The American economy is quickly returning to normal. One of the groups that will thrive are casinos. Here are three lesser-known gambling stocks to consider buying: International Game Technology (NYSE:IGT), Scientific Games Corp. (NASDAQ:SGMS), and Accel Entertainment (NYSE:ACEL).The American economy gradually returns to normal as coronavirus case counts dwindle and vaccinations steadily increase. One of the biggest beneficiaries of this will be the travel and tourism industry which had largely been off-line until a couple of months ago.
Already, there is a rapid recovery in TSA’s Travel Tracker which is showing that the number of people passing through TSA checkpoints is now at 67% of 2019 levels. In contrast at the same time last year, it was at 13% of 2019 levels. Another metric showing similar improvement is miles driven. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics shows that miles driven (seasonally adjusted) are now back to pre-coronavirus levels in the US.
Given that many Americans have put off traveling and vacations for more than a year, we are likely to see massive pent-up demand well into 2022. Among the different groups within the travel and tourism sectors, casinos will certainly benefit as they are destinations for gambling, nightlife, concerts, and dining out. However, I’m more intrigued by the lesser-known gambling stocks that make and maintain the various games and machines that populate a casino. These include International Game Technology (IGT), Scientific Games Corp. (SGMS), and Accel Entertainment (ACEL).