What happened Shares of casino operator Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ: PENN) are higher by 8.9% late Thursday following the company's second-quarter earnings beat and an announcement that the company intends to acquire Score Media and Gaming (NASDAQ: SCR). The deal will deepen Penn's reach into the sports and sports-betting markets. So what For the three-month stretch ending in June, Penn National Gaming earned $1.17 per share on revenue of $1.55 billion. Both figures were up compared to pandemic-crimped results produced in the second quarter of last year, but more important, those results topped analyst expectations of $1.45 billion worth of sales and profits of $0.90 per share. It also appears the company will be able to continue its recovery from the pandemic-prompted lull. Image source: Getty Images. At least some of that growth will be spurred by the $2 billion acquisition of Score Media and Gaming, which is the name behind sports app theScore. The app offers users access to sports-related media and information as well sports-based betting where it's legal to do so. Now what The potential of the acquisition is significant. Penn National Gaming is already a stakeholder in Barstool Sports, and has leveraged the brand name within (and outside of) its resorts to appeal to consumers who may not be interested in a traditional casino experience. At the same time, with technology market research outfit Technavio estimating that the sports betting market itself will grow at an annual clip of 10% through 2024 -- and be $134 billion bigger than it was in 2020 as a result -- Penn's positioning is a smart move. Sure, Thursday's 9% pop makes stepping in now a daunting proposition. Given the stock's subpar performance since peaking in March, though, there's still lots of room to recover a big piece of that 50% pullback. Today's jolt may well be a sign that the pivot out of this multi-month sell-off is finally taking shape. 10 stocks we like better than Penn National GamingWhen our award-winning analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* They just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Penn National Gaming wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of June 7, 2021 James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source