Amazon Boosts Show Archive with A24 Streaming Pact Extension
Online retail gaint Amazon.com Inc. AMZN recently announced the extension of an exclusive content deal with the independent film studio — A24. The deal is an attempt to expand the archive of television shows and films currently available on its streaming video site, Amazon Prime Instant Video.
Amazon Instant Video is a digital video streaming and download service that lets users rent, buy or subscribe to a range of video content.
Coming to the price performance, over the past one year, shares of Amazon outperformed the Zacks categorized Electronic Commerce industry. While the industry gained 40.11%, the stock returned 54.70%.
Benefits of A24 Expanded Deal
The deal will make Prime Instant Video the exclusive online subscription service for streaming all current as well as forthcoming movies from A24. These include the Oscar-winning, Mahershala Ali-starrer Moonlight, which will be available on Amazon Video starting May 21. Other flicks like Swiss Army Man, The Lobster, Rachel Weisz and Green Room are already available on Prime Video.
Some other A24 releases to be available on Amazon's Prime Video later this year include 20th Century Women, American Honey, Free Fire, The Lovers, It Comes At Night and Manchester star (and best actor Oscar winner) Casey Affleck's next film A Ghost Story, directed by David Lowery.
The online retail giant first inked its multiyear partnership with A24 in 2013. This gave Prime Instant Video the exclusive right to stream A24 titles, namely Spring Breakers, The Spectacular Now, The Bling Ring, Obvious Child, The Lobster and The Witch, among others. Also, past Oscar winners Ex Machina, Room and Amy were available to Prime Video subscribers after their DVD and Blu-ray releases.
These programs can be viewed via Amazon Video app for TVs, connected devices including Fire TV, mobile devices and even online at www.amazon.com/primevideo by Prime Instant Video members.
Bottom Line
The world’s biggest online giant is taking the necessary steps to expand its user base and increase its sales. It has been striving to boost its digital media sales and draw new users.
We believe that expanding the Prime Instant Video video archive is one of Amazon’s key strategies. The company is spending a considerable amount on licensing deals for movies and TV shows to attract more viewers. The deal is the latest effort by Amazon to strengthen its position against Netflix NFLX, the leading online video subscription service in the United States.
The addition of these new A24 releases will boost Amazon’s program line-up, making Prime Instant Video more attractive. Moreover, it will help Amazon to expand its footprint in the growing streaming market at a much faster rate.
Amazon.com, Inc. Price and Consensus
Amazon.com, Inc. Price and Consensus | Amazon.com, Inc. Quote
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Amazon carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector include ON Semiconductor Corporation ON and Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. AEIS, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
For the current year, estimates for ON Semiconductor went up 7.8% in the past 60 days, and those for Advanced Energy increased 18.2%.
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