AAPL Stock Rebounds After Apple Buying Shazam Report

Apple is reportedly closing in on a deal to purchase the audio recognition app Shazam—a popular app that can identify music, television show, movie or advertisement by listening to an audio clip—according to TechCrunch.

No official price has been made public, though the deal is believed to be in the nine-figure range and has been rumored to be around $400 million. During its last funding round in 2015, Shazam was valued at more than $1 billion.

The report was confirmed by the Financial Times, which reported the deal would value the London-based Shazam as worth “hundreds of millions of dollars” and would be one of the largest acquisitions in Apple’s history.

During its September 2017 earnings report, Shazam posted $54 million in revenue over the course of its 2016 fiscal year, a turnaround from its previous two years. The company, which has been around since 1999, boasted that it broke the one billion download barrier in 2016, making it one of the most popular mobile apps in the world.

Shazam was a clear acquisition target for Apple given its interest in expanding its presence in the music market—especially as its top competitor Spotify moves closer to public listing, expected to happen next year. Given that Shazam already integrates with Apple’s Siri and sends traffic to Apple Music, Apple should be able to work the app into its ecosystem.

Apple’s stock began rebounding upon reports of the acquisition. While the stock was in decline over the course of the week, dropping from $172.48 per share Monday to as low as $167.33 Thursday, the Cupertino company saw a sudden spike in its stock price Friday afternoon, jumping to $169.31.

Earlier this year, Fox launched a television show called Beat Shazam. Hosted by Jamie Foxx, the show challenges players to name songs before the Shazam app can. The grand prize for the program is $1 million.

Give Apple’s interest in adding video content to its Apple Music library—which Apple has pledged to spend more than $1 billion on to expand original programming and already includes a spin-off version of James Corden’s popular Carpool Karaoke—the program may fit into its programming lineup.

Of course, it’s unlikely Apple is acquiring the app in order to lock down a TV show. The tech giant likely has its eyes on the tech that powers Shazam as well as an interest in either exclusivity of the extremely popular service or licensing fees from other platforms that integrate Shazam, including Spotify.

Apple's deal to acquire Shazam is expected to be completed this week and announced Monday.