The sharing economy is booming, and these 16 companies are ideally positioned to benefit
Avis Budget Group
Hertz
Rating: OUTPERFORM
Market Cap: $8.28 billion
About: Hertz is also set to benefit long-term from the rise of car sharing heralded by Zipcar. The company is likely to see increased rentals — especially for longer trips, as car ownership becomes less common.
AXA
Rating: OUTPERFORM
Market Cap: $57.98 billion
About: A French multinational financial services company, AXA is likely to benefit from a shift from regional car insurance companies to global players.
The note said: "As car sharing companies such as Uber and carclubs such as Zipcar expand their global car fleet it is likely that they would want a more global insurance offering to their fleet as well. Companies that have the ability to offer these services in our view include ... AXA.'
JCDecaux
Rating: NEUTRAL
Market Cap: $7.58 billion
About: With bike sharing systems operating in 67 cities in 10 countries including Ireland, Japan, and Austria, JCDecaux is set to benefit from the sharing economy.
The rise of bike sharing is driven by an increased focus on the environment and cost. Credit Suisse said: "The desire of people to lead a more conscious lifestyle coupled with cost pressures related to car ownership especially in urban areas provide a structural tailwind to this service in our view. As a group we believe that sharing has strong potential to disrupt traditional incumbent industries, most notably the car industry."
Shimano
Rating: NEUTRAL
Market Cap: $12.78 billion
About: Shimano, based in Japan, makes bike components.
Like most of the transportation companies on the list, Shimano benefits the increasingly urbanizing population, rising congestion, and an expanding middle class.
As increasing car congestion makes roads an unattractive way of travelling, and population density brings work, food, and entertainment closer to the doorstep, and the need for longer journeys — 30 minutes or more — peters out.
HomeAway
Rating: NEUTRAL
Market Cap: $2.71 billion
About: An accommodation sharing company, Austin-based HomeAway focuses on holiday rentals — cabins, beach houses, barns, castles and more. It's positioned in the fast growing accomodation sharing market, where bookings are expected to shoot up nearly 400% in the next five years..
TripAdvisor
Rating: OUTPERFORM
Market Cap: $9.83 billion
About: Tripadvisor, a social media platform for travellers, allows users and service providers to connect online, and rate restaurants, hotels, and activities.
That makes Tripadvisor a platform for sharing information — and can help other platforms such as AirBnB and HomeAway expand their reach through the use of Tripadvisor, and hopefully expand their offerings.
Amazon
Rating: OUTPERFORM
Market Cap: $243.86 billion
About: Now a way for small-time sellers to promote used goods online, Amazon has become part of the sharing economy.
Rating: OUTPERFORM
Market Cap: $25.18 billion
About: LinkedIn makes the list of outperforms according to Credit Suisse analysts, because the sharing economy should benefit the recruiting platform by allowing a peer-to-peer staffing market.
"LinkedIn and Xing also offer corporates the opportunity for more direct sourcing in the permanent recruitment market. While currently acting as another route to market for the agencies, and therefore more of a help than a hindrance, the services will take incremental permanent volumes (via direct sourcing) from the agencies and potentially put pressure on margins given their growing pricing power for licences."
Regus
Rating: OUTPERFORM
Market Cap: $4.39 billion
About: A multinational corporation that provides office space, Regus is based out of Luxembourg.
Credit Suisse said: "Demand for flexible office space is likely to continue owing partly to rising freelancing, part-time work and entrepreneurship. Regus is a prime beneficiary in our view."
Lending Club
Rating: NEUTRAL
Market Cap: $4.8 billion
About: A US-based peer-to-peer lending company, Lending Club allows users to post requests for loans online.
Credit Suisse noted that alternative funding platforms, such as Lending Club, on average yield average net returns of 6-8% — while yields on 10-year government bonds are close to zero.
It also has a lead over traditional banks, since it lacks branch-related costs, and has lower origination and billing fees.
Lending Club however has had a rough summer, with shares dropping nearly 30% after a run-in with the US Supreme Court.
Visa
Rating: OUTPERFORM
Market Cap: $170.5 billion
About: Credit card giant Visa is also set to benefit from the sharing economy.
Credit Suisse said: "Interestingly credit card companies are involved in financing the expansion of companies such as Lending Club, thus indirectly also supporting the sharing model."
eBay
Rating: NEUTRAL
Market Cap: $31.42 billion
About: eBay is situated in one of the most established and oldest sector of the sharing economy.
Rating: OUTPERFORM
Market Cap: $260.54 billion
About: Facebook is set to benefit from growth in the sharing economy.
"Social media is likely to be the key medium that will be used to share views, experiences and suggestions in relation to all these sharing activities," the note stated.
Mercado Libre
Rating: OUTPERFORM
Market Cap: $4.67 billion
About: MercadoLibre is a pre-owned goods sharing platform catering to Latin American users. The Buenos Aires-based company is set to benefit from the sharing economy, as the demand for used goods increases.
The company is listed on Nasdaq. Its parent company is eBay.
Yelp
Rating: OUTPERFORM
Market Cap: $1.8 billion
About: An American multinational corporation, Yelp is known for its website that allows users to rate food and services.
More and more users are likely to go on social media platforms to advertise either demand or their offerings as the sharing economy grows, Credit Suisse said.
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