Wow! What’s happened with Bitcoin? A few days ago I was shocked to see it burst through the $9,000 mark. The next thing I knew it was trading $13,750.
Bit of fun
Investors who suffered a bad case of FOMO (fear of missing out) and bought at that point will be reeling as the price has plunged back to $10,789 at time of writing. According to one report, its price dropped $1,800 in 10 minutes.
All of which is good fun if you bought into the crypto-currency in the early days and everything you make now is pure profit. But for anyone who is still trying to actively trade these movements, it’s a bone-rattling ride.
Nobody knows where it will go next, and don’t believe those who claim otherwise. I actually think Bitcoin now has a role to play as a portfolio diversifier. If tempted, reduce the risks by chancing no more than 5% of your investable wealth. That way you can enjoy the ride, without worrying too much if you crash and burn in the end.
Future shock
The share price of global multi-platform media company Future (LSE: FUTR) has given Bitcoin a run for its virtual money lately. It has enjoyed a superb 2019, growing 104% year-to-date to make it the top-performing stock on the FTSE 250. It’s up 313% in three years.
So a big yay for the Fool’s very own Peter Stephens, who almost exactly three years ago on 23 June 2016 picked out this stock and said it offers staggering growth prospects at a very reasonable price.
The question is whether the Future share price can continue to grow rapidly. Maybe not, but its growth prospects still look strong.
Social care
Founded in 1985, the social media specialist operates in consumer and B2B sectors, including technology, gaming, music, photography, home interest, education and television. Digital media is a fast-growing area, but also difficult to crack as there’s so much competition. Future seems to have mastered it, with the potential of much more to come.
Group revenues doubled to £108.7m in the six months to 31 March, while adjusted EBITDA earnings rose 169% to £23.7m. Management also reported significant audience growth, with online numbers rising 188% year-on-year and organic sites up 25%.
Adding to the excitement, Future’s stated ambition to diversify revenue geographically into the US is progressing well as the States now supplies 52% of group revenue, up from just 20% in 2018. This is a cash-generative business with adjusted free cashflows up 172% to £27.5m over the period.
Niche operator
Future has an exhaustive list of brands, everything from Xbox Official Magazine to GuitarPlayer to Digital Photographer, all with their own niche audience. It also boasts football magazine FourFourTwo and related spin-offs, and offers proprietary e-commerce technology, advertising solutions and global events management to clients.
The digital publisher is also growing through expansion, recently announcing the acquisition of US-based digital publisher Mobile Nations for up to $120m.
Kevin Godbold saw Future’s future in November and highlighted its fast-growth proposition. That means I’m embarrassingly late to the party, but I reckon this growth story still has further to run. For once, 36 times earnings looks cheap.