As this pandemic age comes with new innovations, groundbreaking developments, and revised standards of living, companies must revolutionize themselves and nimbly adapt to the present. The past year saw an unprecedented switch to the internet, as the people of the world sat stuck in their homes facing a global lockdown. This week, we will discuss in detail, prospects of two such companies that stand to weather this storm and take on the new age with bravado and a spirit of habituating- CuriosityStream (CURI) and The Azek Company Inc. (AZEK).
CuriosityStream (CURI)
CuriosityStream, an OTT streaming platform headed by Discovery Channel founder John Hendricks, is a company that looks to quench the curiosity in people’s minds by giving them information, education, and answers. This channel, encompassing over 4,000 titles already, is giving people an easily available medium for information. Covering fields of science, technology, history, nature, society, and lifestyle, CuriosityStream already has renowned professionals like Sir David Attenborough under its wing, hosting the widely popular series ‘Planet Earth II’.
CuriosityStream has reached over 175 countries and crossed 13 million subscribers worldwide. Having shown a public appearance in the market via a reverse merger through the SPAC Software Acquisition Group in 2019, this company aims to have profitable financials by 2022 as it aims to partner with universities, libraries and other educational institutions to increase its reach.
The focus on educational and factual content enables this young streamer with content costs totalling 5-10% of its scripted equivalent and allows CuriosityStream to build a large content library with limited resources. Having partnered with Georgia University, the company is already on the path to profitability. It has returned a 119% revenue growth last year, and aims to grow by 80% in 2021 to a revenue of $71 million, with its profit margins improving from a negative 208% in 2019 to a negative 64% in 2020 to a negative 17% this year. Last year, Curiosity’s total number of subscribers skyrocketed by 108% in November, and the Q3 revenue nearly doubled to $8.7 million in comparison to 2019’s revenue for the same quarter.
Key Data Points of CuriosityStream For this Year
As for its new ventures to expand, CuriosityStream aims to enter India by launching via Tata Sky’s OTT streaming platform ‘Tata Sky Binge’, tapping into a market where the voluminous population combined with widespread interest in educational content will concoct a great success story. On comparing the streaming start-up with Netflix, one can clearly see the over-powering progress the company has made in comparison, visibly establishing its niche and paving a solid path into the online streaming market. In addition to factual documentaries and Educational space, CURI might also be looking at launching Sports Documentaries.
Comparison Analysis- 1 Year Returns of CuriosityStream V/S Netflix
To get a detailed report on CuriosityStream, click here to view their most recent investor presentation
The Azek Company Inc.
The Azek Company is dedicated to transforming the building products industry from conventional and uninspiring to dynamic and sustainable. It offers low-maintenance, beautiful solutions leveraging innovations in material science to offer customers products worth their money. The company uses a first of it’s kind Alloy Armour Technology in their capped polymer decking to prevent fading and staining. Capitalising on the switch to outdoor living and lifestyle, the company concentrates majorly on creating decks for backyards that are easy to handle.
With the pandemic throwing a huge curveball to this company that went public just last year in June, Azek showed strong resilience and consistent growth. Now as the covid vaccinations pick up pace and the housing industry looks for a comeback, Azek has a promising market with great spending potential as people open up to the idea of refurbishing their decks and backyards to have more of an indoor open space. To add to this, the Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s announcement to maintain low interest rates can be a great source of attraction for the housing industry as people look to enter the market at affordable prices and loans.
Azek has shown a consistent growth in it’s net sales, with a growth of 13.2%. by $128 million despite a global crisis. It’s adjusted EBITDA grew by 23.7%, marking a profitable year for the company in 2020. For 2021’s Q1 results, it predicts a net sales and EBITDA growth of around 20% as well.
A key highlight of Azek is that they use recycled plastic waste material, preserving natural resources and using an energy efficient manufacturing process to build lasting furniture. It used 400 mm pounds of waste and scrap diverted from landfills in 2020 and reused 98% of the scrap to build its products
Key Data Points of Azek for this Year
To get a detailed report on Azek, click here to view their most recent investor presentation
Summing Up
Both CuriosityStream and Azek have shown promising growth and hold great potential for the future. The commonality these two companies share is that they are both unique and innovative in their respective fields, which helps them stand out in a pool of well-established rivals. However, before diving into the deep end and making investments, one must remember that these companies have just started off under the public eye and have a long way ahead to establish a strong footing in the market. Safe to say- don’t forget to feel the waters before you jump right in!
