MarketBeat vs. CNBC Comparison

You already know that MarketBeat is a reputable source of financial information that can hold its own against any of its native digital competitors. But how does MarketBeat stand up against a financial news network? That’s the purpose of this article.

In this case, we’ll be comparing MarketBeat to CNBC, and specifically the digital version of the financial news network, CNBC.com. The purpose of this comparison is for you to better understand what each service provides, particularly if investors choose to access the company’s premium services. 

MarketBeat Overview

MarketBeat was founded in 2011 with the mission of creating high-quality stock research tools and making them available to investors at all levels. The site uses the latest technology to provide proprietary, comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-the-minute financial data including information about analyst recommendations, dividend declarations, and earnings announcements.

All of this information, and more, was made available for free on the company’s website and via the company’s daily newsletters. MarketBeat aims to be a go-to resource for both retail and institutional investors. Currently over 15 million individuals visit MarketBeat.com every month.

CNBC Overview

CNBC is best known as a business and financial news network that is available via cable and many streaming services. One of CNBC’s best-known personalities is Jim Cramer, a former hedge fund manager who hosts his own program “Mad Money” for the network. Investors can also find Cramer’s insights on the website. According to the company, CNBC’s business content is “consumed by more than 355 million people per month across all platforms.” For the purposes of this comparison, we’re focusing on CNBC’s digital offering.

The Key Difference

MarketBeat and CNBC are targeted at retail investors who want access to actionable information to help them make better investment and trading decisions. CNBC is owned by NBCUniversal News Group, a division of NBCUniversal which are both indirectly owned by Comcast.

With that in mind, the primary difference is that CNBC is, at its core, a news feed that gives you access to Jim Cramer. Investors that are looking for stock analysis have to subscribe to their premium service, CNBC Pro. By contrast, MarketBeat is an independent site with original content you won’t find anywhere else. And with the My MarketBeat feature, MarketBeat allows investors to select market sectors or use a watchlist to tailor their news feed and set up alerts for specific stocks in your portfolio.

MarketBeat Highlights

Access to My MarketBeat – this is the core of the MarketBeat service. Investors can choose to get information that is pertinent to stocks in their portfolio or watch list(s). Premium subscribers unlock the complete My MarketBeat experience that provides in-depth research tools such as:

• Watch list coverage - MarketBeat allows investors to easily track stocks on their watch list. The site allows you to input several watch lists and choose one of them to be your default watch list. Users of the free service can track up to five stocks in every portfolio. Premium subscribers can list an unlimited number of stocks.
• Track portfolio performance - MarketBeat offers tools for investors to track their portfolio’s performance.
• Real-time alerts – MarketBeat provides e-mail or text alerts for news affecting your stocks

Financial Calendars – Get a list of upcoming earnings reports, analyst ratings, dividend announcements, insider trades, and more.

Market Data – View what is happening for specific sectors, with stocks at particular price points, the most active and most volatile stocks, and more.

Education – This is a research library that includes a database of financial terms and investing strategies.

Headlines – An archive of current and past articles regarding stocks and other investment topics. Stock-specific articles can also be found when that stock’s page comes up in the search tool.

Curated newsletters - MarketBeat provides subscribers with the Early Bird which is delivered every morning before the market opens as well as the Night Owl which is delivered every evening.

• These newsletters give readers insight on stocks that MarketBeat analysts are tracking as well as a curated selection of investment articles from other financial outlets.
• These newsletters do not directly make stock picks.
• In addition to these newsletters, the MarketBeat site is refreshed every day in real-time with Top Stories including Most Read Stories and the Most Recent Stories. Many of these articles provide exclusive content from MarketBeat analysts.

Podcasts – the MarketBeat Minute reviews market events for that trading day.

CNBC Highlights

Market News  – Investors have access to research, analysis and data from CNBC’s staff analysts. Get access through a variety of verticals such as Markets, Business, Investing, Tech, and Politics.

