JPM sees US exposure, M&A driving European media growth in 2025

Embracer AB

09/01/2025 12:10

** J.P.Morgan expects U.S. exposure, strong USD,
deregulation, lower taxes and potential M&A to drive growth for
European media in 2025, especially for TV and ad agencies
    ** It stays positive on most broadcasters due to their
positioning, cheap valuations and potential gains from market
consolidation in Europe; upgrades RTL  AUDK.LU  to "overweight"
    ** JPM highlights UMG  UMG.AS , RELX  REL.L  and Publicis
 PUBP.PA  as key picks for the sector
    ** It says UMG ("overweight") has potential to double its
value in 2-3 years through Streaming 2.0 developments
    ** It says ad group Publicis (upgraded to "overweight")
benefits from its connected media ecosystem, while rival WPP
 WPP.L  ("neutral") faces challenges from account losses and
muted growth, with potential recovery seen in H2 2025
    ** Business information firm RELX ("overweight") benefits
from data-driven analytics and AI and is expected to close
valuation gap to U.S. peers, it adds
    ** Video game developers will stay under pressure after
mixed AAA games performances and delays last year, with upcoming
titles as potential drivers for Ubisoft  UBIP.PA  ("neutral")
and Embracer  EMBRACb.CO  ("underweight"), JPM says

 (Reporting by Vera Dvorakova)
 ((vera.dvorakova@thomsonreuters.com))