Earnings Call
Red Rock Resorts, Inc. (RRR)
Earnings Call Transcript - RRR Q1 2026
Operator, Operator
Good day, and welcome to the Red Rock Resorts First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. The operator will now provide instructions. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Red Rock Resorts. Please go ahead.
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for Red Rock Resorts First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Joining me on the call today are Frank Fertitta, Lorenzo Fertitta, Scott Kreeger and our executive management team. I'd like to remind everyone that our call today will include forward-looking statements under the safe harbor provisions of the United States federal securities laws. Developments and results may differ from those projected. During this call, we will also discuss non-GAAP financial measures. For definitions and complete reconciliation of these figures to GAAP, please refer to the financial tables in our earnings press release, Form 8-K and investor deck, which were filed this afternoon prior to the call. Also, please note this call is being recorded. Let's start by noting that the first quarter represented another strong quarter for the company across all key measures. Our Las Vegas operations delivered the highest first quarter net revenue and the second highest first quarter adjusted EBITDA in our history while maintaining near-record adjusted EBITDA margin. This performance was achieved despite several headwinds later in the quarter including higher gas prices, air travel-related disruption and temporary construction impacts at and around several of our properties, underscoring the strength and resilience of our business model. In addition to delivering strong first quarter results, we remain very pleased with Durango's performance and the successful revenue backfill at our core properties. Durango continues to expand in the Las Vegas locals market and drive incremental play from our existing customers, reinforcing its position as a meaningful growth driver in our portfolio. Since completing our December expansion, adding more than 25,000 square feet of casino space, the premier high-limit slot area, and nearly 2,000 additional covered parking spaces, we've continued to see strong financial performance alongside positive guest feedback. With more than four months of operating history for the new high-limit slot area, results continue to validate our strategy of investing in premium slot and table offerings across our portfolio. Building on Durango's momentum, we continue to advance the next phase of the property's master plan, the Durango North expansion. With more than 6,000 new households expected within a 3-mile radius over the next few years, this expansion is designed to broaden Durango's customer appeal and strengthen its competitive position. The project will add more than 275,000 square feet on the north side of the property, including nearly 400 additional slot machines and other gaming along with new amenities to drive repeat visitation, highlighted by a 36-lane bowling facility, luxury movie theaters and new dining and entertainment venues, including our partnership with Moonshine Flats, which brings its signature country western bar and live music concept to Las Vegas for the first time. The project is scheduled to open in the summer of 2027 with a total cost estimated at approximately $385 million. Now let's take a look at our first quarter. With respect to our Las Vegas operations, our first quarter net revenue was $499.5 million, up 0.9% from the prior year's first quarter. Our adjusted EBITDA was $232.4 million, down 1.5% from the prior year's first quarter. Our adjusted EBITDA margin was 46.5%, a decrease of 113 basis points from the prior year. On a consolidated basis, our first quarter net revenue, which includes $4.7 million from our North Fork project, was $507.3 million, up 1.9% from the prior year's first quarter. Our adjusted EBITDA, which includes $2.9 million from our North Fork project, was $212.6 million, down 1.2% from the prior year's first quarter. Our adjusted EBITDA margin was 41.9% for the quarter, a decrease of 129 basis points from the prior year. In the quarter, we converted 50.3% of our adjusted EBITDA into operating free cash flow, generating $107 million or $1.03 per share. The significant level of free cash flow was strategically deployed to support our long-term growth initiatives, including our most recent projects at Durango, Sunset Station and Green Valley Ranch and returning capital to our stakeholders through dividends and share repurchases. As we begin 2026, we remain focused on our core local guests, which continue to grow our regional and national customer segments across our portfolio. Compared to first quarter last year, we saw continued strength in certain slot play across the majority of our database; robust spend per visit and net theoretical win across our local, regional and national customer segments helped drive the highest first quarter gaming revenue and profitability in the company's history. Turning to our non-gaming operations. Both the hotel and food and beverage divisions delivered a strong quarter, achieving near-record revenue and profitability. The hotel operations performed well, generating near-record results, driving higher ADR across the portfolio despite the loss of room nights at Green Valley Ranch due to the renovation of our hotel product. Not to be outdone, the Food & Beverage division delivered its second best first quarter revenue in our