The pandemic has been working miracles for the indoor entertainment industry. Be it videogames or online streaming, an increasing number of people have been spending more on indoor entertainment given that they are still hesitant about movie theatres and parks.
Last year, the popularity of video streaming services skyrocketed as global subscriptions surpassed the 1 billion mark. New subscriber additions mean more revenues, thus making it a great year for streaming service providers.
Milestone Year for Streaming Services
According to the Motion Picture Association’s annual Theme report, global subscriptions for video streaming jumping to 1.1 billion in 2020. A total of 23.1 million new subscribers were added across the world, reflecting an increase of 26% on a year-over-year basis.
The United States was one of the biggest gainers last year, with subscribers growing 32% from 2019 to 306.8 million. Per the study, 55% of U.S. adults said that they watched more films and television shows through digital platforms.
Streaming Services Poised to Grow
Almost all video streaming services companies have been witnessing a surge in new users and subscriptions. Streaming services have already been giving cable TV a run for their money and the pandemic further intensified the competition.
According to the study, cable TV subscriptions declined globally by 2% in 2020 to 530.7 million. The subscriber growth is being witnessed by almost all major video streaming service providers.
Earlier this month,
The Walt Disney Company
DIS
reported that its Disney+ streaming service has reached a subscriber base of 100 since its launch in November 2019.
Netflix, Inc.
NFLX
already has more than 200 million subscribers, while HBO Max recently said it reached 37.7 million in January. As streaming service adoption expands, so does usage. And that is exactly what is happening. The trend is likely to continue given that the virus scare is still making people hesitant to step out of their houses.
Stocks in Focus
Streaming services are one of the rare few benefiting from the coronavirus pandemic, which has kept billions of people at home with nothing to do but stream. This thus makes an opportune time to invest in video and music streaming stocks.
Apple, Inc.
AAPL
launched its streaming services last year and has gained immense popularity since then. The company reportedly has more than 30 million TV subscribers. The company also plans to offer a bundled service in the future, which is likely to further boost its subscriber figures.
The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 36.6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 11.2% over the past 60 days. Apple has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here
.
Netflix, Inc.
is considered a pioneer in the streaming space. It has been spending aggressively on building its original show portfolio. The streaming giant had over 200 million paid subscribers globally.
The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 61.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 9.5% over the past 60 days. The company currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Amazon.com, Inc.
AMZN
, besides being an e-commerce giant, offers several other services. Amazon Prime, a membership program, provides access to streaming of movies and TV episodes among other services and is one of the market leaders in the streaming space.
The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 18.2%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 10.5% over the past 60 days. Amazon carries a Zacks Rank #3.
Comcast Corporation
’s
CMCSA
Peacock video streaming service has already gained more than 26 million subscribers since its launch eight months ago. Peacock has three tiers of service: Free, Premium, and Premium Plus. Peacock also offers a lineup of around 25 curated digital linear channels, featuring long-form and digital-originated programming content from NBCUniversal’s broadcast and cable properties as well as third-party content providers.
The company’s expected earnings growth rate for next year is 9.2%. Its shares have gained 8.1% over the past month. Comcast carries a Zacks Rank #3
.
The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All
Last year, it generated $24 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it’s predicted to blast through the roof to $77.6 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce “the world’s first trillionaires,” but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.
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