Europe’s latest Apple bite is close to the core 16 Jun 2020 The EU’s antitrust tzar Margrethe Vestager worries that the $1.5 trln group’s app store and payments product hurt competition. With smartphones at saturation point, such add-on services underpin Apple’s rosy valuation. Shareholders should be more worried than in past probes.
Wirecard CEO is approaching his day of reckoning 16 Jun 2020 The $14 bln payments group is due to publish its delayed 2019 annual results on Thursday. If EY flags issues with its accounts, Markus Braun’s position will be untenable. Even the auditor’s seal of approval may not save the chief executive from investors who want him out.
Uber has two good options: wait or wait longer 11 Jun 2020 The market's poor reaction to Just Eat's deal with food-delivery rival Grubhub leaves the door open for losing bidder Uber to return. It doesn't have to rush, though. Just Eat's plans may come unstuck. And even if they don't, both it and Grubhub could emerge as weaker competitors.
Just Eat investors may refuse to swallow Grubhub 11 Jun 2020 Shares in the Anglo-Dutch meal-delivery company dropped 13% after it unveiled a $7.3 bln acquisition of a struggling U.S. peer. The return on investment looks low. Just Eat Takeaway shareholders have both the means and motive to veto CEO Jitse Groen’s transatlantic expansion.
EU’s data harpoon won’t be last shot at Amazon 11 Jun 2020 The European Commission may soon charge Jeff Bezos’s company over the alleged use of data gathered from third-party sellers to unfairly compete against them. Antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager may well already be lining up the next salvo, perhaps targeting Amazon's advertising.
Corona Capital: Instacart stocks up 11 Jun 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Grocery-delivery firm and lockdown beneficiary Instacart tops up on capital while the getting is good.
Ocado cash call delays profit delivery slot 11 Jun 2020 The 15 bln pound online retailer raised over 1 bln pounds to fulfil global demand for its warehouses. CEO Tim Steiner’s plan takes advantage of a near-doubling in its share price since the pandemic. But capital-intensive investments mean investors face a longer wait for earnings.
Zoom’s China conundrum poses division problem 11 Jun 2020 The $62 bln videoconferencing firm temporarily suspended a U.S.-based Chinese activist account after it held an event commemorating Tiananmen Square. The incident hasn’t dented Zoom stock, up 200% this year. But like ByteDance, Zoom may need to hive off China operations somehow.
NetEase’s Hong Kong reception beckons to China Inc 11 Jun 2020 Local mom-and-pop investors ordered 360 times as many shares of the $58 bln video-game maker as were on offer. Easy money is distorting markets everywhere and NetEase has virus-resistance appeal. Exuberant retail buyers only make the case for other secondary tech listings easier.
Goldman’s new direction cashes in on its old one 10 Jun 2020 The Wall Street firm’s plan to lend to Amazon vendors takes its consumer aspirations up a notch. Whizzy tech and lack of banking baggage play in its favor. There’s also a whiff of old-school Goldman qualities, like a knack for milking relationships, and supreme self-confidence.
Britain has more to lose from a Huawei U-turn 10 Jun 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson may block the Chinese tech giant from 5G phone networks, reversing a January decision. That would play well in Washington but carry big costs and possible retaliation by Beijing. With antes rising, Johnson is better off demonstrating his independence.
Corona Capital: Make infrastructure great again 10 Jun 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Brookfield Asset Management CEO Bruce Flatt reckons national and local governments will start getting investors to help finance new roads, bridges and the like. That’s one way to plug deficits wrought by Covid-19.
Twitter is the new, virtual picket line 9 Jun 2020 Employees and customers are taking to social media to vent grievances. Executives at Facebook, the New York Times, CrossFit and more have come under fire. It’s a way to show worker solidarity that was once provided by organized labor. But it's also easily misdirected.
IBM makes a virtue of facial-recognition necessity 9 Jun 2020 New CEO Arvind Krishna is ending the $117 bln firm’s attempts to develop the technology and questioning whether police should use it. Companies rarely abandon potential profit for PR wins, but it’s easier when operations are small, rivals pull ahead, and regulation threatens.
Corona Capital: Goldman, Vroom, Deutsche Bank 9 Jun 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Goldman does too well in Britain; shares in online used-car sales outfit Vroom double on their market debut; and Deutsche Bank gets another shot at redemption in the U.S. market.
Samsung’s M&A controversy will have a final act 9 Jun 2020 Seoul is stepping up a probe into a 2015 group merger led by scion Jay Y. Lee. That might help U.S. fund Elliott which opposed the $8 bln deal and wants payback. Samsung went to great lengths to only narrowly win the first time around. Pressure on the conglomerate is building.
Complacency is as much a disruptor as antitrust 8 Jun 2020 Big Tech critics credit the 1969 push to break up IBM for spurring the today’s software industry. But it was as much Big Blue’s shortsightedness that led to others’ power. As probes of newer tech companies ramp up, Microsoft, with similar challenges, tells a more promising story.
Corona Capital: U.S. recession, Grubhub, Airlines 8 Jun 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: U.S. falls into a recession, Grubhub looks for leverage, airlines have optimistic investors.
Amazon can wisely flow into Indian rapids 8 Jun 2020 The e-commerce goliath is eyeing a $2 bln stake in Bharti Airtel, hot on the heels of Facebook backing rival Indian telecom operator Jio. Similar U.S. tech bets produced some stinkers during the dot-com boom, but the potential rewards outweigh the risks this time around.
Pandemic boosts Chinese biotech cred 8 Jun 2020 Little-known firms like $5 bln CanSino are among the front runners to develop a Covid-19 vaccine. Most are working with foreign governments and companies, underscoring China’s rising industry status. These upstarts will go global even with rising geopolitical tensions.