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How is it Going for an iGaming Giant?

by Jason Smith

How is it Going for an iGaming Giant?

In such a young, ever-changing, volatile market as gambling, especially online gambling, very few companies have managed to remain competitive over the years. International Game Technology PLC (IGT) is one of them. Established back in 1990, the gambling giant has been leading the global gambling entertainment industry for a few decades and established itself as an innovative business catering cutting-edge solutions – slot machines, video poker, progressive games, skill games, and so on – across continents.

However, just like any business in the world, IGT is not deprived of rises and falls. And if you look at the IGT stock price at the New York Stock Exchange, it becomes clear that it is going through one of the most challenging periods in its history. But in no case should you quit before you get the hang of the current situation (not financial advice).

IGT Stock Price History and Rising Concerns

Whether the stock price reflects the state of affairs with the company is up to the market to decide, but let’s have a glance at the facts:

  • The all-time high of the stock – about $48 – was reached in January 2007 and February 2008, which was followed by a whopping decline to about $8.5 towards the end of the year.
  • The ongoing decade-long recovery to the previous price range eventually led to another sharp decline in price leading the stock to modest $3.79 in March 2020, which in turn has been followed by a recovery period lasting up to the day.

Without any shade of doubt – especially if you look at the stock price – the most successful time period for the company dated July 2002 – March 2004, when the IGT stock price soared from about $13 to the all-time high. And if you ask several people about the reasons behind this price behaviour, you’ll probably get two different opinions. However, a viable thought – and here we should keep in mind that the lion’s share of IGT profits are extracted from land-based gambling even despite the fact that, thanks to deep customer intelligence, IGT casino games are presented in multiple styles and genres to satisfy players’ tastes – is that the boom of IGT price and the further long-lasting decline is caused by the overall state of the gambling market, namely a boom of brick-and-mortar casinos at the first decade of the XXI century and further strong competition offered by online games of chance.

To add to that, there’s an opinion – and we take no sides here – that IGT is currently stock in a kind of ‘bona fide Ponzi scheme,’ that is that the company continuously pays off old bondholders with proceeds from new debts. And, according to this opinion, once the flow of new investors – which are mostly banks – dries off, the company will have a super hard time.

With all that said, what’s in the future for IGT?

Though no one has a crystal ball to predict the future, especially considering the effect of the latest well-known events on the gambling industry, there are a few sparks of positivity worth mentioning.

  • First of all, IGT is rolling out a cashless gaming service in Sweden at Svenska Spel Venues to allow gamblers playing at video lottery terminals to deposit funds from their mobile devices, by virtue of the IGTPay technology. Punters will be able to top up their accounts using BankID as well as make instant withdrawals via IGTPay.
  • Secondly, following its recent bet on sports betting, IGT is going to power retail and mobile sports at Wild Card Saloon and Sasquatch casino in Black Hawk, Colorado.

However, whether the recent sparks of expansion will stoke the fire of success for IGT or just become the final embers of fading, an average gambler has very little to do with that. Instead, one might as well come and try a few online games of IGT to get firsthand experience from the finest developments of the brand.

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