Critical Review: CuriosityStream (CURI) versus The Competition

CuriosityStream (NASDAQ:CURI) is one of 186 public companies in the “Entertainment” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare CuriosityStream to related companies based on the strength of its risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

CuriosityStream has a beta of 1.77, indicating that its share price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CuriosityStream’s peers have a beta of 0.93, indicating that their average share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares CuriosityStream and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CuriosityStream	0.03%	0.06%	0.03%
CuriosityStream Competitors	9.10%	-61.46%	-3.19%

Dividends

CuriosityStream pays an annual dividend of $0.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.9%. CuriosityStream pays out 3,400.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Entertainment” companies pay a dividend yield of 18.7% and pay out 78.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. CuriosityStream has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. CuriosityStream lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for CuriosityStream and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CuriosityStream	0	1	2	2	3.20
CuriosityStream Competitors	1787	4395	9419	243	2.51

CuriosityStream currently has a consensus target price of $5.50, suggesting a potential upside of 108.33%. As a group, “Entertainment” companies have a potential upside of 23.91%. Given CuriosityStream’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe CuriosityStream is more favorable than its peers.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares CuriosityStream and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
CuriosityStream	$71.66 million	-$6.43 million	264.00
CuriosityStream Competitors	$5.23 billion	$76.31 million	12.30

CuriosityStream’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than CuriosityStream. CuriosityStream is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

6.8% of CuriosityStream shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.8% of shares of all “Entertainment” companies are owned by institutional investors. 31.1% of CuriosityStream shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.8% of shares of all “Entertainment” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

CuriosityStream beats its peers on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

About CuriosityStream

CuriosityStream Inc. operates as a factual content streaming service and media company. The company provides premium video and audio programming services in various categories of factual entertainment, including science, history, society, nature, lifestyle, and technology through direct subscription video on-demand (SVoD) platforms accessible by internet connected devices, or indirectly via distribution partners who deliver CuriosityStream content via distributor's platform or system, as well as through bundled content licenses for SVoD and linear offerings, talks and courses, and partner bulk sales. It offers streaming content through devices, including televisions, set-top boxes, computers, streaming media players, game consoles, and mobile devices. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Silver Spring, Maryland.