Diverse offering

The company’s portfolio reads like a who’s who of betting royalty. From the cheeky Irish charm of Paddy Power to the more sophisticated allure of Betfair, and the new kid on the block, FanDuel, Flutter’s tentacles reach into every nook and cranny of the betting world.

If Flutter were a poker player, its American expansion would be the ace up its sleeve. As the US gradually sheds its restrictions on sports betting, the brand is positioning itself to be a key player. As many sectors have seen in the past, if success can be found in the US, it can be a real gold rush.

Positive outlook

The firm’s financials read like a tale of two casinos. On one side, we have a whopping £9.63bn in revenue – enough to make any bookie’s eyes water. On the flip side, a £1.03bn loss looms like a bad beat. But management appear to be doubling down on marketing and tech in its American adventure. This may pay off, but also might be a very expensive mistake if issues with regulation or demand emerges.

As an investor though, here’s where I think it gets juicy. Despite its fairly flat recent performance over the last year, the shares might just be sitting nicely in bargain range.

Based on a discounted cash flow (DCF) calculation, the shares are currently trading at a 36% discount to estimated fair value. It’s far from a guarantee as the sector develops globally, but it could be a decent opportunity for those with the right tolerance for risk.

Regulation fears

As I noted, I’m most worried about potential regulatory hurdles here. Any sudden intervention from regulators in a key market to curb activity could be disastrous for the company. Competition in this industry is also fiercer than a high-stakes poker game, with margins under constant pressure. Any slip up from management, or if another key player seizes market share, and there could be really bad news for investors.

One to watch

Clearly, Flutter Entertainment is not for the faint-hearted investor. It’s a high-roller’s dream – a cocktail of established success and tantalising potential, with a dash of risk to keep things spicy. The upcoming earnings report on 13 August 2024, could be the next spin of the wheel that determines what’s next for investors.

I’d be willing to roll this dice with this growth stock for the right price, so with some potential undervaluation, I’ll be buying next time I have some cash free.

The post This growth stock could be my new favourite appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Analysts aren’t perfect. Their predictions often follow the way the wind is blowing. 

But they are very knowledgeable about the stocks they cover, which makes them a decent jumping-off point for finding underpriced shares. 

One stock analysts are gushing over at the moment is gambling group Flutter Entertainment (LSE: FLTR). 

Should I buy?

Of the 15 analysts covering Flutter, 14 have it down as a ‘buy’ and not a single one rates it a ‘sell’.

With the shares trading for £156, the consensus across analysts is a 12-month price target of £188 which is 21% higher. One analyst has a 12-month price target of £213 which is 37% higher. 

These ratings are up-to-date too, mostly declared in the last couple of weeks after Flutter’s annual report on 26 March. 

It might be the most positively covered company on the FTSE 100!

Analysts liking the stock is one thing, but should I buy the shares?

Up 158%

Well, there’s plenty to like here. 

Flutter, which owns Paddy Power, PokerStars, Betfair and Sky Bet across its brands, is going from strength to strength. 

It reported a year-on-year increase in revenue (25%), EBITDA (47%) and free cash flow (63%). Its number of users, measured in millions of monthly players, grew at around 20% as well. 

The revenue is well-diversified too with the UK accounting for 24% of sales and the US 26%. 

The shares grew 158% over the last five years too, only a handful of FTSE 100 stocks are up more than that.

Its fellow FTSE 100 betting firm Entain rose just 37% over the period and smaller rival 888 fell 47%.

No bets

Flutter, with income generated from online casinos or high-street bookmakers, is, of course, a sin stock.

Like investing in a firm that sells alcohol or cigarettes, an investment here aims to profit from a product that can harm people. 

You might argue a few quid at the weekend on the football results isn’t a cause for alarm. 

On the other hand, there will always be people who get hooked into a gambling doom loop and ruin their lives.

Indeed, some estimates put the percentage of suicides due to gambling losses at 11%. 

Flutter does set ‘Play Well’ restriction targets to limit this type of harm, reaching 44.9% of accounts last year. But why not just apply them to every account instantly?

The reason is likely that incentives in a company like this will always align towards making the most money even if that means a few dubious ethical practices. 

For that reason, this will be a stock I won’t be taking any bets on.

The post Analysts love this surging FTSE 100 stock! appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Fortunately, investors can choose to pick individual Footsie shares rather than worry about the wider index. And those holding these four FTSE 100 shares will have been satisfying last month.

