Can you trade Rotten Tomatoes stock? Rotten Tomatoes is widely seen as the top internet site to visit for movie and television show reviews. It was created 23 years ago as a side project by three undergraduate students who wanted a website with movie critic reviews. The name of the site is derived from film watchers throwing tomatoes at the screen when they did not enjoy it. Over the years, Rotten Tomatoes has been owned by several different companies, including IGN, Warner Bros., and Fox. Currently, Rotten Tomatoes is owned by Fandango, which is of course owned by Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA).
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Can I Buy Rotten Tomatoes Stock?
Unfortunately, you can’t buy Rotten Tomatoes tock as it’s currently not a publicly-traded company. If you really wanted to invest in the site, buying some shares of Comcast would be the closest you can get. There doesn’t seem to be any future plans to bring Rotten Tomatoes public either.
If you need to support the site, continue to use Rotten Tomatoes for your film and television reviews. As well, if you ever need to buy some movie tickets, Rotten Tomatoes receives a cut from any tickets purchased through its website.
Are There Any Stocks like Rotten Tomatoes?
AMC (NYSE: AMC): You simply cannot have a movie-themed investing article without mentioning AMC. The company was on the verge of bankruptcy during the COVID-19 pandemic when retail investors came to the rescue. Redditors on discussion boards like r/WallStreetBets saw the high short interest in AMC.
They initiated a short squeeze that ended up saving the company. AMC shares have returned nearly 1,700% to investors since the start of 2021. They hit an all-time high of $72.62 per share in June. AMC is the largest theater chain in the world and continues to be a battleground stock between retail and Wall Street.
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS): Walt Disney has gone from an animated studio to an entertainment and media conglomerate. Disney continuously produces some of the largest blockbusters to ever hit theaters. Rotten Tomatoes owes a good chunk of its user traffic to Disney movies.
So it only makes sense that it made this list. Disney has catapulted to the top of the movie industry with its acquisitions of Lucas Films and the Marvel brand. The company also recently acquired 20th Century Fox and all of its subsidiaries. Disney owns multiple other brands including ESPN, ABC, and of course, it’s widely used Disney+ streaming platform. Disney+ has well over 116 million global subscribers and is rapidly catching up to this next company.
Streaming Services
Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX): Widely seen as the global streaming leader, Netflix has become synonymous with on-demand entertainment. Netflix produces some of the most popular original content including the Queen’s Gambit, Stranger Things, Ozark, and Squid Game. The streaming site is available in 190 countries around the world with well over 215 million subscribers. As a company, Netflix boasts a $296 billion market cap, which puts it just below Disney in terms of valuation. While many saw Netflix and Disney+ as competitors, it has become increasingly apparent that the viewership market is different. Many households subscribe to both Disney+ and Netflix, making the streaming industry a two-horse race.
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN): Is there anything Amazon is not involved in? The world’s largest eCommerce company is also in the streaming industry with its platform Prime Video. This is an included service for Amazon Prime subscribers. While it is usually not considered on the same level as Netflix, Prime certainly provides some highly rated original content. Take for instance the highly anticipated Lord of the Rings series which will be exclusive to Prime Video in 2022. The series has an estimated budget of $465 million for the first season alone, and Amazon is banking on it to catapult them into the streaming wars.
What Are the Best Stock Related Movies?
Now it’s time for a little fun! Rotten Tomatoes stock isn’t a thing. But their movies reviews are. Since we’re a site dedicated to investing, let’s take a look at some of the best movies related to the stock market. Best movie lists are always controversial, so we won’t put these in any sort of order. Let us know if we missed any titles that should be on this list!
The Big Short: This is probably one of the first movie titles that come to mind. An all-star cast that features Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, and Brad Pitt, the Big Short is a fascinating look into well-known investor Michael Burry.
This movie is about Burry shorting the housing market by investing over $1 billion into credit default swaps. Burry has also recently made headlines as he was involved early on in the GameStop (NYSE: GME) short squeeze. Finally, Burry is infamously known for holding a short position against Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA).
Although he recently closed that position. The Big Short received a Rotten Tomatoes score of 89% and an Audience Score of 88%.
The Wolf of Wall Street: Another recent blockbuster that featured Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, and Matthew McConaughey.
This Martin Scorsese directed film revolves around Jordan Belfort who defrauds wealthy investors after starting his own investment firm. Belfort’s firm was called Stratton Oakmount. He used it to pump and dump penny stocks and other fraudulent activities. The movie was based on a true story. Belfort spent 22 months in prison as a result of the conviction. He wrote several memories including the Wolf of Wall Street, which is what the movie is based on. It received a Rotten Tomatoes score of 79% and an Audience Score of 83%.
Investing Movies
Boiler Room: We go back further now to a widely forgotten movie that was released back in 2000. Boiler Room stars Vin Diesel in a movie about pump and dump schemes. The Boiler Room is a term used for a call center that used to make calls for outgoing investment ideas. Before investing went to the internet, this is how pump and dump schemes were carried out. The movie depicted young investors who used the boiler room to lure people into making investments in the stocks they pumped. Sounds a lot like what happens in some Twitter accounts these days doesn’t it? Anyways, the movie didn’t do too well despite receiving a 66% rating from Rotten Tomatoes and an Audience Score of 78%.
Wall Street: This Oliver Stone classic is widely seen as one of the best Wall Street movies ever made. The film stars Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, and Martin Sheen and depicts a young stockbroker’s entry into the investing world. A classic tale of greed and bad decisions, Wall Street remains a popular choice to this day. It also received a sequel called Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. It had an incredible cast but never lived up to the hype of the original. Wall Street received a Rotten Tomatoes score of 79% and an Audience Score of 81%. The sequel received a score of 55% and an Audience Score of 44%.
We could be adding another movie to this list soon. There are already several movies in production. Including one by Netflix, about the GameStop short squeeze. While the films will take on the bigger picture battle between retail and Wall Street, it’ll be interesting to see how deep they get into the investing side of things. Enjoy the reviews since you can’t trade Rotten Tomatoes stock.
Conclusion
So we learned that there’s no Rotten Tomatoes stock. It’s not actually a publicly-traded company. It’s owned by one though as Comcast acquired the site back in 2016 from Flixster. Rotten Tomatoes is the premier television and movie rating site on the internet today. But unfortunately, it doesn’t have many revenue streams or earning potential.
It’s hard to put an exact number to it, but it is believed that Rotten Tomatoes sees over 30 million unique visitors every month. The site is synonymous with the television and movie industry and is the first place many of us go for a movie review. Unfortunately, as much as we think Rotten Tomatoes is a great idea, we simply cannot invest in it right now.
