The Virus is back out of control across the US. That means the depressing prospect of more time sitting at home looking for something to do. Here’s a couple ideas: trade stocks and watch streaming entertainment!
It looks like those aren’t exactly original suggestions. The number of Robinhood accounts started up since March has skyrocketed. Daytrading is the new everything. But so is streaming OTT entertainment.
In other words, there’s a symbiosis – a circumstantial brotherhood – between these two ideas right now. And the former can lead to strong action in the latter, with entertainment stocks blasting off during the covid-19 crisis. But there may be plenty more where that came from as the US sets depressing new records with each passing day in terms of the number of new cases and hospitalizations.
With that in mind, here are a few of the more interesting entertainment stocks in play right now: Genius Brands International Inc (NASDAQ:GNUS), Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT), Valiant Eagle Inc (OTCMKTS:PSRU), and Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX).
Genius Brands International Inc (NASDAQ:GNUS) trumpets itself as a content and brand management company that creates and licenses multimedia content for toddlers to tweens worldwide.
The company offers Rainbow Rangers, an animated series about the adventures of seven magical girls; Llama Llama, an animated series; SpacePop is a music and fashion driven animated property; Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab, a STEM-based comedy adventure series; and Warren Buffet’s Secret Millionaire’s Club, an animated series for kids.
It also develops animated series, such as Superhero Kindergarten and Baby Genius. In addition, the company acts as a licensing agent for Llama Llama. It serves various customers and partners, including broadcasters, consumer products licensees, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers.
Genius Brands International Inc (NASDAQ:GNUS) has entered into a ground-breaking comic book publishing agreement with Archie Comics (Archie, Betty & Veronica, Sabrina, Josie and the Pussycats, and more), to publish comic books/graphic novels based on the never-before-exploited IP of Stan Lee Universe.
“It is only fitting that the comic book roots of Stan Lee, which began with Marvel, give birth to the next generation of great Stan Lee properties. I have long felt that the greatest Stan Lee characters and stories have yet to be told, and the next Marvel has yet to be built. That is Stan Lee Universe,” said Genius Brands CEO and Chairman, Andy Heyward. “Archie Comics are everywhere. You can’t go to a supermarket checkout stand and not see them, and soon that will be the same with Stan Lee Universe. Under the leadership of Jon Goldwater, shows like Riverdale and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina have become huge hits. Jon understands better than anyone the unique value of Stan Lee and his ideas. There is no better publishing partner than Archie to bring Stan Lee Universe comics to market.”
Even in light of this news, GNUS has had a rough past week of trading action, with shares sinking something like -7% in that time. That said, chart support is nearby and we may be in the process of constructing a nice setup for some movement back the other way.
Genius Brands International Inc (NASDAQ:GNUS) pulled in sales of $335K in its last reported quarterly financials, representing top line growth of -72.6%. In addition, the company is battling some balance sheet hurdles, with cash levels struggling to keep up with current liabilities ($5.7M against $19.3M, respectively).
Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) bills itself as a company that, together with its subsidiaries, provides audio streaming services in the United States, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Premium and Ad-Supported.
The company offers unlimited online and offline high-quality streaming access to its catalog of music and podcasts without commercial breaks to its subscribers. It also provides on-demand online access to its catalog of music and unlimited online access to the catalog of podcasts to its subscribers with no subscription fees; and sales, marketing, contract research and development, and customer support services.
Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) just announced that it has launched its service in 13 new markets across Europe including Russia, one of the world’s top 20 largest streaming markets. Already the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service, with today’s expansion, Spotify now reaches a current total of 92 markets worldwide.
According to the company’s most recent release, Spotify’s 13 new markets include: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Ukraine.
And the stock has been acting well over recent days, up something like 12% in that time.
Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) managed to rope in revenues totaling $2B in overall sales during the company’s most recently reported quarterly financial data — a figure that represents a rate of top line growth of 18.7%, as compared to year-ago data in comparable terms. In addition, the company is battling some balance sheet hurdles, with cash levels struggling to keep up with current liabilities ($1.8B against $2.6B, respectively).
