FanDuel Parent Flutter Applies to Trade on the NYSE. Look Out DraftKings.

Flutter announced on Thursday that the company has applied to the Securities and Exchange Commission to list shares on the NYSE in its first quarter of fiscal 2024.

“We are making good progress toward our U.S. listing which will bring the Group significant benefits from accessing the world’s deepest and most liquid capital markets,” CEO Peter Jackson said in the earnings release on Thursday.

In an interview with Barron’s before the time frame of the U.S. listing was announced, Jackson said that the company wanted to make trading Flutter shares available to the U.S. retail consumer, so people who like to bet on FanDuel can also easily buy and trade the stock.

“When we talk to U.S. investors, what they’ll say to us is, ‘if you have your stock listed here, it’s easier for us to take a position in the business than it is in Europe,’” Jackson said.

Currently, there aren’t a lot of options for U.S. traders to invest in online sports betting companies.
Penn Entertainment
(PENN) sold Barstool Sports back to founder Dave Portnoy over the summer. And while
Walt Disney’s
(DIS) ESPN unit sold the ESPN trademark to Penn, and gambling companies
Caesars Entertainment
(CZR) and
MGM Resorts International
(MGM) have their own sportsbooks, the market leaders for U.S. online sports betting are Flutter and
DraftKings
(DKNG).

Both Flutter and DraftKings are constantly battling it out for market-share leadership. DraftKings said on a Nov. 3 third-quarter conference call that it achieved the number-one combined online sports betting and iGaming gross gaming revenue share in the U.S. On Flutter’s third-quarter conference call on Thursday, Jackson said that FanDuel is the fastest-growing gaming brand, and is now the number two in the U.S. market.

DraftKings did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DraftKings stock is having an incredible year. The stock has gained 208% so far in 2023. Monthly unique players jumped 40% in the third quarter from a year ago, with average revenue per monthly unique players also rising.

On the other hand, Flutter, which has a broader global business outside of FanDuel, has seen its stock gain 9% so far in 2023, including a 10% tumble on Thursday, its largest percentage decrease since March 2022, when Flutter shares tumbled after the company announced that full-year profits fell from the prior year despite an increase in revenue.

Flutter reported third-quarter revenue of £2.04 billion that came in below Wall Street expectations of £2.18 billion amid weakness in international segments, specifically in Australia. However, U.S. revenue and monthly users gained, showing strength in the FanDuel product.

“Shares are likely to be weaker near-term as results/revisions are fully digested, though at the current valuation the setup appears intriguing, based on expected sequential improvement in FanDuel performance and an attractive medium-term outlook for the U.S. operation,” BTIG analyst Clark Lampen wrote on Thursday. Lampen rates Flutter ADRs at Buy with a £177 price target.

Lampen added that Flutter’s NYSE listing should translate into rising investor interest, and better share-price performance over the next several quarters.

Write to Angela Palumbo at [email protected]