Flutter Entertainment

Flutter Entertainment (LSE: FLTR) has decided to spread its wings and fly across the pond. It listed in the US on 29 January and intends to switch its primary listing from London to New York “as soon as practicable”.

The firm said the move will make the stock “more accessible to US-based investors and gain access to deeper capital markets.”

In essence, it wants a higher valuation and thinks New York will provide that. This arguably became self-fulfilling as the stock surged 16.8% last month.

The move makes sense as Flutter, which owns Paddy Power and BetFair, is one of the world’s largest gambling companies. And right now there’s a boom in US online sports betting, which was illegal until 2018. The firm also owns FanDuel, a US leader in this area.

Last year, the firm generated revenue of £9.5bn, a third of which came from North America. Future regulation is a threat, but it appears to have huge growth prospects if all US states legalise sports betting (not all have).

GSK

Next, we have pharma giant GSK. The stock jumped an impressive 8.1% last month as investors cheered its new RSV vaccine Arexvy achieving blockbuster status.

That is, the drug brought in more than $1bn in sales last year. That’s remarkable considering it was only out for roughly six months.

Litigation related to its discontinued heartburn drug Zantac continues to hang over the stock, though. Consequently, it’s dirt cheap on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 10.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals

Third, we have Hikma Pharmaceuticals (LSE: HIK). Shares of the generics and injectables manufacturer progressed 7.9% in January.

In November, it upgraded its full-year guidance in two of its three divisions. Then, in January, a deal was announced with US liquid biopsy firm Guardant Health.

This was to promote the latter’s next-generation sequencing tests for cancer screening, recurrence monitoring and tumour mutation profiling for solid cancers in the Middle East and North Africa. Hikma has a good presence across those markets.

The company faces regulatory risks as a pharmaceutical firm, but investors may have been drawn to the stock’s very undemanding forward P/E ratio of 11.5.

BAE Systems

Finally, we have BAE Systems (LSE: BA.), whose inclusion is no mystery. Iran-backed Houthi rebels are causing chaos in the Red Sea and and three US troops were recently killed in a drone strike in Jordan. This is threatening to spill over into a much wider Middle East conflict.

In response, the BAE share price has now risen 5.9% this year. And it has almost doubled since Russian’s invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago.

One thing I’d highlight here is valuation. Prior to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the stock’s P/E ratio was around 10.5 (or 76%) less than the 18.5 it is today.

That said, geopolitics hasn’t been this unstable for many decades, which is reflected in the defence giant’s record order backlog of £66.2bn.

The post These were the best performers on the FTSE 100 in January appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

A hit to the outlook

The Q3 results out today are the main influence on the share price. The outlook for full-year adjusted EBITDA was revised down. Previously, the group was expecting the earnings figure to be in the £1.44bn-£1.60bn range. Although this is still the case, it expects the figure to be £1.44bn, at the bottom of the range.

The report flagged up a hit from foreign exchange of £30m and “very customer-friendly sports results” impacting the figure by £50m. Both factors are unpredictable but I am left scratching my head a bit. There are tools that can be used to protect against foreign exchange movements, exactly to help avoid such large losses.

Further, Flutter is a gambling company. It surely has ways to hedge itself against sports results so that it should never have such a hit to earnings.

Therefore, I feel the lower earnings impact could have been avoided with better planning. This is a risk that I see going forward that could hamper the firm. I believe other investors think the same, hence the sharp move lower in the share price.

Strong growth in key areas

Putting those issues to one side, the rest of the update was impressive. A key metric is the average number of monthly players. This increased by 16% from Q3 2022, which shows fundamental growth. Total revenue was up 8% versus the same quarter last year.

So although the outlook for earnings has been reduced, this is based on — hopefully — one-off factors. At the core, the business is growing and performing well.

The stock was up 16% over the past year before the hit this morning. Depending on the rest of the day, it will likely wipe out most of these gains. I actually see this as a good dip for investors to consider buying.

Diversification is key

Aside from the good growth I’ve already mentioned, the company is becoming increasingly diversified. With the US in full swing, the group can benefit from sports such as the NFL. As growth continues in new markets, it should only help to reduce reliance on one geography or one sport.

This will likely smooth out financial results in the future so that blips (such as the one today) should have less of an impact going forward. This should help to reduce volatility in the stock. With all that being said, I think it’s a smart option for investors to consider right now.

