The at-a-glance list of gaming manufacturers’ stock performances took a nosedive last month. The AGEM Index, which is provided by the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM), closed at 468.91 points for the month, representing a 13.2% decline as it slimmed down by 71.59 points. The drop was put squarely on the shoulders of the coronavirus outbreak, but there was a little bit of good news. The stock prices of major publicly-listed manufacturers actually saw an uptick of 1.1% compared to February 2019.

In providing the monthly update, AGEM asserts that the drop was a result of weaker performances of all  “13 AGEM Index companies as markets around the globe reacted to the uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 outbreak.” It adds, “All three major United States stock indices decreased as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 experienced monthly declines of 10.1 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively. The Nasdaq also experienced a drop of 6.4 percent.“

There were a couple of companies that saw huge losses in the month. Scientific Games Corp., which provides games for lotteries and retail and online casinos, was down 26.6% from January and 37.2% from a year earlier. That change forced the Index down 8.42%.  International Game Technology, a company dedicated primarily to slot machines and lotteries, dropped 21.1% from one month to the next, and 38.3% year-on-year. However, its performance resulted in just an 8.56-point drop in the Index.

Aristocrat Leisure out of Australia saw a slightly different story. It fell only 8.5% from January to February; however, this forced the Index down by 28.12 points. On a positive note, the company’s stock value had increased by 34.5% when compared to February of last year.