history and its third best first quarter profit in our history, supported by higher cover counts and higher average guest checks across our outlets. In group sales and catering, our teams delivered their third highest first quarter revenue in our history. And if we exclude the lost room nights from our Green Valley Ranch room renovation, we continue to see positive momentum into the first half of 2026. As we look ahead into the second quarter, we are seeing stable trends in our core slot and table business across the Las Vegas locals market and within our database, consistent with a return to more typical seasonal patterns, but we do expect continued near-term disruption from our ongoing construction at and around Durango, Sunset Station and Green Valley Ranch, and we're actively managing these impacts to minimize operational disruption. We remain highly confident in both the strength of our business and the investments we are making at these properties, which we believe support our long-term growth trajectory. Now let's cover a few balance sheet and capital items. The company's cash and cash equivalents at the end of the first quarter was $134 million, and the total principal amount of debt outstanding was $3.6 billion, resulting in net debt of $3.4 billion. As of the end of the quarter, the company's net debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 4.07x. During the quarter, we made total distributions of approximately $139.9 million to the LLC unitholders of Station Holdco, including a distribution of approximately $82.1 million to Red Rock Resorts. The company used its portion of the distribution to fund its previously declared special dividend of $1 per Class A common share, its previously declared quarterly dividend of $0.26 per Class A common share and to fund a portion of the repurchase of approximately 635,000 Class A common shares at an average price of $6.32 per share under its previously announced $900 million share repurchase program, reducing total shares outstanding to approximately 104.4 million. When combining the dividends and the share repurchases made in the quarter, we returned approximately $170.5 million to shareholders, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to disciplined capital allocation and delivering sustainable long-term value to our shareholders. Capital spend in the quarter was $117.2 million which includes approximately $87.2 million in investment capital as well as $30 million in maintenance capital. For the full year 2026, we expect to spend between $375 million and $425 million, which includes $275 million to $300 million in investment capital as well as $100 million to $125 million in maintenance capital. In addition to our continued investment at our Durango property, we're making significant investments at our Sunset Station and Green Valley Ranch properties. At Sunset Station, we continue to make strong progress on the podium refresh. The $53 million renovation is well underway and includes an all-new country western bar nightclub, a new Mexican restaurant, a new center bar and a fully renovated casino floor. Customer feedback and performance from the completed portion of this project have been encouraging, reinforcing our confidence in the direction of the renovation and the underlying demand at the property. The project remains on budget with the remaining amenities expected to come online throughout 2026, including the iconic Gaudi bar, which is expected to reopen in the coming weeks. Building on this momentum, we are advancing the next phase of Sunset Station designed to further strengthen the property's competitive position and broaden its customer appeal, positioning it to capitalize on the continued growth in the Henderson market, particularly from the master planned communities of Skye and Cadence. This phase will continue with the comprehensive casino refresh, including the expansion and enhancement of the movie theaters as well as the relocation of the temporary bingo area to a new permanent location. Upon completion of the bingo relocation, the former buffet space will be converted into a new Highland steakhouse and the high-limit table games room, leveraging a proven strategy that has consistently generated strong returns across our portfolio. Work in this space is expected to begin this quarter with the remainder of the project commencing in the back half of 2026 and extending into 2027. The total cost of this phase remains approximately $87 million. At Green Valley Ranch, we continue to make strong progress on the comprehensive refresh of our guestrooms, suites and convention spaces, aligning the hotel experience with the recently renovated and well-received high-limit table and slot rooms at the property. Renovations to the West Tower and convention spaces are now complete, and both the tower and convention areas have reopened to strong customer reviews and encouraging financial performance despite ongoing property disruption. Renovations to the East Tower are well underway and are expected to extend into late summer 2026. Continuing with Green Valley Ranch's long-term redevelopment strategy, we're advancing the next phase of enhancements of this resort. This phase is designed to further strengthen the property's competitive position as one of the premier resort destinations in Las Vegas and broaden its customer appeal through a fully refreshed casino floor, along with upgraded food and beverage and entertainment offerings. These enhancements build on the performance we are seeing from the high-limit product and the