The post Flutter Entertainment shares plunge 11%. What’s going on? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

I would have expected unloved FTSE 100 stocks to lead last week’s charge, as investors took advantage of their lowly valuations. Instead, they piled into multichannel branded sports and leisurewear retailer JD Sports Fashion (LSE:JD) and global betting, gaming, and entertainment provider Flutter Entertainment (LSE: FLTR).

Winners win again

They were the second and third-best performers on the index over the last five days, up 10.11% and 10.09% respectively. That’s four times the average FTSE 100 return of 2.56%. Only Chile-focused copper miner Antofagasta did better, rising almost 12%. I highlighted its success on Friday.

A few weeks ago, I asked AJ Bell to supply figures showing the top-performing FTSE 100 stocks of the last 20 years. Equipment rental firm Ashtead Group was the big winner with a stunning total return of 45,532%. JD Sports was the second best returning 12,739%, while Flutter returned 5,350%.

JD would have turned a £5,000 investment into £636,950 in that time, while Flutter transformed the same sum into £267,500. Over the last year, Flutter is the FTSE 100’s number one performer, up 110.05%, while JD grew a respectable 22.84%.

As an investor, I’m wary of buying winners, scared they’ll suddenly turn into losers and I’ll have overpaid. Instead, I’ve been loading up on dirt cheap FTSE 100 dividend shares, drawn by their low valuations and high yields.

One of those was housebuilder Persimmon, which rose 9.49% last week, I’m happy to say, but my other value buys posted far more modest returns.

Coincidentally, I wrote about both JD Sports and Flutter Entertainment a few days before the FTSE 100 rocketed on Wednesday as investors celebrated US inflation falling to just 3% in June.

I was wrong to be wary

I was surprised to discover that JD still traded at just 10.3 times earnings, despite its incredible growth. Its international ambitions and £1.47bn net cash pile also impressed me, but I fretted over how rapidly winners can become losers in the volatile fashion market. My conclusion? JD had more in its locker. I was right about that.

I was impressed by how fast Flutter was growing in the US, with Q1 results showing a 92% jump in US gaming revenues to £908m. Yet I was worried it may take an outsize hit from upcoming UK gambling reforms.

I was wary of Flutter’s £4.19bn debt pile and walloping valuation of 84.13 times earnings, but added that if it continues to fly “I might be kicking myself”. I am now.

In both cases I said I would wait for a dip before buying. Yet I may not get the opportunity, especially if the stock market rally continues. Yet as a value investor I have been reminded of an important lesson. There are times when success breeds success. That’s certainly the case with JD Sports and Flutter Entertainment. Both shares have their risks, but as I saw last week, they also offer outsized rewards.

The post Up 10% in a week! How these 2 magnificent FTSE 100 shares led the stock market rally appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Actually, my Fool colleague Jon Smith did, predicting that Paddy Power and BetFair owner Flutter Entertainment would soar in 2023. That took foresight, because the stock had fallen 26% over the previous year.

Jon spotted the big reason for its likely success too, noting that the global sports betting, gaming, and entertainment provider has a massive opportunity in the US, which he called “a huge and potentially lucrative market for the firm”. I wish I’d taken heed, because Flutter has flown since then.

Good call, Jon

Recent Q1 results revealed a 92% jump in US gaming revenues to £908m, led by sportsbook revenues, which skyrocketed 147%. The US is where the action is, with revenues up just 8% once US figures are excluded.

In the UK, Ireland and Australia, Flutter is the incumbent trying to beat off challengers. However, this does give the £26bn group an admirable blend of existing market strength and future growth opportunities.

Flutter faces challenges, as every company does. Proposed gambling reforms could cost it up to £100m a year from 2024. A white paper has called for a 1% levy on all industry revenues, stricter affordability checks to cap losses, a £2 bet cap on online slot machines for the under-25s and curbs on ‘free’ spins.

There’s always risk

This has forced Flutter to take pre-emptive steps to clean up its image, introducing a £10 per spin limit, contributing 1% of its revenues to RET (Research, Education and Treatment), and committing to £20m a year of voluntary charitable contributions. It claims the changes already cost £150m in lost annual revenues.

Gambling reforms have been repeatedly postponed, amid heavy industry lobbying, and may turn out to be a low priority as the economy tanks while an election looms. It remains a risk though, but hardly a fatal one.

If I’d listed to Jon and invested £5,000 in Flutter shares 12 months ago, when they traded at around 8,000p, I’d hold 63 shares. At today’s price of 14,685p, my stake would be worth a handsome £9,178. I’d be sitting on a profit of £4,178.

