GoPro crashes into ceiling and rivals 14 Jan 2016 The wearable camera company’s poor revenue forecast for the holiday quarter sent the stock crashing 24 pct. Flattening sales point to a saturated market. Competitors’ cheap and cheerful cameras are threatening to slash margins, too. GoPro’s highlights reel may be nearing an end.
GE making wicked smaht HQ move to Boston 13 Jan 2016 Despite being the capital of a state once derided as Taxachusetts, Beantown ticks boxes for a hulking global company. Relocating from a sleepy part of Connecticut to a university town with a startup and engineering culture, and solid infrastructure, should advance GE’s makeover.
Al Jazeera floored by oil, ratings double-whammy 13 Jan 2016 The broadcaster is shutting its U.S. cable news unit three years after paying $500 mln for a network. High-profile lawsuits added to viewer skepticism and low ad revenue. But the sharp drop in the oil price may have been the final straw for its Qatar government backers.
MetLife spinoff plan hedges SIFI and activist risk 13 Jan 2016 The $50 bln insurer may offload its U.S. retail arm. Boss Steven Kandarian is fighting watchdogs over the systemic label, but carving out the parts most vulnerable to capital hikes lessens the impact of losing. And Carl Icahn’s agitation at AIG shows insurers need to stay alert.
GM’s discount to Ford is a head-scratcher 13 Jan 2016 The Chevrolet maker raised its earnings guidance, dividend and share buyback. Yet despite the two companies’ broadly comparable businesses, the market values GM earnings 10 pct less than Ford’s. With the former back in gear under CEO Mary Barra, the gap deserves to close.
Behavioral economics wins $1.5 bln U.S. lottery 13 Jan 2016 The biggest-ever jackpot for a single ticket-holder hangs in the balance. State officials helped engineer the Powerball frenzy by tapping into the sorts of theories advanced by Nobelist Daniel Kahneman and others. It takes more than a dollar and a dream to woo punters these days.
Cheaper oil fuels dream of higher U.S. gas tax 12 Jan 2016 Automakers this week unveiled more electric and hybrid vehicles to meet fuel-economy standards. With crude falling below $30 a barrel, however, gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks attract more U.S. consumers. Among its many benefits, jacking up petrol levies would help smooth demand.
Falling healthcare prices can lift some boats 12 Jan 2016 U.S. political backlash against the cost of pills and therapies has set the tone at JPMorgan’s big biotech gathering. A clampdown would hurt makers of new drugs, and firms selling older ones even more. Not all medical inflation is bad, though. Consider the likes of Illumina.
Playboy Mansion is Hefner’s latest glossy tease 12 Jan 2016 The publishing group that owns the famed Los Angeles estate is asking an inflated $200 mln, and wants a lifetime lease for its founder. When the 89-year-old took the company private in 2011, understating the property’s value left him exposed. Now Hefner is swinging the other way.
Volkswagen’s privacy defense daft but justified 12 Jan 2016 Withholding emails from U.S. emissions-scandal investigators is a losing tactic, legally and in the court of American public opinion. Yet it’s allowed under German law. And Uncle Sam shares blame for the gridlock, having treated foreign firms more harshly than homegrown peers.
Warren Buffett’s solar eclipse will be fleeting 11 Jan 2016 A Berkshire Hathaway utility won a battle over Nevada rates for solar-panel users, prompting Sunrun and Elon Musk-backed SolarCity to pack up. The state’s relatively small 3 pct share of the U.S. market, along with broader industry momentum, means sun power should keep shining.
Arch proves coal divestment smart, not just trendy 11 Jan 2016 The U.S. miner’s bankruptcy bookends a long struggle with falling prices, worsened by a foolish acquisition in 2011. With other busts, it’s a reminder that supposedly socially responsible decisions not to invest in coal, like Stanford’s in 2014, can be sage financial calls, too.
Self-driving car may resurrect Marchionne M&A plea 11 Jan 2016 Fiat Chrysler’s boss is making less noise about consolidation just as the industry revs up duplicative R&D on self-driving vehicles. It’s an expensive shift enticing new, deeper-pocketed competitors that could also slash demand.
Retail real-estate spin looks like short-term fix 11 Jan 2016 A warm U.S. winter has wrought more distress on Macy’s and Kohl’s. Shares in the companies are down by double digits, lending activists a stronger hand for separating out property assets. Reversing consumers’ growing aversion to big department stores will prove more difficult.
Biotech begins its annual bash with a hangover 11 Jan 2016 After a year of astonishing drug approvals, IPOs and M&A, the healthcare industry’s mood is noticeably less revelatory heading into this week’s JPMorgan San Francisco gathering. Inflated valuations could make it harder to persuade investors in attendance to hand over their cash.
U.S. jobs bring gorging market bears up short 8 Jan 2016 Strong employment gains in December support the Fed’s planned gradual rate hikes. The global New Year stock slide stalled, too. Chinese markets stabilized, and investors relished the 292,000 American jobs added last month. The outlook may be murky, but it’s not all bad.
Automakers’ autonomous car hopes skid on reality 8 Jan 2016 GM, Ford and others are using boom-time cash to develop self-driving vehicles. It’s a necessary riposte to tech interlopers. As the Detroit Auto Show starts, though, investor skepticism and worries about too-easy credit and China’s troubles are leaving share values in a ditch.
Thruppence: Which brand of electric car? 8 Jan 2016 Tesla Motors and Faraday Future, which just unveiled a racing-car concept, are named after electrical pioneers. Breakingviews columnists run the gamut from Apple to Roomba as they weigh in on what kind of association, scientific or otherwise, would make a marque with them.
Sumner Redstone loosens muzzle on Viacom owners 8 Jan 2016 Viacom investors will get a vote on whether to give all shareholders a voice. With Redstone controlling 80 pct of the $16 bln media company’s ballot, the measure from a Catholic charity has a snow cone’s chance in Hades. But the results could embolden minority shareholders.
TransCanada $15 bln pipeline claim a worthy gamble 7 Jan 2016 The Canadian energy group is suing the Obama administration for nixing the Keystone project, seeking damages worth over half the company’s value. Investors seem skeptical, and the case could take years to resolve. But the suit seems justified, despite the long odds of a payoff.