Individual Stock Analysis – through the search feature you can select a stock (e.g. Rivian) and get a dashboard page that provides information specific to that stock such as Financials, Ownership, and Earnings information. Investors will also get headlines from CNBC affiliates and sponsored financial content.

CNBC Investing Club – This opt-in service gives investors access to Jim Cramer’s investment advice.

Access to CNBC Live – Investors can log in through their cable or streaming provider for access to the live feed of CNBC as well as archived features such as CNBC Documentaries and CEO Interviews.

Podcasts – CNBC gives investors access to current and past episodes of the network’s podcasts

Watchlist – Allows investors to create one or more watchlists to track specific stocks.

Review of Premium Services

For buy-and-hold investors who simply want to have instant information regarding the equities in their portfolio, these free services may be adequate. However active traders will typically need access to more detailed insights. For that, both companies offer several premium services. For the purpose of this article, premium services are defined as services for which customers have to pay to access.

MarketBeat Premium Services

MarketBeat Momentum Alerts - $97 per year

• This service provides short-term trading opportunities identified by MarketBeat editors using trading momentum, market sentiment, and specific financial triggers.
• Subscribers receive approximately 3 to 5 new ideas each month through MarketBeat Momentum Alerts.

MarketBeat Daily Premium – $199 per year/$19.97 monthly

• MarketBeat Daily Premium is delivered 30 minutes before the market opens and provides actionable news, analyst upgrades and downgrades, dividend payout changes, insider buying and selling disclosures, earnings reports and technical data.
• Subscribers get information that is personalized to their My MarketBeat stock portfolio and watchlist, giving them the latest information for the stocks they care about the most.
• Investors can also choose to receive email or SMS alerts for their stocks so they don't miss major shifts in the market.
• Their daily newsletter contains a summary of key analyst ratings, earnings and dividend announcements, insider transactions of the day.

MarketBeat All Access – $399 per year/$39.97 monthly

• MarketBeat All Access is the company’s premier research platform.
• Subscribers receive all the information included in MarketBeat Daily Premium, plus a Sunday market preview, advanced portfolio monitoring tools (via My MarketBeat), access to MarketBeat’s full suite of research tools and stock screeners, a real-time news feed including email and SMS alerts.
• Subscribers also get access to the MarketBeat Idea Engine, trending stock lists, proprietary brokerage rankings, extended data export tools, and more.

CNBC Premium Services

CNBC Pro - $299 per year or $29.99 per month/free 7-day access

CNBC Pro gives investors access to all the features of the basic site plus:

• Access to a live-stream of CNBC’s television programming
• Exclusive news stories and video clips – some of these contain exclusive interviews with fund managers and analysts. The content is packaged to be around 5 to 10 minutes. Items are placed in different categories including “Follow the Pros” and investing trends.
• Premium access to stock picks and analyst calls
• Access to Pro Talks – This is a way for long-term investors to get ideas to help their wealth grow
• Daily newsletter – Delivered every morning and provides a summary of the top one or two most important stories for U.S. investors along with a curated list of the top Pro news stories of the day.

A common criticism of the service is that it’s not clear that investors get more actionable content than what they can get from the free service. One reason for this is that investors can get CNBC’s live programming through a streaming service or cable subscription.

Conclusion

Why would we do this? For starters, we’re confident in the value that your MarketBeat subscription provides.  Second we realize that, as with streaming services, investors may have different sites that they use for different purposes. And while we certainly believe that MarketBeat can be your one-stop site for all things investing, we want to provide the information so you can decide for yourself.

Both CNBC and MarketBeat provide investors with actionable information. And if access to the opinions and analysis of industry experts like Jim Cramer is important to you, then investors may find CNBC to be helpful. However, there seems to be little distinction between the company’s free service and CNBC Pro. On the other hand, when investors subscribe to MarketBeat Daily Premium or MarketBeat All Access they have access to curated content for the stocks they are actively following.