, which is 53 points higher than the casino industry average of 33. It passed 6 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Monarch Casino & Resort's stock has gained 21.29% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the casino industry by 23 percentage points.

56.25% of casino stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect casino stocks to rise by 15.84% over the next year.

0% of casino stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 13.33% of casino stocks are rated B (Buy), 60% are rated C (Hold), 26.67% are rated D (Sell), and 0% are rated F (Strong Sell).