By Philip van Doorn, MarketWatch
Bloomberg News/Landov
I wish I could buy stock in Uber.
Even if I weren’t barred by my company’s policy from holding individual stocks, I wouldn’t be able to participate in the ride-share pioneer’s success in winning so many battles all over the world, as entrenched local taxi operators and politicians try to maintain the status quo.
Though Uber was valued at $50 billion the last time it raised money, the company is privately held, which means you can’t make money off it, at least for now.
The “sharing,” or “collaborative,” economy is transforming many other areas of business. People can use online services to barter goods, arrange for lodging in a private home rather than using a (possibly bed-bug-infested) hotel, share a bicycle, have a package delivered, lend or borrow money, find someone to work for you, earn employment, share an office or make a payment, typically using a smartphone.
The sharing economy is becoming more popular among younger people. One obvious reason is Uber’s success. There was a time when I never tried to hail a cab in midtown Manhattan. It was just too annoying. But more recently, I walked out the door, approached 6th Avenue and instantly had three yellow-cab hacks vying for my business. Uber has really opened up this business, enabling a much larger supply and turning what was a seller’s market into a buyer’s market.
Other reasons include efficiency, cost control and even concern for the environment.
“Despite the attention paid to some of the individual ‘sharing’ companies, we believe that significant uncertainty or skepticism remains with investors on whether sharing businesses more broadly have longevity and which of them will ultimately prove to be truly disruptive,” Credit Suisse analyst Eugene Klerk said in a report Friday.
Klerk and his research team cited an estimate from PWC that sharing revenue may reach $335 billion by 2025, which would imply a compounded annual growth rate of more than 25%.
“This may appear large; however, it only represents 0.4% of 2014 global GDP. Supply constraints to sharing appear limited given the growing share of freelancers and part-timers,” Klerk said.
The Credit Suisse researchers looked at nine economic subsectors and considered which publicly traded companies might benefit from the sharing trend.
First, here’s a list of companies that Credit Suisse expects to see a “positive” effect from increasing collaborative activity, sorted by the business subsector affecting the company:
| Company | Ticker | Business subsector | Credit Suisse stock rating |
| Avis Budget Group Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/203618115/composite CAR | Autos | Outperform |
| Axa SA Sponsored ADR | /zigman2/quotes/207233924/delayed AXAHY | Autos | Outperform |
| Hertz Global Holdings Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/227855833/composite HTZ | Autos | Outperform |
| JCDecaux SA | /zigman2/quotes/205086983/delayed JCDXF | Bicycles | Neutral |
| Shimano Inc. Unsponsored ADR | /zigman2/quotes/200116166/delayed SHMDF | Bicycles | Neutral |
| HomeAway Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/216415466/composite AWAY | Hotels | Neutral |
| TripAdvisor Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/206118480/composite TRIP | Hotels | Outperform |
| Amazon.com Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/210331248/composite AMZN | Logistics | Outperform |
| Regus PLC | Office sharing | Outperform | |
| Lending Club Corp. | /zigman2/quotes/202691252/composite LC | Peer-to-peer lending | Neutral |
| Visa Inc. Class A | /zigman2/quotes/203660239/composite V | Peer-to-peer lending | Outperform |
| EBay Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/204653455/composite EBAY | Pre-owned goods | Neutral |
| MercadoLibre Inc. | /zigman2/quotes/200678442/composite MELI | Pre-owned goods | Outperform |
| LinkedIn Corp. Class A | Recruitment | Outperform | |
| Facebook Inc. Class A | Social media | Outperform | |
| Yelp Inc. Class A | /zigman2/quotes/201334325/composite YELP | Social media | Outperform |
| Source: Credit Suisse | |||
For companies based outside the U.S., with main classes of shares traded on non-U.S. exchanges, we have used tickers for American Depositary Receipts where possible.
Avis Budget Group Inc. /zigman2/quotes/203618115/composite CAR -1.50% and Hertz Global Holdings Inc. /zigman2/quotes/227855833/composite HTZ -0.88% can obviously benefit from a long-term move away from car ownership, provided Uber-type ride sharing leads to it. According to Klerk, Axa SA /zigman2/quotes/207233924/delayed AXAHY +0.24% can also make gains, as global property and casualty insurers “should benefit as companies such as Uber are likely to want a global insurance policy for their vehicles.”
Here are some comments about the other companies listed above:
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CAR
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AXAHY
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HTZ
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JCDXF
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SHMDF
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TRIP
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AMZN
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EBAY
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MELI
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YELP
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CAR
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HTZ
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AXAHY
