This year has seen a financial boom in both the number of investors and workers moving away from traditional work environments and branching out to remote and online work.
As consumers and the market get a taste of what the online world can truly bring, it seems to be driving home the fact that anywhere in the world is only a mouse click away. With this, comes the realization that online investing is at a precipice of a worldwide upsurge, unlike anything we’ve seen in the past.
When the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic hit, many markets took a drastic beating, but one industry saw an incredible rise in profits and growth… and that was online gaming and casinos: iGaming. Today we’re looking at a behemoth of the iGaming sector, 888 Holdings, to see if this massive company is worthy of investment in 2021.
Current Pricing
888 Holdings
Founded in 1997 by Israeli entrepreneurs and based in Gibraltar, 888 Holdings and its subsidiaries are one of the older online gaming sites on the web today. An iGaming conglomerate, 888 Holdings is also one of the few iGaming companies that are traded on the London Stock Exchange. That alone gives it a level of trust that’s been built with time, that some of the newer casinos simply don’t have.
Only time will tell which of today’s iGaming sites will still be around in 20 years, but 888 will surely be one of them. 888 Holdings has the advantage of already surviving and growing throughout several economic recessions, which shows that its board and CEO have proven themselves, their longevity in the market, and are likely to remain a powerhouse in the industry.
888 Affiliate Program
888 Casino ranks highly across most review sites and for good reason. One of 888’s major routes to customer acquisition is its incredibly generous affiliate program.
The 888 affiliate program is open to everyone. However, while they freely accept new affiliates to their program but their actual criteria (number of visitors, traffic, and monthly earnings) aren’t quite so clear.
They do have a very strict policy on the flavor of the content created by their affiliates. As you would imagine from an online gaming site, nothing can be marketed towards underage users, no pornographic content whatsoever, and all content must be within the letter of the law when it comes to online gambling for whatever region a company services.
888 Holdings has numerous sites that affiliates can sign up for, which makes it easier to tailor content to particular brands. There are no rules about having multiple affiliates of the same type, including competitors. That definitely shows brand confidence that blocking out competitors doesn’t even factor into their affiliate strategy.
Affiliate payday
To date, 888 Holdings has paid out over $200 million to its affiliates, and its program is still going strong. They’re still actively adding new members and aggressively promoting this marketing strategy. Each affiliate added to their network helps expand their reach in the gaming sphere and having a strong affiliate program is a definite indicator that the success of the company is on the rise.
Forecast for 888 Holdings Plc
888 Holdings Plc (LON:888) has been steadily growing over the years before it hit a massive boom (nearly 227%) in 2020, thanks to lockdowns caused by the pandemic, before hitting an all-time high in March of this year.
So, the question is: Will the company keep growing? Or were last year’s numbers a fluke caused by pandemic upheavals? Most stock analysts agree that it will continue to see growth in stock price over the next few years.
888 saw growth of its EPS (earnings per share) by 13% over the last year. This rate is considerably lower than its 227% growth in stock price, giving a good indication of favorable appraisal by the market. Notably, 888 Holdings is one of the few major companies in the software and programming industry that pays dividends to its shareholders. Most simply do not.
Verdict
888 Holdings is a longstanding company that is quite popular among players and investors for the time being. The industry, however, is stiff with competition and new sites popping up all the time. Therefore, the consensus among experts seems to be a “strong hold” position for now, both for 888 stocks and other investments in the market, in general.
Despite concerns over its growth being tied to the pandemic, it’s clear that online life, work, and play have fundamentally transformed during the last year and a half. It’s clear that things will not immediately revert back to the status quo, as many people have grown accustomed to living a substantial portion of their lives online.With any financial investment strategy comes a certain amount of risk and therefore, it’s important to do your own due diligence before investing any amount of money in the stock market. That being said, 888 Holdings has a bright future of consistent (if not colossal) growth for the next 4 years at least.
