Technology

Battle for Russia’s Amazon crown is heating up

5 June 2020

The country’s biggest lender Sberbank may buy a 30% stake in online marketplace Ozon after untangling itself from rival Yandex. The deal could value it at more than $2 bln. There’s room for both players in a market enjoying a Covid-19 boost, but the usual political caveats apply.

Corona Capital: ZoomInfo IPO, U.S. trade

4 June 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: ZoomInfo goes public with a big pop despite Covid-19; and America’s goods-trade deficit with Europe will test Washington’s mood.

Reliance makes clever use of buy now, pay later

4 June 2020

Purchases by installment are hot in retail but the Indian conglomerate is bringing them back to capital markets. Investors buying into a $7 bln rights issue can settle up through November 2021. It sidesteps a Covid-19 cash crunch and boss Mukesh Ambani’s backstop covers up flaws.

Even Zoom’s lockdown boom needed Amazon delivery

3 June 2020

The $60 bln videoconferencing service had an astonishing first fiscal quarter as revenue surged 169% and profit rocketed. Zoom’s ability to rent thousands more servers daily from Jeff Bezos' company shows the flexibility and earnings leverage possible from operating in the cloud.

Only losing users will get Zuckerberg’s attention

2 June 2020

Facebook workers and civil rights groups criticized the social network’s hands-off approach to President Trump’s inflammatory posts. Its co-founder says he’s listening, but Zuckerberg has little incentive to act. Covid-19 has boosted the company, and reduced employees’ leverage.

Tech giants dare antitrust deal watchdogs

1 June 2020

Facebook, Microsoft and Apple have been on a buying spree of small companies. U.S. regulators are examining such deals but their work has been hindered by Covid-19. Big Tech can argue some firms would fail otherwise. But the effect on consumers is a mixed bag.

Buyout firms make first move in EU telco shake-out

1 June 2020

KKR, Cinven and Providence are offering $3.3 bln for low-cost Spanish operator MasMovil. Stricter financial discipline may mean less of the cut-throat pricing that hurt rivals. After an EU court ruling on a nixed UK merger, it may also be the start of a new round of mergers.

Corona Capital: Tech diversity, CNN’s middle age

1 June 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: As big U.S. technology companies’ CEOs speak out about racial inequality, working from home trends could give them a chance to make a real difference; and 24/7 news network CNN feasts on Covid-19 as it turns 40.

India Insight: Mukesh Ambani sets high bar for Jio

1 June 2020

At $68 bln, the tycoon’s telecom operator is being valued like a tech startup. It’s backed by A-list investors from KKR to Facebook, and more are queuing up. Growth has been impressive. But the wannabe super-app could encounter serious competition in the country’s digital race.

SpaceX mans up in private planetary race

31 May 2020

Elon Musk’s reusable rockets have slashed the price of sending cargo into orbit, but his private $36 bln firm has yet to show that lower costs unleash untapped demand. Successfully launching humans delivers additional cash and political capital to chase bigger dreams.

German carmakers step on Chinese electric pedal

29 May 2020

VW is taking big stakes in two Chinese EV firms, while Daimler may invest in battery-maker Farasis Energy’s $480 mln IPO. Demand remains tepid, oil is too cheap, and the targets look richly priced. But these deals lock in supply, and position both to compete with Tesla in China.

Chinese online tutor gets lesson in multiplication

29 May 2020

GSX Techedu deflected one sloppy short-seller attack and a second sensational one. A third from Muddy Waters calling the $7 bln company a fraud hit as Luckin buckled and Congress moved on U.S.-listed Chinese stocks. Growing scepticism will require targets to have strong defences.

Amazon steers towards self-driving leverage

28 May 2020

Jeff Bezos’s $1.2 trln behemoth is one of the obvious big buyers of autonomous vehicles. Acquiring startup Zoox would give it an even bigger say in how the technology gets rolled out. That would also help deepen its customers’ dependence on Amazon’s fast and cheap shipping.

Twitter can’t please everyone but still has to try

28 May 2020

Fact-checking a President Trump tweet has put founder Jack Dorsey in a political spotlight he had previously avoided. A spring clean of tweets is good for business in the long term. But unlike peers, Dorsey needs to please shorter-term investors too, like activist fund Elliott.

TikTok’s best move is a clean break from ByteDance

28 May 2020

The video app’s Chinese parent is shifting power away from the People’s Republic. That’s unlikely to win over American lawmakers suspicious TikTok will collect consumer data and send it back to Beijing. ByteDance’s most realistic political option is to sell its rising star.

Big Tech faces a post-virus global tax onslaught

28 May 2020

The OECD’s efforts to fashion a fairer global tax system are at risk of stalling. France and Britain already levy charges on the revenue of Facebook, Amazon and others. With public debt soaring and the pandemic boosting Big Tech’s sales, a messy patchwork of levies could ensue.

Meituan Dianping cooks up some tasty scraps

25 May 2020

Covid-19 hit China’s $83 bln takeaway-to-taxis company, whose quarterly sales fell 13%. The outlook is shaky, but more restaurants have signed up and new initiatives like contactless delivery should provide value longer-term. Merging Western peers are in comparative disarray.

Financial myopia could be healed by virus

21 May 2020

Apple, Airbus and Asahi are among many companies withdrawing forecasts during the pandemic. It’s a good time to reconsider campaigns by JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon and others to end quarterly profit guidance. Covid-19 should help refocus attention on the longer-term.

New data will track reopening in real time

21 May 2020

Plenty of financial-market information is available instantaneously, but economic metrics can be months out of date. In the ongoing pandemic, that has proved too slow. Novel sources like Klaviyo's online spending tracker and TomTom's traffic flows may have staying power.

Telemedicine may be U.S. healthcare’s new normal

21 May 2020

Online doctor visits are surging. It’s a safe and convenient alternative to going in person, insurers incentivize it, and restrictive rules are easing. While virtual visits are usually cheaper, though, increased uptake could push up total healthcare spending.