Genius Sports reported third quarter revenue of$ 120 million and net income of$ 0.05 a share, each of which beat Wall Street consensus, rallying shares up 20 % at the start of trading Tuesday.
The activities and advertising data and analytics firm said revenue rose 18 % in the interval, ending Sept. 30. Especially strong was Europe, which saw increases of 22 % for Genius. Approximately 70 % of Genius ‘ business in the period came from outside the U. S. With the fourth quarter well underway, management said it was raising its guidance for the full year revenue to$ 511 million, some$ 31 million over its initial projections, despite a rough month for its sportsbooks, who were on the wrong side of many NFL bets.
” In-play wagering now represents 30 % of total NFL handle—up from roughly 25 % the prior season—representing a meaningful step in the right direction, which we always expected”, said CEO Mark Locke in prepared remarks on a call with analysts Tuesday morning. In-play is becoming a key component of bookmakers ‘ product offerings to keep customers engaged, he said, while mentioning that the sportsbooks ‘ performance is a drag due to the call.
In early Tuesday trading on the New York Stock Exchange, investors piled into Genius shares, sending shares as high as$ 9.66, the highest level since Genius went public in November 2021. In specific, turning a profit was surprising by Wall Street, which had been predicting Genius may shed a quarter to as much as 4 cents per share, according to statistics compiled by S&, P Global Market Intelligence. Equity analysts have always been concerned about the viability of sports betting information providers. Given the fairly fixed cost basis of its information proper arrangements with teams, including the NFL and the English Premier League, and its ability to add new products to those rights, Genes says it believes it will continue to increase its profits.
As example, Genius pointed to two introduced over the past month, BetVision and Fanhub, as generating excellent traction with NFL fans and ads. Through a betting app, BetVision combines data, graphics, and recommendations for cultural bets with fast-forward movie feeds of games that bettors can access via BetVision. Fanhub is more focused on the company’s marketing and customer acquisition functions, leveraging Genius ‘ data and insights into sports fan profiles and conduct, as well as by sport, to assist entrepreneurs in pitching to sports enthusiasts.
Management cited the company’s information and marketing skills, which included the incorporation of data and graphics from the Rams ‘ sponsorship of the Verizon brand into its sports-specific digital advertising campaign. ” We have a huge amount of information on activities enthusiasts”, he said later, in response to a problem. We are aware of how they will operate and what makes them tick, which makes it possible for us to approach people interested in the sport industry.
While managing emphasized the potential for growth for its sports technology and media technology business lines, sports betting remained the key driver in the third quarter. That arm’s revenue grew nearly 30 % to$ 85.6 million, while media and sports technology each slipped about 3 % from 2023’s third quarter. On the year, Genius sales are up 17 % to$ 335.4 million overall, led by a 21 % gain in its sports betting arm and a 20 % rise in media technology. Sports technology and services, which provides non-betting data and analytics, is over 6 % year-to-date.
Locke emphasized that Genius has negotiated rushed deal lengths with sportsbooks in order to quiet fluctuations in its overall business. In response to a topic, Locke responded,” We’ve listened to the market and got a much more healthy mix with term length, the renewal periods in the future no more have the rock result.”