The final month of the year promises to be as wild as every month before in this unprecedented year. Between the pandemic and the recession, there are plenty of moving parts. The year doesn't have to end badly, though, especially if you buy into the right stocks.
DraftKings (DKNG -0.87%), Peloton (PTON -2.24%), and Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) are three stocks that are ready to make the most of the holiday season. Let's review why these three companies are names worth watching -- and buying -- in December.
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DraftKings
It may seem hard to believe, but we're now less than three weeks away from the start of the new NBA season. A lot of sports leagues have had to reshuffle their schedules, but as we now know, the game must go on.
DraftKings is a leader in the booming fantasy sports market. Pro forma revenue soared 42% in its latest quarter. There are now more than 1 million monthly unique paying customers enhancing their armchair quarterbacking prowess through DraftKings, a 64% year-over-year surge.
DraftKings also runs a more conventional sportsbook, and that's what makes its approach so potent. Major networks, sporting events, and even individual teams invite DraftKings in for the fantasy sports angle. Earlier this week, the Detroit Pistons became the latest team to announce a deal making DraftKings its exclusive fantasy sports provider. DraftKings now has a foot in the door of sports enthusiasts. Just wait until you see what's possible when it gets the rest of its body in there.
Peloton
Investors don't seem to get that Peloton is more than just a pandemic play. The maker of high-end treadmills and stationary bikes is trading nearly 20% below the all-time high it set two months ago, and was one of the stocks to initially retreat on positive vaccination news.
The fear here is that folks will flock back to the gyms and spinning-class boutiques when the coast is clear, but that's not going to happen. We're not pedaling in reverse now that we've had a taste of the interactive workouts available through Peloton.
Revenue soared 232% in its latest quarter. It had 1.33 million connected fitness subscribers at the end of September, a 137% pop over the past year. The digital memberships available for folks who don't own Peloton gear is growing even faster. These bikes and treads are getting put to good use. The average connected fitness subscriber completed 20.7 workouts a month, the company's second-most active showing ever on that front.
Even with a vaccine likely making life safe at the fitness center at some point in 2021, folks aren't making these big investments on hardware that will collect cobwebs. Peloton can't keep up with its large backlog of orders and will be a hot big-ticket holiday purchase this month.
Sirius XM Satellite Radio
Don't sleep on the satellite-radio monopoly this month. There are a couple of things that could get Sirius XM moving again, and that's a good thing since the shares have an impressive streak that's about to end unless it can close out 2020 on a strong note. After 11 consecutive years of delivering positive returns to its shareholders, Sirius XM was trading 9% lower year to date through Thursday's close.
One thing that can get the stock moving is a strong close to 2020 in terms of car sales. Sirius XM posted a rare decline in quarterly revenue earlier this year during the shelter-in-place phase of the pandemic. Revenue turned positive in the third quarter, earlier than analysts were expecting. Recent deals for Pandora and podcast-darling Stitcher help wean it somewhat from the ups and downs of auto sales, but an uptick in driving and showroom activity can only help.
Sirius XM should also finalize contract negotiations this month to keep Howard Stern on its airwaves. The company has had quite the transformation over the past decade -- going from penny stock to the king of all media stocks -- but it has some uphill climbing to do if it wants to end 2020 with a 12-year winning streak.
