How Are The Social Networks Performing In 2021?
This week, we’ll take a look at the performance of some of the top social media stocks before going over the biggest blips on your weekly trading radar. Let’s go!
Social media in the spotlight
Let’s look at the health of the companies behind the most popular digital networks on the planet.
Note: Social media is a bit of a minefield when it comes to ownership, so where there’s no specific stock, we’ll take a look at that of the parent company (if they themselves are publicly listed!).
Facebook, Inc. (FB)
Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp
Price on 01.01: 268.94 USD
Price on 04.05: 315.94 USD
YTD % change: +17.5%
Just because Facebook is one of the biggest tech companies on the planet doesn’t mean it can’t post impressive revenue growth numbers. That’s exactly what it did a few weeks ago as it revealed a 48% top-line growth rate with its Q1 earnings report.
Revenue jumped 47.6% to $26.2 billion, smashing analyst expectations of $23.7 billion. This growth was driven by a 30% increase in ad prices and a 12% uptick in impressions. The emergence of the Oculus also padded results as revenue in its “other” segment, jumping 146% to $732 million.
With its plethora of social networking products, Facebook is still the undisputed champ of social media.
FB stock, YTD
Source: Google
Twitter, Inc (TWTR)
Price on 01.01: 54.53 USD
Price on 04.05: 51.73 USD
YTD % change: -5.1%
Ah, Twitter. The perennial underachiever. While its stock price hasn’t exactly gone to the moon this year, things may be looking up.
Twitter reported revenues of $1.04 billion in Q1/2021, up 28% (YoY). Average daily users reached 199 million, also up 20% (YoY).
Twitter is big into user engagement and a major part of that comes from the live commentary of sporting and cultural events. Of course, the pandemic put paid to that for quite some time. However, now that many countries begin to emerge from the Covid-19 crisis, Twitter could be the first to benefit.
Two major sporting events are coming this summer — the Olympics and the UEFA European Championship — engagement could be back on the menu and with a strong Q1 behind it, it’ll be interesting to see where Twitter ends up!
TWTR stock, YTD
Source: Google
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
LinkedIn, Skype
Price on 01.01: 217.69 USD
Price on 04.05: 248.15 USD
YTD % change: +14.0%
LinkedIn had a strong 2020, with Microsoft recently announcing the network’s ad revenue topped $3 billion last year, pipping Snap and Pinterest to the post.
LinkedIn has consistently grown its revenues since Microsoft acquired it in 2016. The parent company hasn’t exactly been doing too badly this year either, with MSFT stock jumping 14% in value since the new year.
MSFT stock, YTD
Source: Google
ByteDance, Ltd.
Tiktok
Tiktok’s owner, ByteDance is still a privately-owned company, so nothing to say here re. specific stock price. However, rumours of an IPO have recently hit the buffers as the company struggles to meet the demands of US regulations.
A major issue is pulling off the successful separation of TikTok’s global operations from its Chinese sister app, Douyin, as both apps share the same algorithm.
That said, things couldn’t be going better for the app itself. It was the most popular app in the world in 2020, in terms of downloads at least (850 million); it’s live in 154 countries, and boasts the highest engagement rate of any social network. Neat.
All eyes are on that restructuring. Many investors will likely be licking their lips in anticipation.
Alpha Exploration Co.
Clubhouse
The newest kid on the block. Again, not an easy one to assess as the “drop-in audio” network is a privately owned company, with some 180 venture capitalists each holding a piece of the pie. However, it’s been an interesting few months for the most exclusive app on the planet.
The audio-only, invite-only app has 10 million weekly active users according to a town hall meeting recently hosted by CEO, Paul Davidson — that’s up from 600,000 in December 2020. This user-base has also now officially made its parent company a unicorn, after being valued at over $1 billion.
Yet, it’s not all been plain sailing. The product is covered in controversy related to its lack of moderation. Vanity Fair wrote a piece in December stating that Clubhouse had “become a haven for the powerful to flirt with misogyny and racism.”
As Facebook plans to launch an audio-only rival this summer, could Clubhouse’s days already be numbered?
What’s going on in the markets this week?
We recommend keeping an eye on the following events.
Monday
● No specific events planned.
Tuesday
● JPY — GDP Growth Annualised Prel (Q1)
● GBP — Employment Change (FEB)
● EUR — GDP Growth Rate QoQ 2nd Est (Q1); GDP Growth Rate YoY 2nd Est (Q1)
Wednesday
● GBP — GDP Growth Rate YoY 2nd Est (Q1)
● CAD — Inflation Rate YoY (APR)
● USD — FOMC Minutes
Thursday
● AUD — Employment Change (APR); Unemployment Rate (APR)
Friday
● JPY — Inflation Rate YoY (APR)
● USD — Markit Manufacturing PMI Flash (MAY)
Here at Contentworks we closely follow market movements and prep content that we think your traders would love to read. Let’s get you started right here.
Speak soon,
The Contentworks team
