Stifel: Flutter Promo Spending Could Pay Dividends for Investors

Shares of Flutter Entertainment (NYSE: FLUT) are off nearly 8% over the past month with one of the culprits being plans to spend up to $385 million on customer acquisition and retention incentives in the second half of this year. A FanDuel Sportsbook logo. An analyst says parent Flutter Entertainment can make increased promo spending work in its favor. (Image: Shutterstock) The company telegraphed those expenditures when it lowered 2026 guidance earlier this month, unnerving investors in the process. If there’s a silver lining for beleaguered Flutter investors it’s that there’s precedent for the company turning promo-heavy eras in its favor. In a new report to clients, Stifel analyst Jeffrey Stantial highlights a pair of examples from Flutter’s international business in which the operator spent big on the marketing front, later realizing significant payoffs. “Our work shows that prior investment cycles often lead to permanent reinvestment strategy changes — suggesting that investors should be braced for potential that FanDuel promotional reinvestment re-bases higher,” says Stantial. “We view this as a headline risk, though strategically sound as reinvesting more of FanDuel’s structural margin advantage is warranted to help rebuild momentum in FLUT’s scale flywheel and defend share leadership.” He rates shares of the FanDuel parent “buy” with a $133 price target, implying potential upside of 40% from the Aug. 27 close. Flutter Spending Track Record In the U.S., Flutter is primarily known to investors as the owner of FanDuel, and while that’s accurate, some market participants in this country overlook the operator’s dominant perches in mature sports wagering markets such as Australia, continental Europe and the U.K. As Stantial points out, the 2017-18 period in which Flutter spent mightily on Paddy Power in the U.K. and Sportsbet in Australia could prove instructive regarding the aforementioned $385 million spending program. “We show solid execution in each case, with Sportsbet GGR share inflecting and ultimately establishing the clear #1 position while Paddy Power stabilized share in a more competitive U.K. market,” observes the analyst. “Product is the main potential differentiating factor in this case, as Sportsbet investment was accompanied by rapid same-game parlay adoption and Paddy Power by platform upgrade, with product pipeline in the U.S. unclear beyond the loyalty program rollout.” At an industry conference earlier this month, Flutter CFO Rob Coldrake hinted that the spending regime could linger into 2027, but he made clear largesse of the levels seen today will not be a permanent fixture for the company. Flutter Stock Looks Inexpensive Flutter is off 54% year-to-date, a decline that has the stock appearing inexpensive relative to rival DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) and trading in-line with slower-growth competitor Entain. Stantial notes there are other potential catalysts for Flutter shares, including FanDuel market share stabilizing, positive indicators in the online sports betting (OSB) arena and the possibility of legal clarity on prediction markets’ ability to continue offering sports event contracts. “FLUT remains an execution story, though risk/reward skews attractive, in our view, with several potential catalysts for sentiment improvement in the coming months including FanDuel share stabilization, U.S. OSB TAM re-acceleration, and potential predictions legal clarity,” concludes the analyst. The post Stifel: Flutter Promo Spending Could Pay Dividends for Investors appeared first on Casino.org.