August 19, 2019
Deere Oh Deere
On Friday, agricultural equipment-maker Deere lowered its annual earnings outlook for the second time this year, while reporting quarterly results that stumbled short of investors’ expectations.
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August 16, 2019
The Blues Brothers
Global stocks have taken a bath in recent days, but there’s at least one investor “buying the dip”. News broke late on Wednesday that billionaire Bill Ackman’s investment firm had taken a large stake in that of another billionaire – Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
August 14, 2019
Merger, She Wrote
Television moguls Viacom and CBS – home of NCIS, The Late Show, and Murder, She Wrote – had a satisfying conclusion to their lengthy run on Tuesday: a merger. If you thought Leonard and Penny had a long road, that’s nothing compared to these two: CBS and Viacom actually parted ways 13 years ago, but after years of failed negotiations, they finally got back together.
August 12, 2019
Broadly Comtent
Broadcom confirmed one of 2019’s biggest tech tie-ups late last week: the American chipmaker’s buying the non-consumer business of security software firm Symantec for $11 billion.
August 7, 2019
Good Hustle
IWG, the world’s largest shared office firm and rival to WeWork, announced a big payout to shareholders on Tuesday – a move that might just keep its investors onside…IWG slogged to an 8% increase in profit for the first half of 2019, compared to the same period last year.
August 1, 2019
Dr. No Thanks
007’s favorite car brand Aston Martin saw its share price live to Die Another Day on Wednesday, Skyfalling 25% after it announced it’d miss this year’s profit target. Over the last six months, Aston Martin’s sales in Europe and the UK (where overall car sales dropped 9%) were almost 20% lower than a year ago.
July 31, 2019
Apple Shines
Apple’s quarterly results didn’t fall far from the American tech stock tree late on Tuesday: it reported higher profit than expected and its shares rose 5%. Sales of iPhones – still Apple’s flagship product – rose slightly less than investors expected last quarter, with Chinese revenue shrinking from a year ago.
July 29, 2019
Bass And Treble
The US economy grew 2.1% larger last quarter than the same time last year, according to official data released on Friday – beating economists’ expectations. Yeehaw. The American economy’s growth slowed dramatically in the second quarter compared to the first, but that was pretty unavoidable.
July 25, 2019
Saving Face
Facebook posted better-than-expected second-quarter results on its wall late on Wednesday, and investors liked it: the social media company’s stock rose 2%. Facebook’s monthly active users were up 8% on last year. That’s the same rate as in the company’s first quarter – which, given investors had been expecting growth to slow, likely helped it exceed quarterly revenue expectations.
July 24, 2019
Snap, Crackle, And Pop
There was #nofilter on Snap Inc. – the “camera company” behind photo app Snapchat – on Tuesday as its second-quarter results flashed past investors’ expectations. Coca-Cola, the stock market veteran that makes Snap look like a whippersnapper, reported second-quarter results on Tuesday that sent its stock fizzing 6% higher.
July 22, 2019
BlackRock Rocks Bonds
The amount of money BlackRock looks after grew to more last quarter than the first. And that’s a big deal to investors in BlackRock’s shares, since most of the firm’s revenue comes from the fees it takes as a percentage of that $7 trillion pot.
July 19, 2019
Massivesoft
Tech titan Microsoft booted up better-than-expected quarterly results late on Thursday, helping its stock rise…Microsoft’s total profit was much higher than investors had forecast. The company’s fast-growing cloud computing segment continued its ascent, with sales eclipsing investors’ predictions.
July 18, 2019
Netflix and Spill
Netflix reported a second-quarter profit that skipped past investors’ expectations late on Wednesday – but its stock fell 10%. Stranger Things have happened. Netflix’s revenue last quarter was roughly what investors expected, but the media giant added half as many paid-up chillers to its ranks as it had promised.
July 15, 2019
The Second Quarter Strikes Back
This week, companies will tell investors how they’ve done in the last quarter. Analysts are expecting an “earnings recession” – but results from major US banks and tech companies might change their minds.