It’s a shame I didn’t act, but it’s impossible to take advantage of every opportunity. I will console myself with my Rolls-Royce shares, which are the second best performer on the index over the last year, up 74.62%.

So much for recent history. The big question is whether I would buy Flutter today and I’m sorely tempted. Those US growth figures are nothing short of spectacular, especially given today’s downbeat economic outlook.

My big concern is that I am too late to the party, with the stock looking expensive at 76.83 times earnings. Another worry is that net debt is high at £4.19bn, although that is forecast to fall to £3.35bn in 2024. Revenues are expected to climb by another £1bn to £10.6bn by 2024, but any slip could hit the share price given today’s high valuation.

I won’t buy Flutter shares today. My focus now is buying undervalued FTSE 100 dividend shares ahead of the next stock market rally. Although in another 12 months, I might be kicking myself again.

The post If I’d invested £5k in Flutter shares 12 months ago here’s what I’d have now appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

I wonder whether it will achieve these levels again?

History

Flutter Entertainment was created in 2016 by the merger of Paddy Power and Betfair. Since then, it has grown through acquisition, buying gambling companies in Canada, Georgia and Italy. To diversify, it has also acquired a US fantasy sports operator, and an online bingo website and app.

This period of expansion has seen sales increase by £4.3bn in four years.

Although most of its £6bn revenue in 2021 was generated online, Flutter Entertainment still operates 600 shops on the high street.

Growing markets

According to Technavio, a market research company, the world’s gambling market will be worth $565bn by 2025, an increase of $220bn in five years. This excludes the online gaming market, which Acumen believes could be worth $132bn by 2030.

That’s all good news for the “world’s leading online sports betting and gaming operator“.

FIFA said that bookmakers took $155bn during the 2018 World Cup. This year’s tournament which, ironically, is to be held in Qatar (one of the few countries in the world where gambling is illegal), is expected to beat that figure.

Flutter Entertainment should therefore be one of the winners from this year’s competition.

Half-year results

Investors liked the half-year results that were released in August, with the share price soaring 14% on the day.

The company disclosed an 11% year on year growth in revenue, and an increase in its average monthly number of customers to 8.7m.

Interest rates

However, spending on gambling and gaming is discretionary.

A backdrop of rising interest rates, which adversely impacts on the disposable incomes of customers, is not good news for the company.

Flutter Entertainment is also exposed to rising borrowing costs, through its relatively high level of debt. Borrowings were £62m at the end of 2017 but, four years later, had increased to £3.8bn. This is to be expected, given that a large proportion of its acquisitions have been funded by debt.

The company currently has a gearing ratio of 4.1 times EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation). This compares to its medium-term target of one-to-two times. Achieving this milestone is important because, at this point, the company has committed to reviewing its dividend policy.

A dividend was last paid in October 2019.

When the company released its results during the first week of August, a downturn in spending by its customers hadn’t been seen. But since then, central banks around the world have been raising interest rates.

What have I concluded?

At the moment, I feel it’s too much of a gamble for me to invest in Flutter Entertainment.

Although the markets in which it operates are growing rapidly, I fear that the coming economic headwinds and rising interest rates will dent its revenues.

I also like to own shares in companies that pay a dividend.

I’m therefore going to keep the company on my watchlist and review the situation in the new year.

Who knows, perhaps by then England will have won the World Cup. But then again, I wouldn’t bet on that either.

The post Should I bet on the Flutter Entertainment share price going up? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

The global business environment has changed considerably since 2020. While some previously prominent industries are looking at a decade of laboured recovery, several new and exciting areas have emerged. 

I’m looking for a firm operating in a growing sector with a global footprint, stable business model and steady growth. And only one share from my FTSE 100 watchlist looks like a solid option to me. 

A big FTSE 100 bet? 

Flutter Entertainment (LSE: FLTR) is a sports betting and online gambling company that operates famous brands like Sky Betting & Gaming, PokerStars and Sportsbet. The firm was formed by merging two British giants — Paddy Power and Betfair.

After recently released first-quarter results, its share price has jumped over 42%. Here’s why I’m still considering an investment at its higher price. 

During the pandemic, there was a boom in online betting activity. In the US, the monthly average sports betting amount across the country was $310m. Across 2021, the value was estimated at over $7bn a month. This 20x increase was because several states in the US legalised sports betting after 2018.

