Amazon's interest in podcasts puts SPOT in focus
While most of the the broad market enjoys outsized gains, the shares of Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) are flat, trading at $190.21 today. Rumors are swirling of Amazon.com's (AMZN) interest in investing in localized podcast content began circulating via a report from Axios. The article noted that sports content was a major draw for the e-commerce behemoth, as it looks to pair audio programming with the video rights to live sports.
Spotify recently inked a multi-year, $100 million deal with famous podcaster Joe Rogan. The shares promptly skyrocketed, peaking on May 21 at $196.75, a chip-shot from its July 2018 record high of $198.99. Guiding the security on its journey on the charts is its 10-day moving average, which has acted as support for much of the last two months. Thanks also in part to coronavirus-related lockdowns, Spotify stock is up 57% on the quarter.
Overall, analysts are divided on Spotify stock. Of the 16 in coverage, eight brokerages sport a "buy" or better while the other six say "hold," or "strong sell." However, the 12-month consensus target price of $168.84 is an 11.4% discount to current levels, which could signal some price-target hikes in the near future.
Options traders will be pleased to know Spotify stock currently sports attractively priced premium. SPOT's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 28% sits in the 45th percentile of its annual range, which suggests that near-term options traders are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations, a boon for premium buyers.