Apple AAPL leaves no stone unturned to expand its content portfolio. The iPhone maker recently signed an exclusive multi-year deal with Playtone, headed by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.
Per Deadline, quoted by 9TO5 Mac, Playtone will develop series, documentaries, and unscripted projects for Apple TV+.
Tom-Hanks-actors Greyhound and Finch It aired on Apple TV+ after Apple acquired the rights. Greyhound from Sony Pictures and Finch from Universal. Reportedly, Apple and Playtone are working on a sequel. Greyhound.
Apple and Tom Hanks also recently completed production on the WWII series, Air Masters.
The addition of leading content creators like Hanks certainly raises Apple's prospects in the now-dominated and increasingly competitive streaming market. Netflix Increased offers from NFLX and streaming services Disney DIS and Amazon AMZN.
Apple Inc. Price and Consensus
Apple Inc. price-consensus-chart | Apple Inc. Quotation
Apple TV+ gains recognition Ted Lasso winner of multiple Emmy Awards and most recently, CODA won three Academy Awards. Apple's TV+ Academy Award wins over primary streaming rival Netflix Power of the Dog It cemented Apple TV+'s position as a serious competitor in the streaming industry.
Apple is trying to expand its footprint in different genres to attract audiences. Apple TV+ recently acquired the rights to stream weekly Major League Baseball (“MLB”) games, including two Friday night games.
The announcement of the Apple-MLB deal marks Apple's entry into the lucrative live sports market, currently dominated by companies like Disney (via ESPN and Fox Sports), NBC and CBS. Streaming service providers like Apple and Amazon are new entrants to this market space.
But Amazon is way ahead of Apple in this scenario. In 2021, the National Football League announced a new set of long-term TV deals, including a contract with Amazon, under which Amazon's streaming service Prime Video becomes the exclusive broadcaster of Thursday Night Football starting the 2022 season.
Apple recently announced the launch of a new premium documentary series. Prehistoric Planet. The documentary will feature original music by multiple Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer and will be narrated by the legendary Sir David Attenborough.
Apple TV+ is available at a lower price than its competitors in the United States and, along with great content, is expected to help the company attract subscribers in the long run.
But Netflix is spending aggressively to build its original content portfolio and maintain its leading position in the streaming industry. Netflix's diversified content portfolio, which can be attributed to heavy investments in the production and distribution of localized, foreign-language content, is a major catalyst.
Disney has an impressive lineup of big-budget movies scheduled for release in the next 12 months, some of which will air on Disney+ at the same time as their release.
Disney is also expanding into international markets. Disney+ had 129.8 million paid subscribers as of January 1, 2022, while it had 94.9 million paid subscribers as of January 2, 2021. Excluding Disney+ Hotstar, Disney added 5.1 million paid subscribers, mainly driven by growth in the Asia Pacific and European markets. The launch of Disney+ in South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong has driven the growth of its user base.
Apple Outperforms Streaming Competitors
Year-to-date, Apple's shares fell 5.6%, compared to Amazon's 9.8%, Disney's 15.6% and Netflix's 42.9%.
Apple is benefiting from continued momentum in Services and strong performance from iPhone, Mac, Wearables and an expanding App Store ecosystem.
However, this Zacks 2nd Rank (Buy) did not provide revenue guidance for the second quarter of fiscal 2022, given the uncertainty about the impact of the pandemic. You can view the full list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Still, Apple expects to see solid year-over-year revenue growth and record second-quarter revenue despite significant supply constraints that it predicts will be less than in the fiscal first quarter.
Zacks Announces 'Double Single Best Pick'
Out of thousands of stocks, each of the 5 Zack experts chose their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in the coming months. Of these five, Sheraz Mian, Director of Research, chooses the most explosive.
A little-known chemical company, up 65% from last year, but still very cheap. With relentless demand, rising 2022 earnings forecasts, and $1.5 billion in share buybacks, retail investors can jump in at any moment.
This company could rival other recent Zacks Stock, which is Double to Double to Double, like the Boston Beer Company, which rose +143.0% in a little less than 9 months, and NVIDIA, which had a +175.9% boom in one year, or can pass them.
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