Another big factor has been the rise of mobile payments. In fact, mobile sports betting account for 84% of all transactions in the region. 

Flutter Entertainment benefited as a result. In 2021, group revenue grew 37% to £6.03bn. Across its brands, average monthly players exceeded 7m for the first time. The FTSE 100 firm also acquired several smaller betting brands across the globe.

The UK and Ireland remain Flutter’s biggest markets, accounting for 33% of total revenue. While mobile phone betting figures are lower here, offline stores still receive a lot of foot traffic. And Flutter Entertainment remains the biggest betting firm in the region. 

My concerns

There’s no doubt that online sports betting and gambling are fast-growing industries. But this also raises a few ethical concerns, especially online. The age checks are fragile on some newer websites, leading to higher instances of minors gambling. This has led to calls for tighter regulations worldwide, including an upcoming Gambling Act Review White Paper from the UK government. This could cut revenue through taxation overnight, which poses a risk.

In fact, Flutter Entertainment’s online revenue for Q1 2022 dropped 20% year on year as the company launched changes to make gambling safer. While this was offset by a 45% jump in overall revenue from the US, it’s a sign that even big FTSE 100 companies in this highly regulated sector can suffer from new regulations. 

However, I’m still bullish on this company given the popularity and global appeal of its brands. It’s already an established powerhouse in the growing US market. Its primary strategy now is to grow its player base in the region while also focusing on high-volume markets like India, Brazil and Australia.

The industry is expected to be valued at $140bn by 2028. And I expect Flutter Entertainment to play a vital role in this growth. This is why I’m considering an investment in it if the upcoming full-year results are favourable. 

The post Up 42% in 3 months! This is the only FTSE 100 stock I’d buy now appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Let’s take a look at an overview of the sports market, the individual sports stocks available, and what you need to know about investing in the sports sector.

What are sports shares?

Sports stocks are companies with both a significant involvement in the sports industry and shares that can be bought and sold on the stock market, such as the London Stock Exchange. 

There are many sub-categories in the sports market. They include professional sports teams, manufacturers and retailers of sporting goods, and bookmakers. Certain food and nutrition stocks are also closely associated with the sports economy.

There are some big companies with sports-related divisions that we don’t generally think of as sports stocks, mostly because the size of the rest of the business eclipses the sports element.

When it comes to investing in sports stocks, it can fairly be said that the number available to us depends on how widely we cast the net.

Top sports shares in the UK

Here are the top UK sports stocks by market cap  as of February 2026 in their respective sub-categories:

Flutter Entertainment

Flutter Entertainment is the biggest of a number of betting and gaming companies listed on the London Stock Exchange (although its primary listing is in New York), and the UK’s biggest sports stock bar none.

The group owns multiple brands, including:

• Paddy Power, a central brand within its UK & Ireland division
• Betfair, the world’s biggest betting exchange
• Sportsbet, Australia’s top online betting destination
• FanDuel, the number-one sports book in the US

The group also owns gaming brands, such as tombola, Britain’s biggest bingo site. Sports betting accounts for a large chunk of the group’s revenue in 2025, with the remainder coming from gaming.

JD Sports Fashion

Retail sports stocks are a prominent part of the sports market. FTSE 100 firm JD Sports Fashion is the largest of these listed in the UK.

JD is a multichannel retailer of branded sports and casual wear under a number of fascias around the world. It sells globally recognised brands, including Nike, adidas, and Puma. It also sells a wide range of own-label brands. 

The vast majority of its revenue comes from sports fashion. Goods sold under its ‘outdoor’ banners — associated with rock climbing, cycling, camping, and so on — contribute a single-digit percentage to the group’s revenue.

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings

No UK sports share can match the glamour of Aston Martin. The company’s state-of-the-art headquarters and main production facilities are in Warwickshire, and its Formula One team is headquartered in Silverstone. With its motor racing heritage and as James Bond’s marque of choice, Aston Martin has long been a symbol of quintessential British style and derring-do.

Although this FTSE 250 firm generates a negligible amount of its revenue from motorsport, its association with Formula One is invaluable for accessing cutting-edge technology and the global promotion of the brand.

Yet, this relationship seems to be changing from a fully-owned identity to a licensed one as management announced plans to sell the naming rights to the Aston Martin F1 team in February 2026 in a move to raise liquidity as part of its ongoing efforts to fix its financials.

