Citrini Research Identifies 90 Subscription Stocks at Risk From AI Agents

Citrini Research has published a report outlining a short basket of 90 subscription and platform stocks that the firm believes are exposed to an emerging "agentic cancellation wave." This analysis follows the release of Meta Platforms Inc.’s consumer agent, Muse, and suggests that AI agents could fundamentally alter the economics of the subscription economy.

The report argues that the subscription model relies on customers who forget to cancel or fail to optimize their recurring payments. Citrini contends that AI agents, which do not forget, will attack both sides of the subscription equation: they will reduce the lifetime value of customers by shortening their tenure, and they will increase customer acquisition costs by forcing companies to offer more aggressive discounts to retain users.

The "Agentic Subscription Losers Basket" includes companies across fitness, media, telecom, and software sectors. The basket is based on the Hardest-to-Cancel Index from Viral App Labs, which scores how difficult each service makes the cancellation process. Weights for the basket were set as of September 21.

Within the basket, Planet Fitness Inc. carries the largest weight at 3.62%, followed by Comcast Corp. at 3.53% and Liberty Global Ltd. at 3.34%. By sector, software carries the largest weight at 14.1%, followed by streaming and entertainment at 13.7%, and telecom and pay TV at 12.7%.

The list includes several large technology names. Adobe Inc. carries a weight of 1.99%, Microsoft Corp. 1.35%, and Netflix Inc. 0.37%. For The New York Times Co., which carries a weight of 1.58%, Citrini specifically notes a risk that subscriber numbers could hold steady while revenue per user slips due to agents negotiating retention discounts or trading down to cheaper subscription tiers.

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is highlighted as a specific example. The company recently reported the most loyal paying subscribers in its history, with self-pay monthly churn improving to approximately 1.4%. Citrini responded to this data by stating, "It was good while it lasted."