Is Formula One Stock A Buy Ahead Of Miami Grand Prix? Earnings, Netflix Renewal In Focus

The Formula One racing league announced a renewal with a major media company this week, posted earnings results and is preparing for a race in the U.S., a territory that has seen huge growth. Here’s the latest.

What Happened: Publicly traded racing Formula One, which trades as Liberty Formula One FWONA FWONK, reported first-quarter financial results Friday before the market open.

The company reported first-quarter revenue of $360 million, up 100% year-over-year. The company reported operating income of $19 million in the first quarter versus a loss of $19 million in the same period last year.

“We’ve having a phenomenal start to the 2022 Formula 1 season, building on our momentum from a successful 2021. Our events are attracting growing audiences both in person and across all our platforms,” Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said.

Revenue was boosted by increased attendance, higher media rights from growth in F1 TV subscriptions and higher sponsorship revenue.

The company also announced it bought back 348,000 shares of its stock at an average price of $56.14 for a total of $20 million.

On Thursday, Formula 1 announced a renewal for its popular docuseries “Formula 1: Drive to Survive.” The show, which began on Netflix Inc NFLX in 2019, was renewed for a fifth and sixth season.

The show has been credited with helping boost U.S. growth for the racing league. A fourth season debuted in March and was the fifth most-watched show in the U.S. in its first week with over 28 million hours watched.

In its second week, the show ranked fourth in the U.S. with 29 million hours watched. “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” ranked in the top 10 for 55 countries on Netflix. The show has increased in popularity each season.

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Formula 1's US Growth: One of the key items that contributed to a strong fiscal 2021 and recent growth for Formula 1 was the U.S. 

The first season of “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” led to a 99% year-over-year increase in social media engagement for the sports league. U.S. viewership was stroing in the 2020 season thanks to the docuseries.

Miami was announced as the second U.S. city to have a Formula 1 race on the schedule. The city became the 11th U.S. location to have a Formula 1 race since 1950.

The inaugural Miami Grand Prix arrives this weekend, with the race taking place on Sunday, May 8.

“We are thrilled to debut the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix this weekend,” Domenicali said.

The Miami Grand Prix will air on ABC, a unit of The Walt Disney Company DIS. Airing on broadcast over cable could provide a boost to ratings. The practice and qualification will air on ESPN2 and ESPN on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

The U.S. region saw viewership increase 58% year-over-year for the last race season. This was the second-best growth for the racing league, trailing only The Netherlands (81% growth), where viewers tuned in to watch their countryman Max Verstappen win a down-to-the-wire battle for the championship.

Viewership averaged 934,000 in the U.S. for Disney, a figure that was up 54% year-over-year.

The lone 2021 U.S. race, the U.S. Grand Prix in Texas, averaged 1.2 million viewers on ABC and was the most-viewed race of the 2021 season in the U.S. This will be the benchmark figure by which most will judge the success of the Miami Grand Prix viewership this weekend.

Overall, 53% more people in the U.S. tuned in to at least one 2021 Formula 1 race compared to 2020.

Disney has the broadcast rights to Formula 1 through 2022 and is likely facing strong competition to renew the deal, with Netflix and Amazon.com Inc AMZN among the interested parties.

Looking ahead, there will be three U.S. races for Formula 1 in 2023, with the recently announced Las Vegas Grand Prix added to next season’s schedule.

The race will take place on a Saturday night versus the traditional Sunday time slot and will be run on the Las Vegas Strip, with the hotels, casinos and neon lights of the city featured in the background.

Benzinga’s Take: Overall viewership for the 2021 Formula 1 season was 1.55 billion, up 4% year-over-year. In the 2021 season, 445 million people worldwide watched at least one Formula 1 race.

The sport is massive on a global level, but for years didn’t appeal as much to U.S. viewers. The Netflix docuseries has been a game changer and piqued sports fans’ interest.

The addition of the Miami and Las Vegas races should improve viewership and interest even more. Three races coming in 2022 along with the potential for a new media deal should excite both Formula 1 racing fans and investors.

FWONA Price Action: Liberty Formula One shares were trading 1.43% higher at $56.88 midday Friday. 

Photo courtesy of Formula 1.