WWE Defies Industry Trend as Stock Rises 28% Year to Date

Zacks Equity Research has a post up on Yahoo Finance about WWE’s “exceptional performance” compared to the rest of the entertainment industry. While IMAX, FOX and others have all seen declines, WWE’s stock has rallied and is forecast to be a good investment for future growth as well.

But with a decline in television ratings and live attendances in the US, why is this happening? A lot of it is based on current and future international deals as the post points out the various “Strategic Efforts to Augment Top Line Further”:

We believe WWE will continue to report record revenue growth as it has not only extended its earlier deal with different companies but also signed agreement with new service provider for airing its flagship program Raw and SmackDown in different countries.

The strong relationship between WWE and Groupe AB is set to continue into the 18th year with both companies extending the partnership. Per the deal, both the companies have signed multi-year agreement for airing WWE programming, which comprises of WWE’s leading shows including the likes of Raw as well as SmackDown.

In July, in an effort to augment revenues WWE reached an agreement with sports marketing agency Lagardère Sports, which will facilitate it to acquire international sponsorship. Per the agreement, Lagardère Sports will help in building partnership portfolio through its sponsorship proficiency and global sales channel in all international regions, excluding China. We believe with increasing subscription based video streaming services WWE Network through its vast presence in over 180 countries will aid top-line growth. The company has also recently reached an agreement to broadcast hit programs like Raw and SmackDown in Japan, Caribbean and Australia. Notably, WWE and TVA Sports also signed an agreement for airing Raw in French, beginning Oct 10.

They go on to mention overall WWE Network performance increasing too, which is exactly why ex-users were targeted to get 3 months for free, because that all helps the top line and speculative growth that a stock price can grow on. Zacks is rating WWE as it’s #2 ranked stock purchase for the week, so on the financial end, things are currently looking very good for WWE.