Las Vegas room rates are staying soft, with the weakness carrying past October and into November, according to a research note that Truist Securities published on Friday. Analyst Barry Jonas characterized fourth-quarter pricing as “a seesaw”, with results varying widely by operator.
MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment were not performing up to par, Jonas found. High-end Wynn Resorts, by contrast, was “meaningfully outperforming” the market. He credited Wynn’s strength to business tied to the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Consumer fuel prices remain a concern, Jonas said, even though visitation to Sin City has held stable.
Las Vegas room rates finish the third quarter 7% behind 2025
Truist put overall Las Vegas Strip room prices for the third quarter of 2026 at 7% below the pace set in 2025. The split between operators was wide. Wynn was up 3%, while Caesars was off 11% and MGM was off 9%.
Weekend-night pricing in the quarter was flat with 2025, but sharply lower midweek rates undercut that result. Caesars’ midweek rates were down 20% and MGM’s fell 17%. Wynn again outperformed, up 10%, while the Strip overall was down 9%.
The weekend-versus-midweek gap matters because the two periods typically draw different visitors. Leisure travelers tend to dominate weekends, while conventions and business trips lean more heavily on midweek nights. Truist Securities is the corporate and investment banking arm of Truist Financial Corporation.
August marks the low point for Strip pricing
Strip rates appear to have bottomed out in August. High-end rooms were down 9% that month and low-end rooms plunged 28%, while middle-tier rooms were down 21%.
By operator, MGM’s overall rates dropped 17%, compared with an 18% decline at Caesars. Wynn’s rates were flat.
Midweek nights took most of the damage. MGM and Caesars each plummeted 26%, while Wynn soared 27%. On weekends, rates were down 7% at MGM and 10% at Caesars, with Wynn dipping 9%.
September brings little relief, and the tiers show the damage
In September, high-end prices remained 9% lower, the middle market was down 11% and low-end rooms were down 18%. Wynn’s rates nudged up 2%, while MGM’s slid 11% and Caesars’ fell 15%.
Those declines were enough to erase a strong July. For the third quarter as a whole, high-end rooms were 4% cheaper, mid-market rooms were down 12% and bargain-tier rooms fell 19%.
Taken together, the figures show Las Vegas room rates weakening most at the lower and middle price points, with the top of the market holding up best.
October rebounds on Raiders home games
Jonas called the October numbers “encouraging”. Caesars was the exception, with weekend rates jumping 23% but midweek rates down 4%. For everyone else, both weekend and midweek numbers “remain healthy”, he reported.
Wynn shot up 15% and MGM leapt 12%, while the Strip overall was 8% higher. Three scheduled home games by the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders were credited with the strong October data.
Bargain business still slipped 3%, but middle-tier rooms were up 18% and high-end prices rose 7%.
November bookings split sharply between Wynn and its rivals
Rates diverged sharply in November advance bookings. Wynn rocketed 31% higher, while MGM tumbled 12% and Caesars was down 9%. The Strip overall was off by a percentage point compared with 2025.
Whatever boost November received came mainly at the high end, where top-tier rooms rose 8% in price. Middle-class rooms were 16% lower and the low end dropped 10%.
Across the months Truist covered, Wynn’s overall rate change ran ahead of MGM’s every time. It was flat versus down 17% in August, up 2% versus down 11% in September, up 15% versus up 12% in October, and up 31% versus down 12% for November bookings.
What the Grand Prix means for the outlook
Jonas quoted MGM executives as saying “There’s still work to do” on Grand Prix business. He added that Truist’s data “also suggests solid [year-over-year] rate growth at higher-end properties during the event, which typically skews more toward the higher-value consumer.”
Even so, MGM’s Formula One strength at some resorts was diluted by weaker results at others, Jonas wrote. Wynn, on the other hand, told him it was “pacing ahead of last year” in terms of F1-related business.
Race owner Liberty Media maintained that “ticket sales are trending well ahead of the last year.” The company added that it had reached end-of-September ticket volumes by late July.
This year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix is scheduled for 19–21 November, with the race itself on Saturday night, 21 November, on a street circuit that includes the Strip. The race weekend falls within the November booking period Truist analyzed.
