Investors swipe left on Lazard’s profile 28 Jul 2016 Although the $4 bln advisory firm run by Ken Jacobs had a less alluring second quarter than boutique rivals Evercore and Greenhill, a good-looking deal pipeline should make it a match. Instead, Lazard's valuation multiple is at the bottom of the heap. It deserves another look.
Trump Inc rapidly turning from virtue to vice 28 Jul 2016 Real-estate success helped him win the GOP nomination, but there's growing scrutiny of his record. Fellow New York mogul Mike Bloomberg led the charge at the Democratic convention. Trump's long trail of slippery business dealings will make his policy proposals harder to stand up.
Oracle-NetSuite deal may be sweetest for Ellison 28 Jul 2016 The business-software company is paying $9.3 bln, a whopping 44 pct premium, for a cloud-computing company effectively controlled by the Oracle CEO. The deal makes strategic sense, but Ellison looks to be once again cashing in on a side investment at Oracle's expense.
Ford is first U.S. car maker to lose traction 28 Jul 2016 The $55 bln Motown manufacturer delivered a disappointing second-quarter report, with the United States, China and Brexit all figuring. It's a contrast to GM, which zoomed past forecasts. But investors were already pricing in a slowdown. That may limit the share-price fallout.
Cox: Banking ghosts haunt Clinton in Philadelphia 28 Jul 2016 Long before Donald Trump upended politics by excoriating the establishment, Andrew Jackson attacked a pillar of the City of Brotherly Love: the Second Bank. It got him re-elected and firmly established the Democratic Party, whose candidate is now threatened by a similar campaign.
Mondelez owners ill served by Hershey omerta 27 Jul 2016 CEO Irene Rosenfeld refused to elaborate on the confectioner's rejected $23 bln bid for its rival. Avoiding the M&A rumor mill is fair enough. But her decision to try to gobble up Hershey represents a big strategic shift. Shareholders deserve more than a code of silence.
Facebook’s ad dominance masks Snapchat threat 27 Jul 2016 The $350 bln social network's meteoric revenue growth has displaced Yahoo and others, but its 1.5 bln-plus audience is skewing older. Meanwhile, Evan Spiegel's disappearing-messaging service is a hit with the kids. Disruptors are always in danger of being disrupted.
TPP trade deal morphs into crude economic symbol 27 Jul 2016 Democrats are making the pact a bigger issue at their convention than even Republicans did at theirs. Team Clinton has been pushed to voice opposition. Specific ideas on how to fix TPP, however, are in short supply. The uproar also overlooks a real issue for workers: technology.
Chipmakers’ $15 bln deal about power, not savings 27 Jul 2016 Analog Devices' purchase of Linear Technology combines two of the biggest firms in the profitable niche of circuitry that links analog real life with the digital world. Expected savings don't cover the nearly $3 bln premium, but increased clout with customers may bridge the gap.
Amazon drone lift-off is a mixed blessing for UK 27 Jul 2016 The online retailer got permission from the British government to test drone deliveries, while the U.S. is more cautious. Industrial use of drones could do wonders for Amazon’s spiralling costs. But safety issues and job automation mean there may be losers too.
Short hit on Itochu is wake-up call for Japan 27 Jul 2016 A report by U.S. firm Glaucus poses hard questions about how the $20 bln trading house accounts for big investments in Colombia and China. Like activists before them, foreign short-sellers could help shake up a market that often looks too cosy.
Vizio buy stars China’s latest breed of web giants 27 Jul 2016 LeEco is buying the U.S. TV-maker for $2 bln. Little known outside of China, Jia Yueting's tech group is trying to take on Netflix, Apple and Tesla all at once. The unabashed global ambitions make it different from more established Chinese giants like Alibaba and Tencent.
Jack Dorsey may want to pull a Marissa Mayer soon 26 Jul 2016 The Twitter CEO's plan to get the $13 bln social-media firm to take wing has been mostly ineffective. Revenue and user growth are slowing. Now would be a good time to find a suitor. The human news feed could find a home on the island of misfit media assets Verizon is assembling.
Apple’s muted results belie building pressure 26 Jul 2016 With little reason for customers to update their iPhones, the $520 billion firm led by Tim Cook again reported declining quarterly sales. Yet favorable forces pile up with each mediocre result - existing handsets are aging, services growing, and investor expectations falling.
Hillary Clinton’s 1 pct dilemma gets more awkward 26 Jul 2016 Progressive Senators Sanders and Warren kicked off the Democratic convention blasting the rich. With inequality atop the party platform, they expect Clinton to rein in millionaires. They are her biggest donors, however, meaning she'll be forced to ignore them at her coronation.
U.S. telecom giants transmit new signal on prices 26 Jul 2016 Verizon followed AT&T with news of shrinking wireless revenue. It is prompting a slowdown or end to rate discounts and smartphone subsidies, including from smaller Sprint. A fresh focus on the bottom line may cheer investors but also attract the attention of regulators.
Tesla velocity causes supplier spinout 26 Jul 2016 Mobileye shares plummeted up to 18 pct after it said it would stop supplying advanced cameras to Elon Musk's electric-car maker in 2018. Sales to Tesla are too small to warrant such a crash. It's a reminder that the shift to autonomous vehicles is too early for investors to call.
BP starts to catch a break 26 Jul 2016 Second-quarter results disappointed, but the oil major thinks it has covered the mammoth costs from its 2010 spill. BP has outperformed peers due to a weak pound, and CEO Bob Dudley is staying. A higher-margin pipeline eases the pain of a breakeven point below current oil prices.
AB InBev adds dash of cynicism to raised SAB offer 26 Jul 2016 A raised 79 bln pound offer for SABMiller should give agitating hedge funds a dignified exit. But it mostly ignores the fall in the value of the Budweiser brewer's offer - and makes a share-based alternative offer targeted at SAB’s biggest shareholders slightly more attractive.
Bankers will miss their Yahoo search queries 25 Jul 2016 It took an astounding seven separate financial advisers including Goldman Sachs and Guggenheim - and eight legal ones - to consummate the $4.8 bln sale to Verizon. A similar number helped other suitors, too. Wall Street may lament Yahoo's disappearance the most.