May
10, 2021
6 min read
This story originally appeared on StockMarket
These Communication Stocks Are Trending In The Stock Market This Week
In a world where social distancing is a necessity and countries around the world moving in and out of lockdown, alternative ways of communication become even more important. This is where communication stocks come into the limelight in the stock market. These include companies from telecommunications to social media and news outlets. The sector has evolved as the pandemic affected everyone’s lives. Fortunately, it evolved for the better, as it allowed people to explore other ways of communication. For instance, online services are being utilized more than ever after the world went into lockdown. Hence, many top communication stocks increased in value on rising demand for their services.
Take Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) and Snap Inc (NYSE: SNAP) for example. People who invested in these two companies over the past year would’ve seen significant profit. SNAP stock has risen by over 200% for the past year while TWTR stock has risen by over 80% in the same period. Thus, it is understandable that investors would be keen to invest in the top communication stocks in the stock market today. In light of that, here are four names you should be aware of.
Top Communication Stocks To Watch Now
Zoom Video Communications Inc
Zoom Video Communications is a provider of video-first communication platforms and web conferencing services. It offers a cloud-native platform, which unifies cloud video conferencing, online meetings, group messaging, and a software-based conference room system. This enables users to easily experience Zoom Meetings in their physical meeting spaces. There are not many companies that have benefitted from the global pandemic as much as Zoom. However, ZM stock has been trading sideways since the start of the year. This is likely due to COVID-19 restrictions easing up and people going back to in-person work. Naturally, investors may not be feeling too optimistic about ZM stock.
It’s worth pointing out that the management is currently projecting that revenue will grow 42% in fiscal 2022 to $3.77 billion. On top of that, Zoom is also introducing other growth initiatives such as Zoom Phone. So chances are, there is still space for growth ahead of this business. Last week, cybersecurity company Safeguard Cyber announced the introduction of its new Advanced Governance for Zoom Video Communications extension.
This augments the collaboration platform’s native security and compliance capabilities. With access to Zoom’s archive API, Safeguard delivers added security, cyber defense, compliance, and data protection. Given how important cyber-security is, this could ease users’ minds and could even encourage more users to use its platform. All things considered, is this a buying opportunity for ZM stock?
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Roku Inc
Next on the list, we have the pioneers of streaming on TV, Roku. The company produces streaming hardware and manages its proprietary streaming platform. Furthermore, it allows content publishers to build and monetize large audiences and provides advertisers with unique capabilities to engage consumers. In a nutshell, Roku facilitates content from other mainstream streaming services. This would include Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), Apple TV (NASDAQ: AAPL), and Disney+ (NYSE: DIS). Subsequently, the company receives a cut of subscription fees paid through its platform while gaining ad revenue from its free content. Hence this would put Roku in a strong position for growth regardless of which streaming company comes out on top.
It is no secret that ROKU stock has been performing relatively well for the past year. It is seeing gains of over 140% in this period. On top of that, the stock has been up by 11.55% upon Friday’s closing bell. This was likely driven by the recent first-quarter results announced by the company. In the report, revenues skyrocketed 79% from the year-ago quarter to $574.2 million.
Furthermore, usage was strong, it added 2.4 million accounts in the quarter, the number of accounts on the platform grew by 35% year-over-year. As it stands, Roku operating system (OS) is the number 1 smart TV OS in the U.S. All this coupled with the company’s profitability profile serves as a reminder to investors that Roku is well-positioned for the future. With that in mind, is ROKU stock a buy for you now?
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iHeartMedia is an audio media company that operates through two sectors: the music collection sector and the companionship sector. Its leadership position in audio extends across multiple platforms including more than 860 live broadcast stations. The company’s iHeartRadio digital service is available across more than 250 platforms and 2,000 devices including smart speakers, smartphones, TVs, and even gaming consoles. As it stands, IHRT stock has been up by a staggering 240% over the past year.
Last Friday, iHeartMedia announced its first-quarter earnings, where it posted revenue of $706.67 million. The digital audio group maintained strong growth and profit trajectory, where revenues were up by 70% year-over-year. On top of that, podcast revenue was up by 142% for the past year.
Moving forward, the company launched the first-of-its-kind Private Marketplace for brands last week. This will allow brand advertisers to compose their specific audience targets and pricing depending on their marketing needs. Given the potential for growth within the industry, will you consider IHRT stock a top communication stock to buy?
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Facebook, Inc
To finish off the list, we have the social media giant that needs no introduction, Facebook. Impressively, the company’s products empower over 3 billion people around the world. Also, over 200 million businesses use its apps to connect with customers and grow.
Consumers from the U.S. indeed do most of their internet shopping with established platforms run by companies like Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN). However, in other regions of the world such as Southeast Asia, almost half of all e-commerce takes place through social media or chat rooms including on Facebook’s apps. Social commerce accounted for about 44% of Southeast Asia’s $109 billion e-commerce market last year, according to Bain & Co.
From here, we can see that Facebook is not just a communication juggernaut, but it thrives in other areas as well. In April, the company announced its first-quarter earnings. It reported a revenue of $26.17 billion for the quarter, which was up 48% compared with the prior year. Also, net income grew by a whopping 94% to $9.5 billion. Given the endless possibilities with Facebook, would you be investing in FB stock?