Topic: How To Invest

Q: Hi, Pat. What is your opinion of Vail Resorts? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

A: Vail Resorts, $226.19, symbol MTN on New York (Shares outstanding: 40.4 million; Market cap: $9.2 billion; www.vailresorts.com), is one of the largest mountain resort companies in the world, with a growing portfolio of assets. The company’s owned/managed resorts include Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado; Park City in Utah; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada; Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia; Perisher in Australia; Stowe in Vermont; Wilmot Mountain in Wisconsin; Afton Alps in Minnesota; and Mt. Brighton in Michigan. In addition, Vail owns or manages a collection of luxury hotels under the RockResorts brand. Mountain operations supply 85% of the company’s revenue, followed by Lodging at 14% and Real Estate at 1%. New acquisitions of resorts drove Vail’s 70.5% jump in revenue from $1.12 billion in 2013 to $1.91 billion in 2017. Over that period, earnings soared, from $37.7 million, or $1.03 a share, to $210.6 million, or $5.22. The company reported better-than-expected earnings in…