Buy 3 Streaming Content Providers That Have Appreciated Past Month

Streaming content is an audio or video file on the Internet that can be played without being fully downloaded, significantly reducing wait times for online content, depending on the Internet connection speed. 

The content creation layer forms the foundation of the streaming ecosystem, which typically comprises four categories: film and TV studios, live media producers, game publishers and developers and user-generated content. This space focuses on companies that are involved in streaming music and video, including consumer-facing brands, and infrastructure and technology providers.

Here we recommend three streaming content stocks with a favorable Zacks Rank that have popped in the past month. These are Netflix Inc. NFLX, Roku Inc. ROKU and Fox Corp. FOXA. Each of our picks carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Competitive Landscape

The push for exclusivity on subscription video-on-demand and music platforms has intensified the content wars, forcing streaming firms to spend exorbitant amounts on content creation. As exclusive content remains a key differentiator with evolving competition from the metaverse and immersive digital storytelling, companies are increasingly vying for market share by offering compelling content libraries, unique features and competitive pricing. 

The chart below shows the price performance of our three picks in the past month. 

Netflix Inc.

Netflix handsomely beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the bottom line while the top line was mostly in line with the consensus mark in first-quarter 2025. Despite trade and tariff-related doldrums, NFLX seems to have maintained healthy engagement levels. NFLX reaffirmed its 2025 guidance irrespective of the possibility of a near-term recession.

On April 1, Netflix launched its Ad Suite in the United States. NFLX will ramp up this Ad Suite in international markets in the ensuing second quarter. The ad-supported offerings will enable management to witness impressive subscribers and ARPU (average revenue per user) growth. 
Netflix’s policies of offering an ad-supported lower-priced tier, abolishing password sharing and effective price increase, should help it to become a defensive play ahead of a possible economic downturn. 

Furthermore, Netflix uses artificial intelligence (AI), data science and machine language extensively to provide consumers with more appropriate and intuitive suggestions. Netflix's AI platform takes into account an individual’s viewing habits and hobbies and accordingly provides recommendations. 

NFLX’s AI model compiles subscriber information and recommends content based on their preferences, which can be customized by end users. AI applications enable NFLX to offer a high-quality streaming service at reduced bandwidths.  

Netflix has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 14% and 27.7%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 3% over the last 60 days. 

Roku Inc.

Roku benefits from increased user engagement on The Roku Channel and the popularity of the Roku TV program. The Roku OS is the #1 selling TV OS in the United States, with TV unit sales greater than the next two TV operating systems combined. 

The Roku Channel reached U.S. households with approximately 145 million people and remained the #3 app on its platform by both reach and engagement, with streaming hours up 82% year over year. 

More than 80% of streaming hours on The Roku Channel originates from the Roku Experience. Roku continued to expand penetration in the United States, surpassing half of the broadband households.

Roku has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 10.5% and 80.9%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 10.5% in the last 30 days.

Fox Corp.

Fox reported strong third-quarter fiscal 2025 results due to a rise in Affiliate fees, driven by growth in the Television and Cable Network Programming segments. Continued digital monetization at FOX News Media and the impact of additional live events and studio shows at FOX Sports are key growth drivers for the company’s ad revenues. 

Higher political ad revenues at the FOX Television Stations continue to strengthen pricing across the company’s news and sports brands. The FOX Network primetime lineup, which includes The Masked Singer, is popular among the 18 to 49-year-old audience, an important target group for advertisers. 

Expanding viewership within this audience group is expected to attract more advertisers, thereby driving advertising revenues. FOXA is also trying to strengthen its primetime content. Notably, FOX Sports and FOX Entertainment together deliver roughly 15 hours of high-quality, primetime programming each week on the FOX Network.

FOXA has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 15.2% and 31.8%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.6% in the last 30 days.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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