July 10, 2019
Pepsi Looks A Snack
Drinks and snacks magnate PepsiCo reported better-than-expected second-quarter sales and profit on Tuesday – but its shares didn’t fizz. Last quarter, Pepsi’s “organic” revenue growth (which excludes the impact of recently bought businesses and currency swings – the US dollar’s value has risen, lowering the value of Pepsi’s earnings from abroad) was 4.5%, beating investors’ outlooks.
July 9, 2019
We The People
A new report from investment bank Morgan Stanley advises clients to shy away from stocks – but WeWork may have a workaround for that…Global stock markets are up 16% this year. But with economic conditions worsening worldwide, Morgan Stanley thinks that company profit forecasts look overly optimistic – and so, therefore, do stock prices.
July 5, 2019
Merlin Casts A Spell
A group of investors including the founding family of toy (slash film) maker Lego and private equity heavyweight Blackstone pulled the sword from the stone on Friday, announcing the $8 billion purchase of Merlin Entertainments. It’s one of the biggest European takeovers in years.
July 2, 2019
Green Is The New Black
OPEC initially started cutting oil production back in 2017. Slippery stockpiles had built up around the world and it wanted to protect prices; too much supply would push them down.
June 27, 2019
Apple’s iCar
Apple announced its secretly priced purchase of autonomous vehicle startup Drive.ai late on Tuesday – and investors steered its stock a little higher on Wednesday. Drive.ai was founded in 2015 and raised $77 million from venture capital investors two years later, valuing it at $200 million.
June 25, 2019
Third Time’s The Harm
For the third time in a year, Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler warned that its annual profit would be lower than expected. And investors drifted away from its stock on Monday, which fell 4%.
June 20, 2019
Freeze Frame
The Federal Reserve said it would freeze the key US interest rate in place on Wednesday – although it conceded that rates might ultimately trickle downward this year. There’s been much consternation among investors about which way the US central bank would go.
June 18, 2019
My Way Or The Huawei
Last year, Huawei’s revenue grew 20% to $104 billion as it overtook Apple in global smartphone shipments. But the company is now expecting sales to decline to “just” $100 billion in 2019 – significantly less than the $120 billion it was previously forecasting.
June 13, 2019
Dassault, Folks
French tech titan Dassault Systèmes announced a $6 billion acquisition of American software company Medidata Solutions on Wednesday, shining a light on previously announced major marriages…
June 11, 2019
Salesforce Gains Force
Silicon Valley software darling Salesforce announced a $16 billion acquisition of data analytics firm Tableau on Monday – its biggest purchase to date.
June 10, 2019
Zooming To Infinity And Beyond
Shares of recent stock market debutants Beyond Meat and Zoom Video Communications rose on Friday after both companies’ maiden updates surpassed forecasts.
June 7, 2019
Hong Kong Pops A Pill
China’s Hansoh Pharmaceutical raised $1 billion from its initial public offering on Thursday – Hong Kong’s second-biggest this year – valuing the company at over $10 billion.
June 5, 2019
Global Warming Burns Cash
The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which published the report, is a UK-based charity aiming to encourage companies and countries alike to better consider and disclose their effects on the environment. So, with some skin in the climate change game, its findings may be taken with a pinch of salt by some investors.
June 3, 2019
Uber Calls Shotgun
Late on Thursday, ride-hailing behemoth Uber reported its first set of quarterly results as a public company – and they were better than expected, which helped lift its stock on Friday. Before its lackluster initial public offering last month, Uber gave investors a steer on what its results were likely to be.
May 31, 2019
Bonds Take A Turn
The gap between what long- and short-term government bonds pay investors has inverted more widely, potentially portending impending recession.Yields on long-term government bonds around the world are at their lowest levels in years.
May 30, 2019
Are You Still Watching?
Italian big spending found friends in Europe for a change on Wednesday: Mediaset, Italy’s largest broadcaster, announced it had bought a 10% stake in Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1.
