To say that Amaya Inc. (TSX:AYA)(NASDAQ:AYA) has had an unusual 2016 would be an understatement. The company has been through legal cases, appeals, and has had to deal with the recent ousting of the company CEO.
You might think that this would cause some volatility in the stock, and it has to some extent, but investors seem to be more interested in the stellar results that the company has been reporting.
Growth in numbers
Amaya recently announced that customer registrations were up in the first quarter by approximately 2.5 million to 102 million. These increased registrations helped the company report impressive results for the quarter.
In the most recent quarter, Amaya posted a 6% year-over-year increase in revenue to $288.7 million. Net earnings from operations came in at $55.5 million, or $0.28 per share, a significant increase over the $23.2 million, or $0.12 per share, that was posted last year.
What’s interesting is that despite the appeal case in a Kentucky court and the accusations of insider trading on former CEO David Baazov, the company remains a great investment option that is seeing incredible growth year over year.
Even more impressive is how the company is forging ahead with new markets and opportunities.
New market opportunities
One of the things that really impresses me about Amaya is its ability to capitalize on events in such a way that could lead to greater revenues.
Given the increase in popularity of Amaya’s poker platform, the company continues to expand into new markets, gaining the necessary regulatory approvals to operate in other jurisdictions. Amaya noted that expansion into Portugal is slated for the second half of the year, and it could possibly expand into other markets such as Russia.
Next month one of the largest sporting events of the year kicks off in France; the best soccer teams in Europe will square off in the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament.
Amaya is looking expand the BetStars sporting betting brand in both France and Italy within the next few weeks before the event starts. Amaya commented that a launch in Italy is imminent, and the company is working with the French regulator to get the service launched there, too.
April of this year was the first full month Amaya operated in New Jersey, and the company did not disappoint. Amaya noted that PokerStars was responsible for 46% of the online revenue stemming from New Jersey. If this is any indication of other markets where regulatory approvals are still pending, the opportunity for investing in Amaya is massive.
In my opinion, Amaya remains one of the best opportunities on the market for those investors looking for a tech stock that shows incredible growth prospects.