Valiant Eagle Inc (OTCMKTS:PSRU) bills as a media conglomerate focused on the energizing of entertainment in television, film, Internet, and social media. This is a publicly traded corporation focused on the energizing of celebrity entertainment, social media and TV communications. VE aims to achieve an unparalleled advancement towards media through music, sports and, with respect to the millennial generation, through technology.
Technology is an important part of our life especially in the last century more than ever. With benefits such as speed, accuracy, unlimited information and more, the internet has provided various means of communicating without delay nor difficulty. However, a level of consumer satisfaction has yet to be reached. Valiant Eagle, Inc. looks to fill this void with media assets like XMG, Providence Films, and OKTV. XMG has a portfolio of over two dozen streaming and broadcast channels, each in its own specific niche or micro-niche and ranging from sports, cannabis, music, childrens entertainment, fitness, horror, to many others.
Valiant Eagle Inc (OTCMKTS:PSRU) recently announced that its subsidiary, Xavier Media Group (XMG), launched Rapport TV to its catalog of streaming television channels. Rapport TV caters to the baby boomer generation who appreciates the nostalgia of classic TV.
According to the company’s release, the channel brings viewers the best in classic televisioncomedies like The Odd Couple, The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, The Love Boat, and M*A*S*H. It also offers dramas such as Columbo, The Rockford Files, The Mod Squad, and Perry Mason. It will also include great westerns like The Big Valley, The Rifleman, Bonanza, and Gunsmoke; sci-fi classics like The Twilight Zone, Lost In Space, Star Trek and more.
Even in light of this news, PSRU has been rangebound over the past two months, with a potential breakout trigger above in the $0.25-0.30 zone, where the stock was trading a few days ago. Shares of the stock have powered higher over the past month, rallying roughly 43% in that time on strong overall action.
Valiant Eagle Inc (OTCMKTS:PSRU) managed to rope in revenues totaling $139K in overall sales during the company’s most recently reported quarterly financial data — a figure that represents a rate of top line growth of 59.3%, as compared to year-ago data in comparable terms. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels far exceeding current liabilities ($92K against $23K).
Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) trumpets itself as a company that provides subscription streaming entertainment service. It offers TV series, documentaries, and feature films across various genres and languages.
The company provides members the ability to receive streaming content through a host of Internet-connected screens, including TVs, digital video players, television set-top boxes, and mobile devices. It also provides DVDs-by-mail membership services. The company has approximately 167 million paid members in 190 countries.
Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) just reported very strong Q2 results (much higher than expected FCF due to reduced marketing and production costs and higher than expected subscriber adds) but warned about a slowdown in subscriber growth from a pull forward in demand due to the pandemic.
In response, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their NFLX tgt to $600 from $500. Analyst Brian White said, “Netflix reported strong 2Q:20 results and provided a prudent 3Q:20 outlook. We are increasing our estimates and raising our 12-month price target to $600 from $500.” However, at the same time, Goldman lowered their NFLX tgt to $600 from $670. Analyst Heath Terry said, “While we expected even more significant upside to consensus estimates given the strength in downloads and declining churn, looking beyond the current crisis we continue to believe that Netflix’s massive content investments, global distribution ecosystem and improving competitive position will further drive financial results significantly above consensus expectations. We remain Buy rated (on CL) though we lower our 12-month price target to $600 from $670 to reflect our revised estimates.”
The stock has suffered a bit of late, with shares of NFLX taking a hit in recent action, down about -4% over the past week. Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) managed to rope in revenues totaling $6.1B in overall sales during the company’s most recently reported quarterly financial data — a figure that represents a rate of top line growth of 24.9%, as compared to year-ago data in comparable terms. In addition, the company is battling some balance sheet hurdles, with cash levels struggling to keep up with current liabilities ($7.2B against $7.6B, respectively).
