Welcome to Episode #91 of the Zacks Market Edge Podcast.
Every week, host and Zacks stock strategist, Tracey Ryniec, will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life.
In this episode, Tracey is joined by Zacks intern Megan Sanks, a student at DePaul University in Chicago, to discuss how she and other Millennials use digital media.
Digital media companies are starting to mature. The Huffington Post, for instance, is absolutely ancient now. Business Insider, which used to be the newbie upstart, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. It now gets about 50 million unique visitors a month.
New digital media companies also continue to launch, proving that there hasn’t yet been saturation.
Axios, the news site founded by two ex-Politico staffers, is only 6 months old and it already has 80 staffers. In May 2017, it got 4 million unique views.
Many digital media companies are privately held, but there are some big-name players that investors should be aware of in the space.
Who Are the Big Players in Digital Media?
1. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is one of the kings, thanks to its Facebook News and Live feeds. But it’s really Instagram which is transforming digital media. Megan discusses how she and her friends use Instagram.
2. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has made big inroads with the large brands through Apple News. However, neither Megan nor Tracey uses it.
3. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL, NASDAQ:GOOG) has been transforming digital media for years thanks to YouTube. It’s still a mainstay with Millennials, GenX and everyone else in between.
4. Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) was hot out of the gate as many brands felt it was a “must” but what about now? Does Megan use it to get news?
5. J2 Global Inc (NASDAQ:JCOM) is a small cap digital media company that owns a bunch of websites such as AskMen and PCMag.com, among others. This may seem “old school” but these websites are still using online advertising to generate great cash flow. J2 Global is a way to get into the space through a growing small cap company if you want to avoid the really big media names.
Brands Are Important to Millennials
Tracey and Megan also ventured into a few other topics.
1. Did Chipotle’s food scare change her habits with regard to eating there? Is she a Chipotle fan?
2. Uber or Lyft? What are Millennials in Chicago choosing?
Additionally, Tracey and Megan talked about the future of libraries. Is the brick and mortar library doomed now that most information can be found online and in the cloud?
Find out the answer to that and more on this week’s podcast.
[In full disclosure, Tracey owns shares of FB and GOOGL in her personal portfolio.]
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