renovated room and convention inventory and our intent to drive increased visitation and deeper customer engagement. Work in the space is underway and is expected to extend into 2027 with the total cost of this phase estimated at approximately $56 million. Turning to North Fork. Construction continues to progress. The facility now has permanent power, and we're working toward turnover of the first phase of the casino floor in late June, keeping us on pace for an early fourth quarter 2026 open. Total all-in project cost remains approximately $750 million and the project is fully financed. As of the end of this quarter, Red Rock's outstanding note balance due from the Tribe was approximately $80.6 million. We remain excited about this best-in-class development and are pleased with the continued progress of construction and look forward to providing further updates on future earnings calls. The company's Board of Directors has also declared its regular cash dividend of $0.26 per Class A common share, payable on June 30 to Class A shareholders of record as of June 15. With the first quarter behind us, we remain highly confident in the strength and resilience of our business model, as well as in the recent capital investments we have made across the portfolio. Durango continues to validate our long-term growth strategy and underscores the value of our owned development pipeline and real estate bank which includes more than 450 acres of developable land in highly desirable locations across the Las Vegas Valley. Combined with our portfolio of best-in-class assets in premier locations, this pipeline positions us for significant long-term growth and enables us to capitalize on the favorable demographic trends and high barriers to entry that define the Las Vegas locals market. Looking ahead, we remain focused on executing our development pipeline, maintaining operational discipline and delivering enhanced shareholder returns through a balanced, consistent and disciplined capital allocation strategy. Before we wrap up, we'd like to sincerely thank all of our team members for their continued hard work and dedication. They are the heart of the company and the driving force behind the exceptional guest experiences that keep our customers coming back time and again. In recognition for their efforts, we are proud to share that Station Casinos has been recognized by Forbes and Statista as one of America's Best Large Employers in 2026. We are also proud to have been recognized for the sixth consecutive year as a Top Workplace in Nevada. In addition, we've earned national recognition as a USA TODAY Top Workplace for the third consecutive year and for the first time as a top workplace in the hospitality industry. Lastly, as we approach our 50th anniversary, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to our loyal guests for their unwavering support. We are deeply thankful for the trust they place in us and look forward to continuing to serve our communities for many years to come. With that, operator, we'd be happy to open the line for questions.
Operator, Operator
And our first question for today will come from Trey Bowers with Wells Fargo.
Zachary Silverberg, Analyst (Wells Fargo, filling in for Trey Bowers)
This is Zach Silverberg here filling in for Trey. In your prepared remarks, you mentioned a couple of headwinds. I'd like to touch on the first two, the higher gas prices and air travel. Could you quantify those two buckets—what the impact was in 1Q and what you're seeing in 2Q thus far?
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
I can qualify—clearly, we're experiencing higher gas prices in Nevada. I think we're in early days. Judged by our Q1 performance and what we're seeing in April, we've seen no impact from higher gas prices. And what was the second one, Zach?
Zachary Silverberg, Analyst (Wells Fargo, filling in for Trey Bowers)
The air travel?
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
On the air travel, given the fact that while 87% of our hotel guests are generally out-of-town, the majority of these folks are driving from the regional states. So the TSA impact has been de minimis.
Zachary Silverberg, Analyst (Wells Fargo, filling in for Trey Bowers)
Okay. And just—I appreciate the color. And just for the follow-up, just on seasonality from 1Q to 2Q. Could you remind us of the typical cadence? And are there any one-timers to call out either last year or this year that could affect performance?
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Yes, sure. Generally, seasonality—Q1 is definitely our peak quarter. Moving from Q1 to Q2, generally we're down 8% to 9%. On one-timers, there's no real one-timers other than the $9 million disruption number that we've previously quoted on our last call, which still stands. Given some of the construction delays we're seeing at Green Valley, we're expecting another $9 million of disruption to occur in Q2. And then as we start bringing cranes, cement trucks and start erecting steel at our Durango site, we're anticipating another $2 million to $3 million of disruption starting next quarter.
Operator, Operator
Your next question will come from Barry Jonas with Truist Securities.
Barry Jonas, Analyst (Truist Securities)
Steve, just wanted to follow up on Durango. Obviously, you got a new slide in the deck somewhat detailing and there's a great video there, too. I was just curious—the projects in the vicinity go through July of '27. How should we be thinking about disruption between now and then beyond what you outlined for next quarter?