Celtic

Celtic is not only a powerhouse of Scottish football but also a perennial participant in European competitions. It famously became the first British team to win the European Cup in 1967. The club also enjoys a passionate global following. Although it’s important to highlight the financial sensitivity the company has to the competitions it participates in.

Among the sports stocks listed on the London Stock Exchange, Celtic is the only football club. Its shares trade on the exchange’s junior AIM market.

Since the post-pandemic return of fans to matches, about half the company’s revenue has come from its football and stadium operations. The remainder has come from merchandising, multimedia, and other commercial activities.

Investing in sports shares on foreign stock markets

Venturing beyond the London Stock Exchange opens up a greater range of sports shares. 

For example, a host of European football clubs, including Manchester United, can be traded on the US market. And, of course, this market’s also home to a number of notable US sports stocks:

• Nike
• Liberty Media Formula One
• Dick’s Sporting Goods
• Madison Square Garden Sports

Are sports stocks right for you?

Sports stocks map onto a range of business sectors. As such, investors need to consider the characteristics of these sectors.

Sports betting is considered what’s termed a ‘defensive’ business. Gambling behaviour doesn’t tend to vary much through the economic cycle, so earnings should be fairly resilient. Of course, these stocks won’t be right for investors with a moral objection to gambling.

The consumer goods sector also has some resilient qualities. Meanwhile, retailers — particularly those reliant on discretionary consumer spending — tend to be more vulnerable in economic downturns.

Owning shares in a sports team comes with some unique features. Among other things, competition success or failure, the hiring or firing of a manager, and a significant player transfer in or out of the club can all impact the share price — for better or worse. Also, in some cases, the priorities and interests of a majority owner of a club may not be the same as those of minority shareholders and fans.

Investing in sports stocks requires consideration of the various sub-categories and individual companies within them, then, assessing how well they align with your investment goals and appetite for risk.

Not all sports stocks will be suitable for all investors. However, with the sports industry as a whole growing faster than global GDP, it’s certainly a sector worth investigating.

The post Investing in Sports Shares: Top UK Sports Stocks of 2026 appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

The Flutter share price had been sliding over the past year. But it looks like there’s been a change in investor sentiment since mid-July.

Looking back over the past few years, the Flutter share price has been through a bit of a boom and bust cycle. It’s all down to the pandemic, lockdowns, and social restrictions. And short-term booms like that can obscure the longer-term picture.

Revenue up, profit down

Looking at the latest figures, they still seem a bit mixed. Flutter saw an 11% rise in revenue compared to the first half of 2021. But adjusted EBITDA fell 19%.

Big one-off costs led to a reported loss after tax of £112m. But on an adjusted basis, Flutter recorded a £177m profit. That was still 42% down on last year, mind.

There’s some normalisation of longer-term gambling trends going on. But this mix of higher revenue with lower profits suggests we need more time to see where things are headed.

There is a change in geographic mix happening at the same time, which complicates things. In the US, Flutter saw positive adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter. It also says its sports betting market share grew to 51% in Q2, and that it has “confidence in full year 2023 EBITDA profit“.

Valuation

Valuing growth shares in the early stages of a potential expansion is hard. And Flutter is no exception. Doubling up its adjusted first-half earnings suggests a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 54. While not quite Tesla or Amazon territory, that’s still high.

But trying to value Flutter Entertainment on this year’s possible earnings would be a bit short-sighted. The company is still only in the early stages of its US expansion, and that market is potentially very large.

Forecasts show that big P/E coming down to under 19 by 2024. That is still more than two years away. And the past few years have shown what can happen to stock markets in that kind of timescale.

But if the analysts are even in the right general area, I’d see Flutter as a buy at the current price.

Debt vs cash

I’m not put off by an increase in net debt to £3bn. Usually that would turn me away, but I can see Flutter being able to deal with it in the medium term. As a reflection on cash flow potential, forecasts have a 3% dividend yield down for 2024 too. Chief executive Peter Jackson also spoke of potential in “high growth markets such as India, Canada and Brazil.”

The downside though, is the UK. The industry is still waiting on the Gambling Act Review White Paper, which is taking a long time. Flutter could face potential problems with future gambling legislation, both here and worldwide.

I also fear that soaring prices might put a squeeze on disposable incomes over the next year or so. And that has to be another risk. But Flutter is definitely a candidate share to buy for me.

The post After a 10% price jump, is this a top FTSE 100 share to buy now? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.