Apple Stock Set For Streaming Lift? 'Severance' Breaks Record After X Ads, Tim Cook Promo

Apple Inc AAPL may have one of the biggest hit series currently airing as the company competes in the massive streaming market.

Here's a look at what record "Severance" broke and how the company's marketing efforts may have helped.

What Happened: Apple is one of the smaller players when it comes to streaming based on its library size and original content released on a regular basis.

The company recently launched the second season of the hit show "Severance," after a three-year break following the first season.

"Severance" premiered its second season on Jan. 17 and the series is now the most watched series on the streaming platform, based on the number of unique viewers for its first 30 days, as reported by Deadline.

Nielsen data, shared by Deadline, shows the series was ranked fourth for all streaming originals for the week of Jan. 13 and had 589 million minutes viewed in the United States, including 28% watching the season 2 premiere.

Apple does not break out its viewership figures, but said the series is now the most watched in AppleTV+ history across its two seasons, breaking a record previously set by "Ted Lasso." The series is ranked number one all time on AppleTV+ globally and across several countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, Australia and more.

Ben Stiller, best known for his acting, is the director and executive producer of Severance and helped pick the cast for the series.

"We have long admired Ben's extraordinary gift for original and immersive storytelling, and with he and Dan at the helm, Severanace has proven to be an extraordinary success and a cultural phenomenon," Apple TV+ head of programming Matt Cherniss said.

Why It's Important: The second season of "Severance" has a reported budget of $20 million per episode with 10 episodes in the season. This makes the show on the higher-priced side of a drama TV series, according to Deadline.

The bet is likely paying off for Apple. Sign-ups for the streaming platform have soared around the time of the second season launch.

Subscribers for AppleTV+ were up 126% during the Jan. 1 to Jan. 19, 2025 period compared to the Dec. 1 to Dec. 19, 2024 period. Apple was also likely helped by its free preview "See For Yourself" weekend which let non-subscribers preview old series. The event was timed around the second season premiere.

Along with the large $200 million production budget, Apple has aggressively marketed the second season and show overall.

In fact, Apple CEO Tim Cook even joined the fun with a promo video, in which he portrays a Lumon Industries worker on the show. See the video below.

Apple returned to advertising on social media platform X in recent months and the Apple TV account bought ads tied to the launch of the second season of "Severance." The return to X may have been perfect timing for Apple based on the record-breaking viewership.

AppleTV+ also promoted the second season with its actors appearing in a glass cube replica of their office space on the show at Grand Central Terminal in New York City days before the premiere. The event generated significant buzz for the second season.

Unlike other streaming shows on Netflix that are released all at once and bingeable, "Severance" has new episodes every week with the season 2 finale set for March 21. This release schedule likely ensures that people will stay subscribed to AppleTV+ for at least three months in 2025, while churn after the show ends will be closely monitored.

Apple charges $9.99 per month for its streaming platform, marking one of the cheaper ad-free plans. The company is also reportedly exploring an ad-supported plan. With the success of "Severance," other shows and movies on the platform, streaming will likely become a bigger focus for the tech giant moving forward.

AAPL Price Action: Apple stock trades at $246.49 on Thursday versus a 52-week range of $164.08 to $260.10. Apple stock is up 35% over the last year.

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