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Read Full BioGaming stocks had a tepid start to the year, and the Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF (NYSE: BETZ), which invests in a basket of gaming companies, closed in the red on the first trading day, extending its weekly decline to 4.74%, underperforming the broad-based S&P 500 in both periods.
The ETF’s returns trailed the S&P 500 Index last year. While gaming stocks appeared strong until about September, they failed to maintain the momentum in the final quarter of 2025.
Looking at the last week, the Star Entertainment Group and Betr Entertainment were among the major gainers. Meanwhile, Skillz and Century Casinos underperformed.
Biggest Gainers
The Star Entertainment Group (ASX: SGR) +30.7%
With gains of nearly 31% last week, the Star Entertainment Group was the biggest gainer in our coverage of gaming stocks. It was the third consecutive week that the stock held the distinction, as it had seen strong double-digit gains in the previous two weeks as well.
Meanwhile, there was no major company-specific news last week, and the stock appears to have continued its uptrend from the previous week, when it announced a major shakeup of its C-suite.
As part of the management reshuffle, Steve McCann, who was brought in to lead the company through its financial crisis and remediation plan, stepped down as CEO. Peter Hodgson and Toni Thornton, two of the company’s non-executive directors, also resigned from the board.
Star appointed Bruce Mathieson Jnr (a member of the billionaire Mathieson family, one of Star’s largest investors) as the new CEO. Concurrently, Soo Kim, chairman of the US-based Bally’s Corporation, took over as the new Chairman of the Board. Together, the Mathieson family and Bally’s hold a majority stake in Star and have been trying to turn around the struggling Australian gaming company.
Given the company’s massive employment footprint and iconic assets, such as the Queens Wharf project in Brisbane, there is also a growing market belief that state governments and regulators are more interested in a stabilized recovery than a total collapse.
Betr Entertainment (ASX: BBT) +10.53%
Betr Entertainment also saw double-digit gains last week. However, there wasn’t any major company-specific news last week, and the gains seem like a technical rebound following the losses last year.
Notably, in December, the company had announced the sudden exit of its CFO, Darren Holley. Blake Matthews, who previously served as the Group Financial Controller, has assumed the role this year.
Sea Limited (NYSE: SE) + 4.15%
Sea Limited made it to the list of major gainers last week following an upgrade from Maybank. The firm upgraded the stock from a “hold” to a “buy” while maintaining its target price of $156, as it views the sell-off as “overdone.”
Notably, SE stock was quite strong in the first half of 2025, reaching a record high of $199.30. It, however, fell in the back half of the year as some analysts saw its valuations as stretched.
However, in recent times, brokerages have taken a more constructive view of the stock, finding the valuations compelling following the drawdown. The stock’s current target price of $192.61 is 46.6% higher than its current price levels.
Sea Limited is a diversified conglomerate and has a gaming subsidiary, Garena. In its report, Maybank allayed concerns over that business and said, “single franchise valuation risk is contained by its 15% SoTP weight.”
It is bullish on the company’s e-commerce platform, Shopee, and sees a “rational two-player market” forming in Southeast Asia, with competitor Lazada experiencing a continued decline. This decline is expected to lead to better profit margins and monetization, starting in 2026 and 2027.
Top Losers
Skillz Inc (NYSE: SKLZ) – 6.96%
With a loss of almost 7%, Skillz was the biggest loser in our coverage of gaming stocks, a dubious distinction it has now held for three consecutive weeks. The stock, which has lost over half of its worth from the 2025 high, has started 2026 on a somber note.
Skillz stock has been quite volatile and has been sliding since hitting a high of $9.11 in mid-August 2025. The loss-making company faced a setback last year after Tether Studios, the developer of the popular games Solitaire Cube and 21 Blitz, terminated its licensing agreements with Skillz.
Last month, the company filed its 2024 annual report and quarterly filings for the first nine months of 2025 with the SEC after a long delay, which was a major relief for investors, as the inability to do so could have led to the stock’s delisting.
In December only, Skillz announced the departure of its CFO, Gaetano Franceschi, and the appointment of Michael Darwal as his successor. While Skillz said that Franceschi’s departure was “without cause” and not related to any disagreements regarding financial reporting, operating results, or accounting practices, the sudden removal of a CFO is seldom received positively by the markets.
As a high-beta meme stock with a market capitalization of just under $70 million, SKLZ is susceptible to significant price fluctuations, making it a high-risk investment.
Century Casinos (NYSE: CNTY) – 4.83%
Century Casinos also made it to the list of top losers last week. While the stock saw upward price action on the first trading day of the year after announcing a $1.5 million share buyback program, which is nearly 4% of its market capitalization, losses in the first half of the week meant that CNTY finished the week in the red.
The company’s recent financial performance has been dismal, and it missed on most key metrics in Q3. For instance, its revenues came in at $153.7 million, which was significantly below the $163.4 million that analysts had modeled. Its net loss rose 30% year-over-year to $10.5 million, which was also higher than analysts’ expectations.
CNTY is also a small company with limited trading volumes and is quite volatile, making it a risky proposition, at least for risk-averse investors.
Melco Resorts (NYSE: MLCO) – 4.70%
Melco Resorts fell 4.7% last week after disappointing data from Macau. The Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau released the December numbers, which showed that while gross gaming revenue (GGR) rose 14.8% year-over-year to 20.9 billion patacas ($2.6 billion), it fell short of the 18% jump analysts had predicted.
Notably, ahead of the data, JPMorgan forecasted a “cooling” of growth for Macau casino revenue throughout 2026. The firm’s analysts noted that while the mass market has recovered well, the VIP gaming segment continues to lag significantly.
Since Melco has a significant presence in Macau, its stock tends to react strongly to data from the region’s gaming industry. Additionally, since Melco has historically relied more heavily on the premium and VIP segments than some of its peers, JPMorgan’s report led to a sell-off in the stock.
