Yahoo Finance Teens are obsessed with watching Netflix and playing video games
One has to wonder when teens have time to read a book, take a shower or eat dinner given how much digital content they’re consuming.
According to a new survey of 8,500 teens from investment bank Piper Jaffray, video game console ownership was up from the spring. About 83% of the teens surveyed claim to own a current generation console such as the Microsoft Xbox One or Sony Playstation 4 or expect to buy one (vs. 80% in the spring). Spending on video games also increased, from 13% of male teen budgets in the spring to 14% currently.
Teens are spending more time playing video games each week, the survey also showed. Of course, multiplayer juggernaut Fortnite was the most popular game among teens.
“It appears male teens spend almost as much on video games (and consoles) as they do on basic elements required for survival,” Michael Olson, author of the report, wrote. That’s downright sad. But it could be profitable for investors: Olson views the findings as bullish on video-game publisher stocks Activision Blizzard (ATVI), Electronic Arts (EA) and Take Two Interactive (TTWO).
And when teens aren’t killing off faux aliens in video games into the wee hours of the morning, they appear to be Netflix and chilling.
Netflix (NFLX) was the most popular video platform among teens, well ahead of rival platforms YouTube, cable television, Hulu and Amazon. On average, teens said they use Netflix for 38% of their daily video consumption, a slight drop from 39% in the spring.
“Netflix is the leader in a category that contains massive multiyear growth potential as more content viewing shifts online,” Olson wrote. Piper Jaffray has a buy rating on Netflix and a $430 price target, which estimates a roughly 28% gain in the stock.
No doubt binge-watching kids played a key role in the strong third-quarter results out of Netflix. The streaming giant’s shares spiked 11% on Oct. 17 as it brought in 6.96 million total new subscribers in the third quarter. The company had guided to 5 million total member additions for the quarter. Netflix thinks it will add 9.4 million new members in the fourth quarter.
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Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @BrianSozzi
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