Spotify Stock Shaky as Amazon Eyes Podcasts
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.