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Sure. As you saw from the video and from the map, we did experience significant traffic disruption in the first quarter. The team on the ground did an exceptional job managing through that disruption. This is early days in a $385 million construction project. Now we start beginning the heavy lift: the cement has effectively been poured, we're starting to mobilize cranes early this quarter and we're going to start erecting steel. So this is why we're expecting a bit more significant disruption as we go through the main pour part of the build. The $2 million to $3 million estimate for disruption sticks pretty much through the summer to the completion of the project.
Barry Jonas, Analyst (Truist Securities)
Understood. And just for a follow-up, tax refunds are sort of kicking in now. Curious if that's showing in your business at all, especially with changes in tax treatment on tips and some of the other positives in the recent tax legislation?
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Barry, I think the tax changes did have the intended consequence of providing more discretionary income into the economy. Return processing was pretty consistent, and refunds this year versus last year were up about $43 billion to the United States economy, up 17%. The average refund was up almost $333, or 11%. So from our perspective, where there's a lot of moving parts in the quarter, we clearly demonstrated a great quarter in Q1, our second best Q1 on record. And what we're seeing in April, we like what we're seeing in April.
Operator, Operator
Your next question will come from Joe Stauff with Susquehanna.
Joseph Stauff, Analyst (Susquehanna)
Steve, on your comments about, say, the new phases at Sunset Station and Green Valley Ranch, I was just wondering what the update is on the greenfield project and how you think about maybe when those might layer in at this point?
Lorenzo Fertitta, Executive (Co-Founder/Director)
I want to comment on Suncoast.
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
On Sunset and Green Valley, Joe, as I articulated in the remarks, we are progressing well. We are going to open the Gaudi Bar in the coming weeks and then we expect the rest of the amenities in this phase to open up throughout 2026. In terms of Green Valley, the West Tower and the convention center have been open, and we have seen very promising financial results, even though they're early days. The East Tower is progressing and we're expecting the final rooms to be delivered in mid-September.
Lorenzo Fertitta, Executive (Co-Founder/Director)
We're continuing to work through the pipeline that we have. We're currently working on the potential to add rooms at Durango—rooms, spa, additional meeting space. In addition to that, we're actively working on two additional new greenfield projects, going through the process of working on the plans, the scale of the project, and pricing. As that process goes, it's really not something you can necessarily rush. There are times when we go through it and we sit back down and start over again because it's not perfect. We are making progress, and we don't have anything to announce now or necessarily in the very near future. But as we turn the corner into next year, I think we'll have more visibility into what the development plan is going to look like. We do have six development properties here in Las Vegas, plus one up in Reno for a total of seven, which we believe is the most robust pipeline anybody has in the gaming industry. So we're very bullish on it. We just want to make sure we get things right. It takes time to develop these projects.
Operator, Operator
Next question will come from Dan Politzer with JPMorgan.
Daniel Politzer, Analyst (JPMorgan)
It's been a few months since you opened the new part of Durango. Can you talk about what you've seen there and how you're thinking about the returns? I know it's still relatively early, but at this point, you should have a good idea of how that's progressing.
Scott Kreeger, President & Chief Operating Officer
Dan, we're really happy with the early results of the Durango expansion. If you recall, we not only increased the casino floor with slot machines, but also added the new high-limit room. The area we call the Durango zone saw notably increased net win for the quarter over last year. It really is confirming the thesis that continued capital investment in Durango is a good thing. And that's despite the team fighting through some of the disruption you see on the investor deck with the traffic situation. So we're really encouraged with what's going on there.
Daniel Politzer, Analyst (JPMorgan)
Got it. And just for my follow-up, to clarify, the disruption for the second quarter—you said $9 million for GVR and then an incremental $2 million to $3 million related to Durango. So just $11 million to $12 million, correct? Just clarifying that.
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
That is correct, Dan.
Operator, Operator
The next question will come from John DeCree with CBRE.
John DeCree, Analyst (CBRE)
I would love a little bit more detail on the EBITDA margin declines year-over-year, trying to unpack what might be attributable to disruption in the quarter and transitory versus perhaps a little bit more persistent OpEx inflation?
