FuboTV stock falls 16% amid ballooning losses even as subscriber growth jumped in 2020
Reuters/Carlo Allegri
- FuboTV turned in a $195 million net loss on revenues of just $105 million in the fourth quarter.
- Annual net losses topped $570 million as the company attempts to build out its sports wagering service.
- FuboTV added over 90,000 subscribers during the fourth quarter, giving the company a total of 547,880 as of the end of December.
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Shares of FuboTV fell as much as 16% on Wednesday after the sports streaming company reported ballooning losses in its fourth-quarter earnings report.
FuboTV posted a net loss of $570.5 million in 2020 on revenues of just $217 million. Operating losses hit $479.9 million on the year as well, a more than 12-fold increase from 2019's figure. Fubo lost $195 million in the fourth quarter alone.
The sports streaming service did manage to add 92,800 subscribers in the quarter that ended in December, pushing the company over the half a million subscriber mark for the first time.
However, FuboTV expects to lose subscribers in the first quarter of 2021, projecting between 520,000-530,000 subscribers by the end of March compared to the 547,880 the company had at the end of 2020.
Management blamed first-quarter seasonality for the weak guidance and said it and anticipates ending 2021 with 760,000-770,000 subscribers. Still, that figure would give Fubo a 39%-41% year-over-year growth rate compared to a 76% year-over-year growth rate in 2020.
Revenue did surpass $100 million for the first time in the fourth quarter at Fubo, hitting $105.1 million. However, on a full-year basis, Fubo expects revenue of just $460 million-$470 million in 2021, indicating the company doesn't see its current revenue growth pace continuing.
There were multiple bright spots at FuboTV during the quarter. Customers streamed 7.2 hours of sports entertainment per day on the platform, up 11.8% compared to 2019, as Fubo locked down more hardcore sports fans. Annual ARPU or Average Revenue Per User reached $754 as well, a 17% increase year-over-year.
FuboTV hopes to right the ship in 2021 by improving advertising revenue, and more importantly, by building out a sports wagering service.
"Our goal for 2021 and beyond is to develop FuboTV into a new kind of media company that combines both innovative streaming video and sports wagering," said Edgar Bronfman Jr., executive chairman, fuboTV.
The company made big steps towards launching its sportsbook in the fourth quarter of 2020 and into 2021. Fubo acquired the sports betting and interactive gaming company Vigotry back in January and signed agreements with the NBA and MLB to become an 'Authorized Gaming Operator' in each league.
Shares of FuboTV traded lower by about 15% at 1:07PM ET, at $35.49 per share.
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