{
  "id": 16832163,
  "title": "Stifel’s surprise gaming pick leads a sector bracing for a choppy earnings season",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/28/stifels-surprise-gaming-pick-leads-a-sector-bracing-for-a-choppy",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-28T02:09:18.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Investing.com",
    "slug": "investing-com",
    "url": "https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/stifels-surprise-gaming-pick-leads-a-sector-bracing-for-a-choppy-earnings-season-4977382"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Investors are closely watching Stifel's recommendation for Flutter Entertainment (F:PPB), the top pick ahead of the company's third-quarter earnings. While Flutter faces potential challenges from unfavorable sports results and regulatory uncertainty, improving U.S. betting trends and a wider valuation discount compared to DraftKings present opportunities. Stifel lowered its price target for Flutter from $133 to $125, anticipating a 7% miss in third-quarter adjusted EBITDA due to unfavorable sports outcomes and Flutter's exit from Brazil. However, FanDuel's U.S. sports betting handle is growing at a 10% year-over-year rate, outpacing the 5% growth expected by analysts. Additionally, Flutter's promotional spending has decreased relative to handle, suggesting potential market-share gains without increased spending. Stifel's valuation discount to DraftKings has widened to around 40% based on projected 2027 EBITDA, making it the preferred stock among the two into earnings.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [
    "Stifel named Flutter Entertainment as top gaming pick ahead of earnings.",
    "Flutter faces challenges from unfavorable sports results and regulatory issues.",
    "FanDuel's U.S. sports betting handle grows 10% YoY, outpacing analysts' 5% forecast."
  ],
  "editors_take": "Prioritizing Flutter over DraftKings suggests that investors are increasingly valuing efficient market share gains and lower promotional spending over pure growth during a period of regulatory and earnings uncertainty.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}