3 Stocks Hitting The Right Note On World Music Day

Since returns are music to investors’ ears, there’s no better way for us to observe World Music Day than with lucrative picks from companies involved in this business.

If the therapeutic effect that music has on the human mind and soul is felt in stocks, then there’s nothing like it. Last year, the U.S. music industry put up a stellar performance, raking in revenues of $7.65 billion per the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). This represents substantial growth of 11.4% from 2015.

While the revenue is half of the $14.6 billion peak reached in 1999, it marks the first double-digit growth in almost 20 years thanks to growing streaming services. Streaming revenues shot up 68.5% year over year to $3.93 billion and account for more than half of the music revenue.

Notably, the global music market grew 5.9% to $15.7 billion in 2016, marking the biggest year-over-year rise in revenues since the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) began tracking the market in 1997.

While there are several companies involved in the music business, a few have seen their stock prices surge along with the recovering music industry over the past one year. Below we have presented three such stocks that are good bets.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Investors could get exposure to music through Apple Music. Launched in 2015, Apple Music is a streaming music service based on Beats Music that has drawn listeners with playlists made by experts not algorithm. It costs $9.99 per month and users can download music from an extensive digital library. Apple Music offers listeners a free, three-month trial and reached 27 million users as of June 27.

The stock has returned 51.7% over the past one year compared with the gains of 50.7% for the Zacks categorized Computer - Mini Computers and has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) with a VGM Style Score of C. Its earnings are expected to grow 7.56% for this fiscal year.

Live Nation Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:LYV)

Live Nation Entertainment is the largest producer of live music concerts in the world based on total fans that attend Live Nation events. It has connected more than 71 million fans to nearly 26,300 events for over 3,200 artists in 2016. Live Nation owns, operates, has exclusive booking rights for or has an equity interest in 196 venues, including House of Blues music venues and prestigious locations such as The Fillmore in San Francisco, the Hollywood Palladium, the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam and 3Arena in Ireland.

The stock has gained 46.6% over the past one year, outperforming returns of 26.7% for the Zacks categorized Leisure and Recreation Services industry. Live Nation has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) with a VGM Style Score of A and its earnings are expected to grow a whopping 163% for this year.

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI)

It is a radio broadcasting company that creates and broadcasts over 150 channels of commercial-free music; premier sports and live events; news and comedy; exclusive talk and entertainment; and the most comprehensive lineup of Latin commercial-free music, sports, and talk programming in radio. SiriusXM content is available via satellite and through the SiriusXM Internet Radio app for smartphones and other connected devices, as well as online at siriusxm.com. The service costs as low as $10.99 per month or $30 for 6 months.

Sirius XM Holdings is up 31% over the past one year compared to 20% gains for the Zacks categorized Broadcast Radio and Television industry. It has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) with a VGM Style Score of C and its earnings are expected to grow 19.2% this year.

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