Macau casino gaming revenue fell for the 23rd straight month in April, yet the scale of the decline had some analysts cheering.

According to figures released Monday by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), the market’s overall gaming revenue fell 9.5% year-on-year to MOP 17.3b (US $2.2b). The results extend Macau’s losing streak to one month shy of two years worth of negative growth.

Macau’s misfortunes have been going on for so long that the fact that April’s decline wasn’t significantly worse had some analysts cheering on Monday. Many analysts had expected a decline in the low double-digits and thus they expressed hope that April’s numbers supported recent claims/hopes of Macau casino operators that the market was showing signs of stabilizing.

The relatively flat month-on-month performance from March’s results is also giving analysts cause for optimism. Union Gaming’s Grant Govertsen said April ahd “notably outperformed what we’ve seen on a sequential basis the last three years,” leading Govertsen to predict “nice sequential growth in May.”