Sports betting legalization Bull Run stocks DKNG, PEEN and SKLZ

Two Minnesota lawmakers will introduce a bill this week to legalize sports betting. This raises attention to sports betting stocks including DKNG, PENN, and SKLZ which is not a sport betting stock but an e-sports platform. Gaming gambling is currently legal in most of the U.S says Republican Rep. Patrick Garofalo, who is co-sponsoring the bill with Democratic Sen. Karla Bigham. If Iowa can do it, why can’t Minnesota? This was published on CBNS Minnesota news. Michigan online sports betting and iGaming went live on Friday offering insights into the future of competition. This is the first time in history that key players enter the market together.

It is important to stay updated on this matter and why not benefit from this legalization in sports betting. Smart investors should be sizing up prospective plays. In this article, I will analyze what we at FDGT believe could see a rise in the upcoming month.

Summary

  • DraftKings Inc (NASDAQ: DKNG) just got an upgrade from Goldman Sachs (GS) on target price from $45 to $65 and from neutral to buy rating.
  • Michael Jordan, a retired NBA player is an investor and board advisor of DraftKings.

 

DraftKings Inc

DraftKings Inc (NASDAQ: DKNG) is an American sports betting operator and a daily fantasy sports contest. It allows users to make bets on players’ performance in a variety of sports. Premier League, NBA, UEFA Champions League, Tennis and other major sports. It exists since 2012 however DraftKings went public in April 2020 through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp

In 2018 the company launched its Sportsbook in Jew Jersey and became the first legal mobile sports betting operator in the state. The most impressive thing about it is that Michael Jordan, the NBA retired superstar, became an investor and board advisor of the company.

Just now, Goldman Sachs (GS) has upgraded DraftKing’s target price from $45 to $65 while changing the position status from neutral to buy. Moreover, Morgan Stanley (MS) after upgrading the stock it said that is waiting for additional 12 states to follow the legalization of sports betting this year and highlighted that if this happened DNKG will have an even greater upside.

The latest news has DraftKings launching the Sportsbook app in Virginia shows that the business is expanding faster than expected. Virginia will be the 12th state to launch the app. This is expected to bring new users online and will allow them to place their own bets across professional sports.

Online sports betting started in Michigan on Friday and the legislation will move to Texas with more focus on New York.

Bull Run stock

Penn National Gaming Inc

Penn National Gaming Inc (NASDAQ: PENN) is an American casino operator that also owns their corresponding hotels. Additionally, it operates through horse racing tracks. The company was founded way before DraftKings in 1972. Just last year it invested in Barstool Sports and is now holding a 36% stake.

Credit Suisse gave the stock a bullish positioning for the following four key factors. The target price they put on the stock price is $128 more than 20% upside than the current price of $106.

  1. Upside-from the pandemic-related savings and recent acquisitions as the topline returns
  2. Upside to targeted cost savings
  3. Better than expected margins in the sports betting industry
  4. PENN’s potential leadership in iGaming.

The legislation of sports betting has PENN along with the most beneficial stocks that will also manage to grow their sales in this expected year. However, all these statements are forward-looking statements and a more accurate view will be made once earnings reports are out. This goes for both companies mentioned up to now.

Skillz

Skillz (NYSE: SKLZ) has been in the spotlight ever since Cathie Wood the founder and CEO of ARK Investments bought in her fund this stock. Needless to say, that when she speaks, people listen blindly. This stock is still small not very known to many. It went public through a special acquisition purpose company which is why many investors did not hear of it. In every website I have personally researched, the only stocks that are mentioned are the above. This one, remember when it rallies that you heard it here first!

Skillz operates a mobile gaming platform that enables players to compete with each other for cash prizes. Players pay an entry fee in order to join a game. The contrary theory here says if players need to have skills to win the game it is not considered a bet. Well, it is considered a bet!

Mobile gaming is a huge market with $68 billion, even bigger than movies and music. While sports betting is becoming legal, mobile gaming will spread along with it since it will break any barriers holding it from being a betting up. According to PWC and GrandView while other entertainment companies were experiencing a single-digit annual growth mobile gaming was growing by 20%. Bottom line is, whoever is into sports betting will eventually be into gaming betting as I like to call it.

Skillz user engagement

Let me give you a brief on other platforms before I conclude with Skillz. Facebook, for example, has a 41 minute per day user spending while Alphabet’s YouTube has 40. Users spend 62 minutes per day on the Skillz platform, outperforming the user engagement on many other apps. If this is impressive let’s talk about profits.

Skillz act as a technology platform providing space to developers to bring and develop games. In Q3 2020 the company’s gross margin was 94.8%. The average revenue per user was $6.30 until 2019 and it’s still improving. In Q3 the average revenue per user was $7.43. The company has excellent user engagement, extreme profit growth potential, operates through a growing industry and is surely on my watchlist.

Disclaimer – I/we have no position in any stock mentioned. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my personal opinions. I am not receiving any compensation for it, other than FDGT Academy. I do not have or had in the past any business relationship with any company that is mentioned in the above article.

Natalia C. - Junior Analyst at FDGT Academy

Natalia C. - Junior Analyst at FDGT Academy

I am a stock analyst/investor with prior experience and knowledge to BSc Accounting and Finance. After completing my degree and exposure to the accounting firms I decided that the direction I should choose is towards the Investment world. I completed my masters in Investment Management where it gave me solid fundamentals to build my career on. I have examined a lot of different aspects of investment, from REITS, derivatives, currencies, bonds, equity and hedge funds. I never stopped learning about the market which is why I can analyze and write articles for FDGT community always personally opinionated. My passion are green energy and electric vehicles stocks as a whole. I also had my share of analyzing the work form home stocks that are coming to take over in the upcoming years.