Google takes aim at Netflix

Article Excerpt

GOOGLE INC. (Nasdaq symbols GOOG $539 [class C non-voting] and GOOGL $549 [class A voting]); Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 680.6 million; Market cap: $366.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.5; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.google.com) may launch a paid version of its popular YouTube video-streaming website later this year. By paying a monthly fee, viewers would be able to watch videos without advertising. That would help YouTube compete with other streaming services, including Netflix and Hulu, and cut its reliance on selling ads. The company would have to share most of these subscription fees with content providers. Still, a subscription service could generate $2 billion of additional revenue a year for Google; the company’s total revenue was $66.0 billion in 2014. Shareholders should continue to hold their class A shares, but we recommend the cheaper class C stock for new buying. Google is a buy. buy. …