Asked Monday how he responds to bearish investment analysts who dismiss his company as just another low-margin virtual MVPD operator, fuboTV co-founder and CEO David Gandler said, “I think, generally speaking, investors misunderstand evolving companies.”
Speaking during the virtual Deutsche Bank Media, Internet & Telecom Conference, Gandler reasoned that there are currently 75 million remaining subscribers in the pay TV ecosystem “who will eventually look for a better experience or better pricing, or both. I don’t see how the decline in traditional pay TV has an impact on us.”
Of the roughly 1.35 million pay TV customers who cut the cord in the fourth quarter, Gandler reckons that fuboTV took 6% of them, with the service adding 90,000 customers during the period.
“Even if we don’t improve from here,” he said, “I’m still very bullish.”
FuboTV has been the streaming industry’s most volatile stock of late, peaking at $62 a share in December, before precipitously declining—it was, at one point, down another 10% today to under $27 a share.
“The company has told a story which has been embraced by an army of retail investors,” said LightShed Partners’ Rich Greenfield, pouring cold water on the stock in December. “However, Fubo is not Netflix, Fubo is not Flutter/FanDuel, DraftKings nor even Penn/Barstool Sports, Fubo is not Roku and Fubo is not Trade Desk. Fubo is simply just another virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) facing the same obstacles and financial challenges as every other vMVPD.”
The company, which just reported a 98% spike in Q4 revenue to $105.1 million but also a $167.8 million quarterly loss, is rapidly trying to diversify its revenue streams into advertising and sports wagering. It just acquired two online betting companies and plans to open a sports book in the fourth quarter.
“Say you’re watching a Lakers game on fuboTV,” Gandler explained, outlining his service’s future functionality. “When you turn on your phone, it immediately has a betting slip on the game.”
