With the 2024 Olympics now full, sports activities followers are turning their consideration to this yr’s red-hot Formulation One racing season.
And it’s shortly shaping as much as be one for the ages…
This yr’s races have delivered all of the motion a racing fan may need — from thrilling victories to beautiful defeats and shock finishes that shocked even essentially the most die-hard racing followers.
Max Verstappen got here into this season as the game’s high driver, a near-unbeatable pressure in his darkish blue Pink Bull automotive.
Verstappen received 19 out of 23 races final yr. His dominance of the game was so full that informal followers began to really feel just like the races have been “boring.”
Everybody was anticipating to see extra of the identical in 2024.
I’ll admit — even I felt a little bit pessimistic and was already wanting ahead to Lewis Hamilton shaking issues up when he joins Ferrari in 2025.
However now, we’ve hit the summer time break (a quick relaxation interval in a 9-month, 24-race season), and all bets are off.
Verstappen and Pink Bull’s early-season cushion is shrinking as McClaren’s duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri shut the factors hole…
Hamilton, who had 103 wins heading into 2024, has taken the checkered flag not as soon as however twice. These are his first victories since 2021…
And general, seven completely different drivers have received this yr!
Racing followers are already wanting ahead to a blockbuster second half of the season, which begins simply two weeks from now. (I extremely suggest tuning in for the Dutch Grand Prix on August 25.)
However has that pleasure translated over to Formulation One inventory, aka Liberty Media Corp. Sequence C (Nasdaq: FWONK)?
Let’s take a pit cease and verify its Inexperienced Zone Energy Rankings.
Viewership and Valuations
A yr in the past, nearly to the day, I ran my preliminary scan of Formulation One inventory by means of Adam O’Dell’s Inexperienced Zone Energy Rankings system.
My argument for FWONK inventory has all the time been that viewership must help its elevated valuations, and there are good tailwinds on that entrance.
Again in Might, a record-breaking 3.1 million individuals watched ABC’s protection of Lando Norris’s first Formulation One win on the Miami GP. That’s an awesome signal, particularly if we now have a decent battle heading into October’s U.S. GP in Austin, Texas.
However that’s nonetheless peanuts in comparison with different sports activities. For reference, Statista discovered that common per-game viewership for an NFL common season sport final yr fell simply shy of 18 million.
I’m not anticipating Formulation One to compete with the most important sport in America, however the comparability reveals how comparatively area of interest this motorsport nonetheless is regardless of its explosion in recognition over the previous few seasons.
And valuations are nonetheless a serious situation.
Proper now, FWONK inventory charges a “Bearish” 39 out of 100 in Inexperienced Zone Energy Rankings. Shares on this class are anticipated to underperform the broader market over the subsequent yr.
Progress is robust, with the corporate reporting $587 million in income for the primary quarter of 2024, a 54% improve yr over yr. That’s partly why it charges a 93 on that issue.
However FWONK’s Worth issue remains to be waving a serious pink flag with a 4 out of 100. That quantity tells us buyers are already banking on that progress to catch up and produce valuations according to what the inventory is definitely value.
That sentiment is mirrored in FWONK’s current momentum as nicely, with the inventory gaining 19% year-to-date, beating the broader market’s 12% acquire. It’s an awesome pattern that displays the thrilling motion we’re seeing on observe every race weekend.
That stated, I’m sticking to what our system studies. It says FWONK is now a inventory to keep away from, so I’ll do this.
Now, again to questioning how McClaren will let one other race win slip by means of their grasp…
These subsequent two weeks can’t go by quick sufficient.
Till subsequent time,
Chad Stone
Managing Editor, Cash & Markets
