We recently compiled a list of the 12 Best Streaming Service Stocks to Buy According to Analysts. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) stands against the other streaming service stocks.

The live streaming market size is expected to increase by US$20.64 billion, reflecting a CAGR of ~16.6% over 2024 and 2029, as per Technavio. The significant use of smartphones and constant internet connectivity allows users to easily stream content, resulting in market expansion. Furthermore, technological advancements such as AI and VR continue to enhance user experiences, further bolstering the market’s momentum.

Pivoting to Next-generation Streaming 2.0

After 4 years of experimentation among the legacy global diversified media companies, S&P Global believes that 2025 can be an inflection point in the broader industry’s multi-year transition to streaming from linear TV. The scaling of advertising on streaming is expected to be a critical component for growth in profitability. Most of the streaming services don’t have enough subscribers on ad-tiers to attract advertising dollars, mainly those advertising budgets that are departing linear TV, says the firm.

Mainly for 2025, the firm expects companies to announce international JVs and domestic bundling arrangements. Why? These strategies can help the scaling up of streaming services, manage operating expenses through sharing infrastructure costs (mainly in second-tier international markets), and reduce churn.

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Focusing on Quality and Not Quantity

As per BDO, media companies and those organizations providing streaming services have increased their content libraries in a bid to attract new customers. Over the past few years, several media companies and streaming providers focused on customer attraction, targeting to get as many new subscribers as possible. The streaming platforms continued to churn out new material, resulting in a content boom. Now, the companies are focused on prioritizing customer retention as they reassess the quality of their content to ensure that it addresses demand.

BDO expects that most major streaming platforms are expected to increase their spending on content by less than 10% over the upcoming few years. The broader streaming industry continues to invest in podcasts. However, since the podcast space remains crowded, differentiating new products is expected to remain critical in 2025 to fuel demand.

As the broader sector evolves, media companies and streaming platforms need to revamp their strategies to reap the benefits of opportunities and address challenges, like subscribers sharing credentials and customer retention. BDO opines that these companies are required to look for ways to improve revenues, either by increasing the service fees or adding ad-free tiers.

Our Methodology

To list the 12 Best Streaming Service Stocks to Buy According to Analysts, we sifted through several online rankings and chose companies catering to the broader streaming services sector. Next, we chose the ones that analysts view as Strong Buy stocks and see upside to. Finally, the stocks were arranged in ascending order of their average upside potential, as of February 14. We also mentioned the hedge fund sentiment around each stock, as of Q3 2024.

At Insider Monkey we are obsessed with the stocks that hedge funds pile into. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Average Upside Potential: 18%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 286

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is engaged in the retail sale of consumer products, advertising, and subscription services. The company caters to the streaming service business through Amazon Prime Video. The company delivered at its fastest speeds ever for Prime members in 2024. It delivered over 65% more items to US Prime members on the same day or overnight than in Q4 2023. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was able to draw 50 million worldwide viewers to Red One in its first 4 days and made it Amazon MGM Studios’ most-watched film debut ever on Prime Video.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s subscription services (including Prime Video) and third-party seller services are expected to continue to contribute to the company’s diversified revenue streams. Its focus on enhancing its content offerings and improving the experience for third-party sellers can support growth in such areas. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s Prime membership has been encountering strong growth, fueled by enhanced benefits including unlimited free shipping and exclusive events.

Notably, the company rolled out a new fuel discount benefit, which further increased the membership’s attractiveness. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s strong pursuit of better selection, price, and delivery speed continues to drive accelerated growth in Prime membership. Fred Alger Management, an investment management company, released its Q4 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:

“Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is a renowned online retailer and leader in cloud computing. The company’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) division offers utility-scale cloud solutions that support corporate America’s digital transition. During the quarter, Amazon’s shares contributed to performance as the company reported better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results, with revenues and earnings beating analyst estimates. Operating margins expanded to 11%, driven by efficiency gains in logistics and robust AWS performance. Notably, AWS revenue growth accelerated during the quarter, along with recording its highest-ever operating margin of 38.1%, driven by easing cloud cost optimizations, renewed workload migrations, and an increasing contribution from AI workloads. On their earnings call, management highlighted plans to increase capital expenditures to enhance their technology infrastructure, catering to the surging demand for AI-driven computing.”

Overall AMZN ranks 5th on our list of the best streaming service stocks to buy according to analysts. While we acknowledge the potential of AMZN as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued AI stock that is more promising than AMZN but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.