Khouw Says Las Vegas Sands Is About to 'Catch a Heater'

Options strategist Mike Khouw said on CNBC that shares of Las Vegas Sands (LVS) are about to "catch a heater," a bullish call made while the stock traded at 46.43, down 1.78% on the day as of 18:49 GMT on Aug. 26, 2026.

Mike Khouw, the options strategist who is a regular voice on CNBC's derivatives coverage, told viewers that shares of Las Vegas Sands (LVS) are about to "catch a heater" — gambler's shorthand for a run of good luck at the table. The call was made on a day when the stock was going the other way.

As of the last trade at 18:49 GMT on Aug. 26, 2026, Las Vegas Sands changed hands at 46.43, down 1.78% from the prior close of 47.27. The intraday range ran from 46.09 to 47.05, meaning the shares spent the session near the bottom of that band rather than probing the top. Against a broad market that was essentially flat — the S&P 500 tracker (SPY) at $766.29, up 0.05%, and the Nasdaq 100 tracker (QQQ) at $711.84, up 0.16% — the casino operator lagged by roughly 1.83 percentage points on the day, an illustrative gap derived from those two moves.

A Nevada Name With an Asian Balance Sheet

The company carries the name of the Strip, but that is largely a historical artifact. As the CNBC segment framed it, Las Vegas Sands has for most of the past decade depended on the Asia and Macau story rather than on anything happening in the Nevada desert. That single fact governs how any bullish thesis on the stock has to be read.

It means the shares are not primarily a bet on American consumer discretionary spending, on convention bookings, or on domestic gaming regulation. They are a bet on visitation and spend in the Chinese special administrative region of Macau — the only place in China where casino gaming is legal — plus the company's operations in Singapore. Travel policy, cross-border transit capacity, mass-market table yields and the health of the mainland Chinese consumer drive the revenue line far more than anything on Las Vegas Boulevard.

For investors, that carries an important practical consequence: the stock frequently trades with Chinese macro sentiment rather than with U.S. leisure names. A flat day for the S&P 500, as on Tuesday's session, tells you very little about what is moving Las Vegas Sands.

What a 'Heater' Call Actually Commits To

Khouw's specialty is options — instruments that give the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a stock at a set price before a set date. Traders who follow that desk are used to bullish views expressed through defined-risk structures such as call spreads, where the maximum loss is the premium paid and the maximum gain is capped, rather than through outright share purchases.

The distinction matters. An options-expressed bullish view is generally a view on a move happening within a window — the expiration date — not a statement that the business is permanently mispriced. A stock can be cheap for two years and still lose money for the buyer of a two-month call. Readers taking a cue from a televised derivatives call should be clear about which of those two things they are acting on.

Equally, "catch a heater" is a directional phrase, not a valuation argument. It implies momentum: that the stock is set up to run. Momentum calls tend to depend on positioning and catalysts rather than on discounted cash flow.

The Variables That Decide Whether the Call Works

Because the company's fortunes sit offshore, the checkpoints an investor should watch are mostly not American ones:

• Macau gross gaming revenue. The territory's regulator publishes monthly figures, and they are the single cleanest read on whether the recovery narrative is intact. Direction and rate of change matter more than any single month's level.
• Mass versus VIP mix. Post-junket Macau leans on mass-market and premium-mass play, which carries better margins than the old high-roller model but is more exposed to the ordinary Chinese consumer.
• Singapore. The company's integrated resort there has been a meaningful contributor and is driven by a different regional traveler base than Macau.
• Capital returns. Buybacks and dividends have been part of how large-cap casino operators support their share prices; any change to that policy would alter the setup materially.
• Currency and travel policy. Visa and transit arrangements between the mainland and Macau can move visitation numbers quickly, in either direction.

Reading Tuesday's Tape Against the Thesis

Nothing in the day's price action confirms the call. Las Vegas Sands closed the observed session weaker while the two big U.S. equity benchmarks were marginally higher and the Dow tracker (DIA) was down 0.20% at $534.18. A stock that sells off on a quiet tape is either seeing name-specific news flow or is being sold by holders indifferent to the index.

That is not, by itself, an argument against Khouw. Momentum calls are frequently made into weakness — the premise is that the setup improves precisely because sellers have already had their turn. But it does mean the thesis is unproven at the level of the tape, and a reader following it is buying a forecast rather than confirmation.

The practical framing for anyone weighing the idea: this is a China-exposed equity wearing an American brand name, being recommended by a derivatives strategist whose usual toolkit expresses views over weeks rather than years. Sizing and time horizon should reflect both of those facts. The next monthly Macau revenue print, not the next S&P 500 session, is the number that will settle the argument.

Key facts

• LVS last trade: 46.43, down 1.78% (as of 18:49 GMT, Aug. 26, 2026)
• Prior close: 47.27; intraday range 46.09–47.05
• The call: Mike Khouw says shares are about to 'catch a heater'
• Revenue driver: Asia/Macau operations, not Nevada, per CNBC

Frequently asked questions

Who is Mike Khouw?

Mike Khouw is an options strategist who appears regularly on CNBC's derivatives programming, where traders discuss views expressed through options contracts rather than outright stock purchases. On Aug. 26, 2026, he said shares of Las Vegas Sands were about to "catch a heater" — gambling slang for a hot streak — a bullish directional view on the casino operator.

Where does Las Vegas Sands actually make its money?

Despite the Nevada name, the company has largely depended on the Asia and Macau story over the past decade, according to CNBC's framing of the segment. That makes the shares primarily an exposure to gaming and tourism in Macau and the wider Asian region rather than a bet on the Las Vegas Strip or the American leisure consumer.

What was the LVS share price when the call was made?

Las Vegas Sands traded at 46.43 as of the last trade at 18:49 GMT on Aug. 26, 2026, down 1.78% from the prior close of 47.27. The intraday range was 46.09 to 47.05, placing the stock nearer the low end of the session's band at the time of the quote.

How did the broader market perform that day?

The major U.S. benchmarks were roughly flat. The S&P 500 tracker SPY was at $766.29, up 0.05%; the Nasdaq 100 tracker QQQ was at $711.84, up 0.16%; and the Dow tracker DIA was at $534.18, down 0.20%. Las Vegas Sands underperformed both rising benchmarks on the session.

What does 'catch a heater' mean?

It is gambling table slang for a run of good luck — a streak of winning hands or rolls. Applied to a stock, it signals a view that shares are set up for a sharp upward run. It is a momentum statement about direction and timing, not a valuation argument about whether the business is fundamentally cheap.

What should investors watch to test the thesis?

Because the earnings base sits in Asia, the key checkpoints are Macau's monthly gross gaming revenue figures, the mix between mass-market and VIP play, performance at the company's Singapore integrated resort, cross-border travel and visa policy affecting mainland visitation, and any change to buyback or dividend policy.

Sources

• Las Vegas Sands shares are about to 'catch a heater,' says Mike Khouw — CNBC Top News

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