The fiscal 2nd quarter closed with solid gains in many major indexes such as the S&P 500 and FTSE 100. Cryptocurrencies saw a dramatically volatile period and many nations have shown positive signs of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
With COVID-19 vaccines rolling out around the world – the UK for example, has currently vaccinated almost 90% of its adult population – several sectors are expected to see some significant changes. With billions of people no longer trapped in their homes and the events beginning to be reintroduced, what stocks are worth watching in this third quarter?
Coinbase (COIN)
A lot of negativity appears to be hitting Coinbase as of late. During the 10% bitcoin plummet during the first day as legal tender in El Salvador, Coinbase fell 4% around the same time. It is important to watch the price of Bitcoin as a trader of Coinbase, as the crypto exchanges stock trades in tandem with the value of the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
Coinbase also came under fire recently when the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) threatened to sue the crypto exchange if they were to go ahead with a particular program launch. The program in question would allow users to gain interest by lending cryptocurrency assets – a practice that has grown in popularity.
Netflix (NFLX)
Questions were asked only a few months ago whether Netflix would hit $600 – well, today Netflix trades at $605. On Tuesday, shares of the streaming service rose 2.7%, and at one point a record high of $613, amidst a projection of over 300 million subscribers by 2025. During the second quarter, Netflix ended on 209 million subscribers worldwide. Subscribers are what drives Netflix’s growth, and you’ll find stock performance linked to those subscriber numbers.
So, if we keep an eye on the subscribers, we see that Netflix rose above Wall Street projections in June and some analysts expect 5.63 million additional subscribers in the September quarter. An online fan event planned for the 25th of September – including previews of over 70 films and series – and a significant number of new content may also be a positive factor for those looking to invest in Netflix this quarter.
Live Nation Entertainment Ltd (LVY)
With the world slowly recovering from the COVID-19 outbreak, many stocks have been branded “reopening stock” – businesses that faced significant issues during the outbreak owing to their inability to operate but expected to bounce back. Many analysts are calling Live Nation Entertainment one of those stocks due to the reopening of live venues across the world.
Revenues are expected to recover with the resurgence of ticket sales to new and rebooked events such as music festivals. Furthermore, the company has been branching into other avenues of revenue – notably non-fungible tokens and live streaming. The company also announced that costs had been reduced by $950 million in 2020 and they expect to reduce the 2021 costs by a further $750 million.
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