What is Pure Play?

Key Highlight

• A pure-play company focuses on one industry or niche, so it is easier for investors to understand and evaluate them.

• Their narrow focus may result in higher returns when they become industry leaders, leading to stable or growing revenues.

• It is easy for investors to compare pure-play companies with similar offerings in the same industry.

• Due to their lack of diversification, pure plays are considered high-risk investments.

Meaning of Pure Play

Pure Play meaning refers to publicly traded companies that focus all of their resources and energies on a single business line. A stock's performance is highly correlated with the performance of its industry or sector. In contrast to companies with wide product portfolios and many revenue sources, pure-play companies cater to a single niche market and have simpler, easier-to-understand cash flows and revenue structures. However, many investors believe that pure-play stocks perform poorly in bear markets and are riskier.

A pure play includes an e-commerce company, an electronic retailer, and an e-tailer promoting their industry-specific products online. If there is no market demand for their product or if electronic shopping or digital purchases are not popular, these companies will be adversely affected.

There is a vast difference between a pure-play business and a company with multiple operations. Instead of managing activities across multiple industries or sectors, pure-play enterprises focus on providing a single product or service, leading to market leadership. Even if they are not market leaders, pure-play corporations dominate their operating markets.

Pure Play Company Examples

Think about a pure-play company focused on one commodity, like gold. A company that focuses on a single commodity will provide you with a much clearer picture than one that includes multiple industries. Furthermore, investors do not have to consider the cash flows of various business models.

IBM sells goods, develops software, and supports clients' IT department. There's no connection between these three revenue streams, and they're affected in different ways by economic ups and downs. This makes it harder for investors to analyse pure-play companies.

Benefits of Pure Play Investments

A pure play may be a good investment if an investor is looking for a company that specialises in a specific product or service. Pure plays can provide investors with the following benefits:

• When you adopt environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles or practice socially responsible investing (SRI), you may avoid certain firms or industries. Because pure plays only have one product line, they are more transparent. Selecting the subsidiaries that most closely reflect your beliefs can be challenging when there are dozens or even hundreds to choose from.
• When researching companies, investors can use both fundamental and technical indicators. Despite their usefulness in making informed investment decisions, they can also be distracting.
• Due to their narrow focus, pure-play investments are simpler to evaluate. For example, it is easy to compare two pure-play companies selling the same items in the same industry.
• Pure plays may provide investors with higher returns. Revenues are likely to remain stable or grow over time if a company is known as an industry leader.
• Investors may benefit from this by receiving regular dividends from pure-play companies that pay dividends.

A Few Things to Consider When Investing in Pure Plays

The narrow concentration of pure plays can be rewarding, but they also carry a higher risk. Since pure plays are more susceptible to rapidly changing market conditions, investors need to be more hands-on. You might choose a pure-play exchange-traded fund (ETF) rather than individual equities if you want to be more hands-off. By giving you exposure to a variety of pure-play assets, these ETFs help you diversify your portfolio's risk.

Conclusion

Investing in a pure play might be a good idea if you are looking for a specialised company. Also, it is possible for pure plays to provide investors with higher returns. If a company is known to be an industry leader, revenues will likely grow over time. By investing in pure-play companies that pay dividends, investors may benefit from regular dividends. However, due to the fact that pure-play stocks do not offer diversification, investing in them is considered a high-risk proposition. If you want more control, you can also check out a pure-play exchange-traded fund (ETF). With these ETFs, you can diversify your portfolio by investing in pure-play assets.