The creator economy is an ecosystem surrounding content creators on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, who monetize their content through sponsorships, affiliate marketing, subscription models, merchandise sales and more. It’s a burgeoning new industry caused by the rapid rise in digital media consumption and the various monetization methods made possible in recent years. In fact, over 50% of the Generation Z surveyed said they want to be content creators; it’s a job that has been ridiculed in the past but is now worth $250 billion dollars and is estimated to be worth half a trillion dollars in just five years.
That is due to a few industry trends. First, AI (artificial intelligence) makes content creation more accessible than ever, eliminating the technical barrier many face. Second, the rapid rise of short-form content, such as TikTok, has increased the amount of time people spend on digital media and led to more opportunities for sponsorships.
With the creator economy such a large and fast-growing industry, below are three creator economy stocks to take advantage of its growth and other trends.
Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL)
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) stock is currently over $180 a share and has seen a 29% increase year-to-date due to the recovery of advertising revenue and the introduction of dividends.
Google has owned YouTube since 2006, one of its most valuable brands. In terms of profits, it will grow even faster as the larger creator economy propels it.
For one, it’s capitalizing on the growth of short-form content. YouTube Shorts, YouTube’s equivalent of ByteDance’s popular TikTok, has grown over 135% year-over-year. YouTube is also implementing AI to help creators create videos more easily since it has historically been a barrier to entry. Finally, YouTube has continuously developed its AI algorithm such that 70% of all views are now driven by recommendations, giving the platform more control over its viewership and making it more predictable.
With TikTok potentially banned from the U.S. and the difficulty of acquiring the company, YouTube’s burgeoning Shorts could fill in and drive millions more to its platform.
With rapid growth in short-form content and its leveraging of AI, Alphabet is a good bet on the creator economy.
Meta Platforms (META)
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) is an iconic social media company owning Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. Its stock has risen over 40% this year due to successful cost-cutting, recovery in advertising revenue, the introduction of dividends for the first time and hype over AI.
In the United States, it has a whopping 73% market share through Facebook and Instagram and has continued to maintain market share, making it a vital benefactor of the creator economy.
We’ve all heard the hype about the “metaverse” and its virtual reality headsets, but arguably, what’s even more critical to the company is how much AI can benefit its most significant business segment, which makes up 97% of its revenue — on the surface, better AI recommendations and driving increased engagement. For advertisers, AI is helping to optimize their marketing campaigns and make better ads that will see more engagement.
Not to mention, Instagram reels, the equivalent of ByteDance’s TikTok, are increasing and helping creators drive more engagement. Despite launching in 2022, Instagram has over 30% of the market share. With TikTok’s potential demise, Meta can quickly snatch market share in short-form content.
With such a grab on existing social media platforms and AI making its business more profitable, Meta is a sure pick to invest in the creator economy.
Adobe (ADBE)
Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) is a computer software company specializing in multimedia creation. It is a long-established company with over 60% of the market share. Despite beating earnings and revenue estimates, its stock price is down over 9% this year. However, it provided weaker-than-expected guidance.
That was mainly due to competition in AI for creating multimedia designs. Even though Adobe has its own AI creator, Firefly, competitors in this market are fierce. It’s also worth noting that in the future of AI, creators no longer need to spend tedious hours on Adobe software creating graphic designs or editing videos since AI can do all of those tasks for a human. Therefore, Adobe must be able to make the switch.
However, many forget Adobe has superior data for training its AI models. Adobe has incorporated AI in its software and has user data, gaining knowledge on how designers can best use AI. In addition, the AI is trained on thousands of Adobe Stock images, avoiding the copyright infringements that other AI image generators have.
On the date of publication, Michael Que did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
The researchers contributing to this article did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