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Not a problem. One thing I did want to point out is that from an EBITDA perspective, we feel very comfortable with our margins given some of the structural changes we've made over the last several years. Proud to say that Q1 represented the 21st quarter of the last 23 where Las Vegas operations were about 45%. To get to your question, we've done a great job managing payroll—payroll is probably up a little under 3%, which is in line with the valley. COGS, another large cost, was flat to down. The majority of the EBITDA margin degradation can be attributed to the Green Valley hotel disruption, which is probably almost half of that margin degradation. We also had elevated utilities costs this quarter as well as some losses and damage.
John DeCree, Analyst (CBRE)
Great. And just as a quick follow-up—any insight into hotel demand at the renovated Green Valley Ranch rooms or the business more broadly as we think about differentiating that hotel customer from the Strip hotel customer that's facing some weakness right now?
Scott Kreeger, President & Chief Operating Officer
Let me take the broad-based performance. We were really happy with performance in hotel for the overall brand. We had about 27,000 room nights offline, or about 10% of our inventory at Green Valley Ranch. Given that we still were positive year-over-year in hotel revenue, the rest of the portfolio did a nice job addressing some of the headwinds Steve talked about with TSA issues, fuel prices and the rooms being out. As far as the West Tower that is available and the new banquet space, customer feedback, both from a transient customer and from a sales customer standpoint, has been phenomenal. Those rooms are probably the nicest rooms in town right now from a competitive and quality standpoint. We're seeing increased ADR growth as we expected out of refreshing those rooms. The story for Green Valley is to get through the rest of the room remodel—call it late September—to really maximize the full capital investment when we've got all the rooms up and running and the banquet space. We look forward to that happening soon. As far as general health going forward, we like where we are in April relative to hotel—it's early in the summer booking window. If you look at the competitive set on the 60-day booking window, we are seeing green shoots in core and high-end hotel ADRs. We also like that the Strip is addressing some of the tourism concerns around value. There are a lot of inclusive packages available in the market for customers seeking value. So we're optimistic about the summer, but it's early in the booking window.
Operator, Operator
Your next question will come from Grant Montour with Barclays.
Unknown Analyst (Christie, for Brad), Analyst (Barclays, filling in)
It's Christie off for Brad. I just wanted to clarify on the seasonality from 1Q to 2Q. I just want to make sure I heard that right—that you said it was typically down 8% to 9%. And then in terms of—I appreciate the color on the 2Q disruption costs of $9 million at GVR and $2 million to $3 million at Durango—I just wanted to clarify, what was that in 1Q? I think last quarter, you mentioned it was $9 million for GVR.
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Yes. So the clarification: you did hear the seasonality right—typically going back we are down 8% to 9% between the first quarter and the second quarter. I'm sorry, I lost your second question—my apologies.
Unknown Analyst (Christie, for Brad), Analyst (Barclays, filling in)
I appreciate the color on the 2Q disruption costs, but how did that compare to 1Q for GVR and Durango?
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
1Q GVR was— we previously announced $9 million and that came in pretty much spot on $9 million. Durango, despite seeing a lot of traffic disruption, the teams managed through it so it had just a marginal impact.
Unknown Analyst (Christie, for Brad), Analyst (Barclays, filling in)
And then switching over to North Fork. Can you provide any color on how you expect that property to ramp? I think in the past you have seen a potential to be similar to Gun Lake?
Scott Kreeger, President & Chief Operating Officer
Yes. Looking at ramps, we're pretty good at understanding these. Each market has its own competitive pressure. There are three competitive properties in the area. We expected in the early days that they might be promotional in how they approach our opening—but in typical projects, it may take a couple of years to ramp up and to get the database acclimated and to grow that database. Given our location, the quality of the product and our knowledge of that mid-California market and the team we have there, we expect to do quite well.
Lorenzo Fertitta, Executive (Co-Founder/Director)
We would expect the property to be profitable from day one. It's a matter of fine-tuning and growing the revenue base and managing expenses on a go-forward basis. So probably a shorter ramp than typical Las Vegas.
Scott Kreeger, President & Chief Operating Officer
Two years maybe.
Lorenzo Fertitta, Executive (Co-Founder/Director)
Yes. Typical Las Vegas timing, I think.
Operator, Operator
Your next question will come from Stephen Grambling with Morgan Stanley.
