The sharing economy is booming, and these 16 companies are ideally positioned to benefit

Uber and AirBnB aren't the only companies that stand to benefit from the growing sharing economy.

Credit Suisse published a report Friday listing 16 companies that will benefit, directly or indirectly, from the burgeoning sector.

Venture capital investors say sharing firms are worth more than $220 billion, according to PWC, with their value set to reach $335 billion by 2025.

That growth is being driven by a combination of macroeconomic and psychological factors: an urbanizing population that is increasingly cost and environment conscious. The population is also tech savvy and keen on living a "useful life," according to Credit Suisse.

There are also a number of beneficiaries outside the sharing sector — such as insurance and banking giant, AXA.

Here is the list.

Avis Budget Group

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Rating: OUTPERFORM 

Market Cap: $4.56 billion

About: North American car-rental company Avis Budget is set to benefit long-term from the rise of car sharing. The company is likely to see increased rentals — especially for longer trips — as urbanization continues to make car buying a less popular choice.

Credit Suisse noted that car rental will also be more complimentary to ride-sharing platforms such as Uber and Lyft, since users who ride Uber and Lyft are looking for a short trip — less than 30 minutes — rather than a long trip. 

Hertz

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Specialist trader Jason Hardzewicz gives the price for Hertz rental car at the opening bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, August 20, 2014.

Rating: OUTPERFORM

Market Cap: $8.28 billion

About: Hertz is also set to benefit long-term from the rise of car sharing, heralded by Zipcar. The company is likely to see increased rentals — especially for longer trips, as car ownership becomes less common.

AXA

Wikimedia commons

Rating: OUTPERFORM

Market Cap: $57.98 billion

About: A French multinational financial-services company, AXA is likely to benefit from a shift from regional car-insurance companies to global players.

The note said: "As car-sharing companies such as Uber and carclubs such as Zipcar expand their global car fleet, it is likely that they would want a more global insurance offering to their fleet as well. Companies that have the ability to offer these services in our view include ... AXA.'

JCDecaux

Wikimedia Commons

DublinBikes, organized by JCDecaux.

Rating: NEUTRAL

Market Cap: $7.58 billion

About: With bike-sharing systems operating in 67 cities in 10 countries, including Ireland, Japan, and Austria, JCDecaux is set to benefit from the sharing economy.

The rise of bike sharing is driven by an increased focus on the environment and cost. Credit Suisse said: "The desire of people to lead a more conscious lifestyle coupled with cost pressures related to car ownership especially in urban areas provide a structural tailwind to this service in our view. As a group we believe that sharing has strong potential to disrupt traditional incumbent industries, most notably the car industry." 

Shimano

YouTube/ShimanoRaceTV

Rating: NEUTRAL

Market Cap: $12.78 billion

About: Shimano, based in Japan, makes bike components.

Like most of the transportation companies on the list, Shimano benefits from the increasingly urbanizing population, rising congestion, and an expanding middle class.

As increasing car congestion makes roads an unattractive way of traveling, and population density brings work, food, and entertainment closer to the doorstep, thus the need for longer journeys — 30 minutes or more — peters out.

HomeAway

HomeAway

You can stay at this seven-bedroom, 16th-century Scottish Castle for $1,558 a night through HomeAway. It once housed King James VI of Scotland.

Rating: NEUTRAL

Market Cap: $2.71 billion 

About: An accommodation-sharing company, Austin, Texas-based HomeAwayfocuses on holiday rentals — cabins, beach houses, barns, castles, and more.

The accommodation-sharing market is growing fast, with bookings expected to shoot up nearly 400% in the next five years.

Tripadvisor

iTunes / TripAdvisor

Rating: OUTPERFORM

Market Cap: $9.83 billion

About: Tripadvisor, a social-media platform for travelers, allows users and service providers to connect online and rate restaurants, hotels, and activities.

That makes Tripadvisor a platform for sharing information — and it can help other platforms such as AirBnB and HomeAway expand their reach and hopefully their offerings.

Amazon

Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Rating: OUTPERFORM

Market Cap: $243.86 billion

About: Now a way for small-time sellers to promote used goods online, Amazon has become part of the sharing economy.

LinkedIn

REUTERS/Mike Segar

Rating: OUTPERFORM

Market Cap: $25.18 billion

About: LinkedIn makes the list of outperforms according to Credit Suisse analysts, because the sharing economy should benefit the recruiting platform by allowing a peer-to-peer staffing market.

"LinkedIn and Xing also offer corporates the opportunity for more direct sourcing in the permanent recruitment market. While currently acting as another route to market for the agencies, and therefore more of a help than a hindrance, the services will take incremental permanent volumes (via direct sourcing) from the agencies and potentially put pressure on margins given their growing pricing power for licences."

Regus

Rating: OUTPERFORM

Market Cap: $4.39 billion

About: A multinational corporation that provides office space, Regus is based out of Luxembourg.

Credit Suisse said: "Demand for flexible office space is likely to continue, owing partly to rising freelancing, part-time work, and entrepreneurship. Regus is a prime beneficiary in our view."

Lending Club

Flickr/ Leweb3

Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche.

Rating: NEUTRAL

Market Cap: $4.8 billion

About: A US-based peer-to-peer lending company, Lending Club allows users to post requests for loans online.

Credit Suisse noted that alternative-funding platforms, such as Lending Club, on average yield net returns of 6% to 8% — while yields on 10-year government bonds are close to zero.

It also has a lead over traditional banks, since it lacks branch-related costs and has lower origination and billing fees.

Lending Club, however, has had a rough summer, with shares dropping nearly 30% after a run-in with the US Supreme Court.

Visa

Flickr/frankieleon

Rating: OUTPERFORM

Market Cap: $170.5 billion

About: Credit-card giant Visa is also set to benefit from the sharing economy. 

Credit Suisse said: "Interestingly, credit-card companies are involved in financing the expansion of companies such as Lending Club, thus indirectly also supporting the sharing model."

eBay

Thomson Reuters

An eBay office in San Jose, California.

Rating: NEUTRAL

Market Cap: $31.42 billion

About: eBay is situated in one of the most established and oldest sectors of the sharing economy.

Facebook

Thomson Reuters

Rating: OUTPERFORM

Market Cap: $260.54 billion

About: Facebook is set to benefit from growth in the sharing economy. 

"Social media is likely to be the key medium that will be used to share views, experiences, and suggestions in relation to all these sharing activities," the note stated.

Mercado Libre

MercadoLibre

Rating: OUTPERFORM

Market Cap: $4.67 billion

About: MercadoLibre is a pre-owned-goods sharing platform catering to Latin American users. The Buenos Aires-based company is set to benefit from the sharing economy, as the demand for used goods increases.

The company is listed on Nasdaq. Its parent company is eBay.

Yelp

Michael Dorausch/Flickr

Rating: OUTPERFORM

Market Cap: $1.8 billion

About: An American multinational corporation, Yelp is known for its website that allows users to rate food and services.

More and more users are likely to go on social-media platforms to demand or rate services or to advertise their offerings as the sharing economy grows, Credit Suisse said.