Score Media Stock Has Makings of Sports Betting Winner, Says Analyst

Posted on: March 22, 2021, 08:14h. 

Last updated on: March 22, 2021, 11:31h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Score Media & Gaming (NASDAQ:SCR) stock isn’t a month removed from its initial public offering (IPO) and Nasdaq listing. But the company is already earning praise on Wall Street.

Score stock
Score Media advertised at the Nasdaq market site. An analyst is bullish on the stock. (Image: Twitter)

Macquarie gaming analyst Ched Beynon initiates coverage of the Canadian media and sports betting company today with an “outperform” rating and a $44 price target. That forecast implies upside of about 63 percent from the March 19 close.

Score Media & Gaming is well-positioned to capitalize on the burgeoning North American online sports betting and iGaming market, given its unique offering, popular brand, and loyal user base,” writes Beynon in a note to clients today.

Last month, the Toronto-based company raised $162 million through its IPO after the sale was upsized to six million shares from five million. That indicates demand was strong for one of the newest sports betting-related equities. Thus far, Score Media’s theScore mobile betting app is live in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, and New Jersey. The operator is eyeing entry into more states.

Score Stock Offers ‘Rare’ Combination

Partnerships between gaming and media companies are all the rage in the sports betting world these days, with Macquarie previously saying such arrangements could drive $30 billion in online casino and sports wagering revenue by 2030.

These agreements are usually sparked by what the companies don’t have. A standard sportsbook operator usually lacks a media footprint, while media enterprises don’t have wagering exposure. However, Score “offers a rare integrated native option,” says Beynon.

“As a result, we expect authentic, innovative content to help drive engagement,” said the analyst. “We conservatively expect SCR to drive low to mid-single-digit domestic share while running a profitable model.”

Of the existing media/sports betting partnerships, arguably the one Score Media most closely resembles is Barstool Sports and Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN). Barstool Sportsbook is proving to be a hit for the gaming company due in part to the media arm’s beloved personalities and original content. Interestingly, Penn owns 4.7 percent of Score stock.

Catalyst-Rich Story

Adding to the Score stock thesis is the company’s plan to move its technology in-house, furthering its vertically integrated model. The operator is currently a client of Bet.Works, which is a unit of rival Bally’s Corp. (NYSE:BALY).

Beynon says that move will allow Score to be more active in curating its own content, offering more unique bets and in-game wagers.

He adds that following the IPO, the operator has $220 million in cash, indicating it could be a player in mergers and acquisitions. Score itself is rumored to be a potential takeover target because of the aforementioned media outfit and looming single-game betting in Canada.

The analyst says Canada will contribute $2 billion to Score’s total addressable market in 2025, and 44.2 billion in 2030.

Additionally, Score stock appears undervalued. Based on its market value of $1.6 billion and assuming a multiple of 5x 2030 revenue, that implies the market is assigning just two percent US market share and nothing in Canada to the name, according to Beynon. He sees Canada as worth $10 to $20 to the share price.