Stephen Grambling, Analyst (Morgan Stanley)
Maybe a follow-up just on Green Valley Ranch and the room renovations. What does the total spend of somebody who's staying on property there compare to the average? When you're quantifying that disruption, is that purely the hotel revenue that's come out? Or are you able to decipher what other netting you can see—if you get that customer coming back somewhere else or getting other spend?
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
You can actually—it's pretty much by the room. From a disruption standpoint, it's not an exact science, but the majority is room revenue. There's also a meaningful component of convention revenue and catering given the rooms and catering spaces that are out. Then there is a significant portion of food and beverage and gaming that are associated with those rooms.
Frank Fertitta, Executive (Co-Founder/Director)
Room revenue and gaming revenue.
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Yes. The majority is room revenue, then convention and catering, and then food and beverage and gaming associated with those rooms.
Stephen Grambling, Analyst (Morgan Stanley)
Right. So I guess you're including that in that disruption as part of that estimate because as we bring those rooms back, I imagine that's a higher spending customer. Perhaps the benefit you get when it comes back should be theoretically much bigger than the disruption that you're describing?
Frank Fertitta, Executive (Co-Founder/Director)
Once we get it dialed in, yes, absolutely. That's right.
Operator, Operator
Your next question will come from Jordan Bender with Citizens.
Jordan Bender, Analyst (Citizens)
Steve, I want to go back to the higher gas price comments. You kind of made it sound like April was back to normal and the consumer is acting normal. Were those comments—was March where you were seeing higher gas prices impact foot traffic into the casino? Or how should we think about that?
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
As we progressed through the quarter, January was strong, February was strong. March was impacted by everything you read in the news, which included some higher gas prices. But we are very happy with how April is tracking to be—one of the best Aprils on record so far. We haven't seen too much of an impact from higher gas prices in April.
Lorenzo Fertitta, Executive (Co-Founder/Director)
Yes, March was impacted a bit. It wasn't a bad month overall, but it was affected by gas, by the geopolitical uncertainty and the TSA situation. For a two- to three-week period, some people were hesitant to get on a commercial airplane because they didn't want to wait two to three hours at the airport. So it definitely affected things, but in no way was it a bad performance month.
Jordan Bender, Analyst (Citizens)
Got it. And then on the construction disruption you're seeing around town—are you able to capture those players at other properties via your database? Or are you just losing those visits from those players to specific properties?
Scott Kreeger, President & Chief Operating Officer
We have a broad distribution of properties in very convenient drive times of each other and we call it crossover play. What we'll see is if we can't mitigate that disruption at one property, customers will typically land in an adjacent property of ours. We watch that closely from a database perspective. If we see declines in any known customer, we have programs to address that.
Operator, Operator
Your next question will come from Chad Beynon with Macquarie.
Chad Beynon, Analyst (Macquarie)
You mentioned that you're starting to do some of the early work on additional greenfield projects. So with the outlined CapEx that you have going on over the next 18 months, and the current leverage, what's the maximum leverage that you'd be comfortable levering up to in this market?
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
We are about 4.07x net debt-to-EBITDA. We feel the balance sheet is very strong. Interest expense has come down for the past four quarters in a row. There are no short-term maturities and the credit agreement is very flexible. As we've said in the past, while we'd love to maintain leverage on and around 4x, for the right opportunities we would spike leverage up. Once you start topping that, that's where you start getting concerned. For the right projects, we would consider doing that, but we want to be disciplined.
Frank Fertitta, Executive (Co-Founder/Director)
We have North Fork coming on, and we have a note receivable from North Fork around $80 million. We expect that to be profitable from the day we open it. We'll continue to have new investments come online where we're upgrading existing properties at Sunset, Green Valley, etc.
Lorenzo Fertitta, Executive (Co-Founder/Director)
Durango ramps this summer. So like Frank said, our expectation is that we'll be getting a return on the capital currently in the ground. Our expectation is that EBITDA will grow, and then we'll decide what project is next and how we layer these things in. We're very comfortable with the pipeline and the approach.
Frank Fertitta, Executive (Co-Founder/Director)
While you're on that topic...
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Knowing that as you invest in new assets, you're going to generate new EBITDA, once they open they'll get you back in line to where you want to be long term.
