Why Penn National Gaming Stock Popped Nearly 15% on Sept. 1

Shares of casino operator Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ: PENN) jumped as much as 15% in the first hour of trading on Wall Street today. At this point the stock is up nearly 130% for the year, compared with just a 10% or so gain for the S&P 500 index. Although there was no material news out of the company, a positive analyst call further stoked investor excitement.

Operating a casino in the age of COVID-19 has not been particularly easy. First the government shut down nonessential businesses, which logically included gaming facilities like the ones run by Penn National. Then, when casinos were allowed to reopen, they did so with increased cleaning protocols and occupancy limits. In other words, Penn National and its peers were facing higher costs and lower revenue. So it might be surprising to see that Penn National has outperformed the market by such a wide margin, which is an anomaly in the gaming space. That, however, is likely being driven by the company's move into digital gaming.

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Source Fool.com