No one would’ve predicted the monstrous success of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). It’s among the top-five most valuable companies in terms of market capitalization, trading at over a whopping $1.4 trillion. It started as a humble bookseller but has become one of the most diversified businesses. Amazon acquisitions have been a key enabler of its diversification strategy.
And Amazon has been on quite an acquisition spree of late.
It’s spent billions of dollars in acquiring promising startups — and even established businesses in various sectors. With a slowdown in its e-commerce business, it has found other ways to expand its total addressable market. So which businesses could it scoop up next?
Here are seven companies Amazon should acquire.
| PTON | Peloton | $11.92 |
| TDOC | Teladoc | $37.79 |
| EA | Electronic Arts | $131.16 |
| COUR | Coursera | $13.74 |
| WWE | World Wrestling Entertainment | $72.21 |
| RPD | Rapid7 | $67.10 |
| NKLA | Nikola | $6.99 |
Peloton (PTON)
Peloton (NASDAQ:PTON) is a fitness product dealer that effectively combines technology with physical fitness. Its business model is based on two primary revenue-generating activities, the largest of which is called connected fitness products. During the pandemic years, its sales numbers grew by double-digit margins. Since then, they have pulled back considerably.
Amazon released a health-tracking bracelet called Halo a few years ago but didn’t gain much traction. Acquiring Peloton could be a catalyst for Amazon in its attempt to make meaningful inroads in the fitness niche. Peloton has not fared too well of late, and its stock is in the doldrums. Amazon should acquire the company and turn things around through its unmatched expertise.
Teladoc (TDOC)
Amazon Care, its healthcare division, has been buzzing of late. It recently acquired healthcare services provider One Medical to add to its illustrious list of acquisitions in the division. Moreover, it is expanding its virtual healthcare offerings similar to Teladoc (NYSE:TDOC).
On top of that, with a robust balance sheet, Amazon has enough in the tank to take things up a notch or two.
Teladoc faces reopening headwinds, so its earnings results have been choppy. From the third quarter of 2020 to the second quarter of 2021, the company generated triple-digit growth across its top line. It established itself as a go-to service for high-quality virtual care, making it one of the more interesting additions to Amazon’s repertoire.
Electronic Arts (EA)
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) is one of the biggest video game content producers, with some of the most iconic franchises. It’s been one of the most consistent performers in the space, backed by incredible showings from its top video game titles.
Moreover, it has also attracted takeover interest from some of the biggest names in the tech industry.
The video game industry has grown at breakneck speed over the past several years, primarily due to the shift toward stay-at-home entertainment options. The industry is worth over $200 billion and could potentially grow at an incredible 12.1% CAGR through 2028. Amazon has had a couple of original game releases and a streaming service called Luna. Hence, it’s still far behind industry veterans in making a big splash in the sector, and the addition of EA could be a game changer.
Coursera (COUR)
Coursera (NYSE:COUR) is among the biggest online educational platforms globally. It has more than 92 million registered learners and over 16,000 degree students. Moreover, its primary product is online educational courses which it provides in conjunction with educators, universities and top firms.
The idea of Coursera as a takeover target comes from Amazon’s partnership with another firm, Udacity. Amazon partnered with Udacity to offer a machine learning scholarship program.
The development can be looked at from a couple of angles. Firstly, Amazon could be looking to secure a pipeline of skilled workers for its businesses. Moreover, it might also be looking to plant the seeds for its foray into the education tech sector. For both objectives, the takeover of Coursera would seem like a logical move to begin the process of disrupting education.
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
I guess everyone’s been a fan of The World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE:WWE) at some point. It’s been producing scripted wrestling content for almost 70 years and has now become a household name in entertainment. Its fundamentals are rock solid, with strong cash flow growth over the past several years.
In the past few years, it’s been in the news as a potential takeover target by some of the biggest companies in the world.
With its founder and former CEO Vince McMahon stepping down from his post, rumors are rife that it could be up for sale. The company could be an incredible addition to Amazon’s entertainment division led by Prime Video. Amazon closed its mammoth $8.5 billion acquisition of entertainment giant MGM earlier this year as it continues to expand its content library. WWE has built massive brand equity, and it would be a welcome addition for Prime Video.
Rapid7 (RPD)
Rapid7 (NASDAQ:RPD) is one of the more promising cybersecurity businesses that focus on the provision of cloud-native solutions. The business has been firing, generating double-digit revenue growth over the past five years. Additionally, recent results have been spectacular, with its second-quarter revenues jumping 32.5% from the prior-year period.
Cybersecurity is pivotal in preventing data loss on the cloud, which is why companies such as RPD have been incredibly popular. Cloud giant Amazon Web Services has been on an acquisition spree over the past few years, adding cybersecurity businesses, including Wickr and Sqrrl, to name a few.
The addition of RPD could potentially offer tremendous synergies for AWS to minimize costs and grow its revenue base much faster.
Nikola (NKLA)
Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) is an emerging battery electric truck manufacturer that could potentially deliver 300 of its class 8 BEVs this year. Moreover, it has completed the first phase of the construction of its U.S. manufacturing site, which is capable of producing roughly 2,500 vehicles a year. Estimates suggest it could deliver upwards of $2 billion in sales by 2025 if all goes to plan.
During a recent earnings call earlier this year, Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky discussed the importance of increasing transportation speeds and adding assets to ensure timely deliveries. Moreover, Amazon is also considering sustainability, which is why it has invested heavily in the EV space. It owns a sizeable share of Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN), which is currently facing supply-chain issues in getting its product out.
In such a scenario, it would be wise for Amazon to invest in perhaps a more promising BEV truck manufacturer like Nikola.
On the date of publication, Muslim Farooque did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.