Chad Beynon, Analyst (Macquarie)
Okay. That makes sense. And then you kind of touched on this a little bit with the database and what's going on on the Strip with some of the all-inclusive deals. Are you starting to see Strip operators start to market locals in a way that we haven't seen for several years—whether it's slot credits or hotel rooms or anything else that could increase the promotional or competitive landscape in the near term?
Scott Kreeger, President & Chief Operating Officer
We don't see anything that would cause us to change what we're hearing or expecting relative to the past. There are single properties that are promotional by nature, but nothing new that would cause us to change strategy.
Lorenzo Fertitta, Executive (Co-Founder/Director)
Strip operators historically have always taken a shot at the local market—some with more success than others—but nothing has necessarily changed that I've seen.
Operator, Operator
Your next question will come from David Katz with Jefferies.
David Katz, Analyst (Jefferies)
Heard some earlier commentary this week from a hospitality company on a little bit of a change in the shape of recovery and seeing some strength in the lower end, which has shown up in some of the hospitality numbers. Are you seeing anything like that? We've talked about the bottom of your database being a little pressured for quite a while.
Scott Kreeger, President & Chief Operating Officer
The place to look for any change is in absolute discretionary spend. If you look at food and beverage and entertainment, we had a great quarter—up year-over-year. We increased cover counts and average check. Overall revenue and profit in Food & Beverage is up, and that's one of the most discretionary items in our business and a bellwether for customer health. We also had a record gaming quarter, so slots and other casino games are strong. Right now, it looks healthy.
Frank Fertitta, Executive (Co-Founder/Director)
It's not that our lower-end customer has been under pressure for a while; post-COVID we changed our business model. We've reinvested in high-limit slot rooms and high-limit table games. We're not in the heavy promotion business anymore. We're relying on our best-in-class locations, best-in-class buildings and the best employees to take care of guests. It's a pivot from what used to be a very promotional market, and that's where our focus is—not because the low end is under pressure, but because of strategic choices.
Scott Kreeger, President & Chief Operating Officer
Saying customers don't have discretionary income is not how we view it. We have customers that seek value. It's a bit of an art to provide what a customer perceives as value based on their demographic tier, and we think we do a good job offering value across the spectrum.
Lorenzo Fertitta, Executive (Co-Founder/Director)
The art is having a high-end steakhouse under the same roof where you're serving $1.99 margaritas and balancing that.
Frank Fertitta, Executive (Co-Founder/Director)
We appeal to all segments demographically. One thing we've done is provide a lot of value propositions for repeat local customers and give them real value. I think we do a better job at that than anyone else in the market.
David Katz, Analyst (Jefferies)
Understood. And if I can just follow up quickly, are you seeing anything you can point to regarding destination volumes that impact the business? Probably not the core, but on the margin, is there any notable impact or trends you can cite?
Scott Kreeger, President & Chief Operating Officer
The most finite and measurable place to look is in our database out-of-town. Our out-of-town database has been consistently growing that national and regional segment for many quarters, inclusive of the first quarter. It continues to be an area of opportunity and growth for us.
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
At least ten quarters, Scott.
Operator, Operator
The next question will come from Steve Pizzella with Deutsche Bank.
Steven Pizzella, Analyst (Deutsche Bank)
First, maybe we can get an update on what you're seeing in the promotional environment?
Scott Kreeger, President & Chief Operating Officer
Stable. As we've said in previous earnings calls, there are single proprietary one-off casinos whose core DNA is to be promotional, but nothing has changed. The market continues to be very stable and we don't intend to change our current strategies based on what we're seeing.
Steven Pizzella, Analyst (Deutsche Bank)
Okay, great. And then just as a follow-up, curious if the World Cup has had a material impact in the past from a visitation perspective for you guys at your properties?
Scott Kreeger, President & Chief Operating Officer
The World Cup is unique this year, and we really got ahead of it. The location, the time slots for viewing and the number of games create a great opportunity. We have the best race and sports book experiences in town. Customers know to come to our books for that kind of communal viewing experience. The operating teams have a comprehensive plan to put our best foot forward during the World Cup.
Operator, Operator
And this will conclude our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Stephen Cootey for any closing remarks. Please go ahead.
Stephen Cootey, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Well, thank you, everyone, for joining us. Take care.
Operator, Operator
The conference has now concluded. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.