What do Elon Musk, Warren Buffett, Shawn Fain and Lina Khan have in common? On the surface, it might not seem like much — one is an impetuous tech-bro genius, another is a buy-and-hold nonagenarian investor, and the other two are a tough union boss and a business-busting regulator.
But each of them are having a serious impact on your money. They all appear on this year’s MarketWatch 50 list of the most influential people in markets. The MarketWatch 50 is our tally of the investors, CEOs, policymakers, AI players and financial…
“There is no way around the fact that they have stolen our business in Russia, and we are not going to help them make that look legitimate.”
That’s new Carlsberg CEO Jacob Aarup-Anderson, according to a Reuters account of a journalist call on Tuesday, after Russian President Vladimir Putin this summer ordered the seizure of Carlsberg’s stake in its Baltika subsidiary. Earlier this month, Carlsberg ended license agreements that allow for its beers to be produced in the country.
According to the presidential decree, Carlsberg retains title to the shares in Baltika Breweries but no longer has any control or influence over the company.
Carlsberg reported a 3% decline in organic volume growth, as a 6.3% slide in Central and Eastern Europe and a 5.2% decline in Western Europe was partly offset by a 1.5% rise in Asia.
The brewer said two-thirds of the volume decline was due to bad weather and another one-third to consumer sentiment.
Organic revenue, however, rose by 5.8%, on price hikes. It kept its operating-profit guidance for the year unchanged at 4% to 7% growth, and launched a new stock-buyback program valued at 1 billion Danish crowns.
Carlsberg said comparisons in the fourth quarter will be positive in China, in light of the year-ago lockdown, but the weak macro environment in Southeast Asia will continue to impact markets.
Carlsberg shares CARL.B, -0.83%
were steady on Tuesday but have dropped 8% this year.
ACK! Halloween is here and you still don’t have a costume (or maybe your child doesn’t). Don’t fret – we have some great suggestions for shopping for last-minute Halloween costumes.
Make a hybrid costume. Found only odds and ends left at the store? Why not be a zombie witch, a haunted fairy, a rabid cat, or some kind of alternative character that can be created from different costumes?
Social media is everywhere, so why not make it your costume? Just print out the logo of your favourite social media website (i.e., Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) and wear the colours in the logo. Attach the logo to your shirt and voila! #tooeasy
Twin-sies! You and your spouse, and even your little ones, can all don the same outfit.
Balloons are a great item to use to make a myriad of costumes. Attach a bunch of purple or green balloons to your body (you’re grapes), use rainbow-coloured balloons (you’re a gumball machine!), or put a box around your body to act as a basket and use helium balloons floating overhead (you’re a hot-air balloon!).
Use some face paint. A little bit of face paint can go a long way, from creating a Cheshire cat grin to a scarecrow face to something a bit more ambitious, like a skeleton or zombie. You can find lots of options at the dollar store.
Melany xx
Married with three kids, MList’s Melany is a jack-of-all-trades. Not only is she a hardworking mom but she’s a serial saver (she loves her MList Card!), she loves to cook, she is very spiritual, and she is very organized. She is also chronically busy. Get her take on what to see, do and buy in Montreal and beyond.
GOOGL, -0.09%,
Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +6.83%,
Meta Platforms Inc. META, +2.91%
and Microsoft Corp. MSFT, +0.59%
all beat earnings and revenue expectations for the latest quarter, showing, among other things that the advertising market was healthy in the latest quarter and that software spending is holding up.
But one more major test looms in the week ahead. Apple Inc. AAPL, +0.80%
is due to deliver September-quarter results on Thursday and those earnings will answer a key question: Are consumers still so willing to purchase thousand-dollar iPhones in the current economy?
Results from other companies in recent weeks have painted a mixed picture of consumer spending. Visa Inc. V, -0.87%,
Mastercard Inc. MA, -0.14%
and American Express Co. AXP, -1.42%
say that spending remains resilient, but there are also signs that cracks are starting to form in categories deemed non-essential. Just look at Align Technology Inc. ALGN, +0.20%,
the maker of Invisalign orthodontic aligners, which saw its stock plunge last week after noting that people seem to be putting off dental and orthodontic visits.
Just judging by S&P 500 SPX
results so far in the aggregate, the odds would seem to be in Apple’s favor for a beat this quarter. About half of index components have already reported, and 78% have posted earnings upside, while 62% have surprised positively on the top line, according to FactSet.
Revenue will be the key item for Apple, as consensus expectations call for a small decline on the metric, which would mark the fourth consecutive year-over-year drop. It’s also worth noting that companies on the whole haven’t been topping revenue estimates by their usual margin. S&P 500 components in aggregate have reported revenue 0.8% above expectations, which compares with a five-year average of 2.0%, FactSet Senior Earnings Analyst John Butters wrote in a recent report.
Apple’s report could also highlight the impact of currency on corporate results, as the company generates more than half of its revenue internationally.
“Given the stronger U.S. dollar in recent months, are S&P 500 companies with more international revenue exposure reporting lower (year-over-year) earnings and revenues for Q3 compared to S&P 500 companies with more domestic revenue exposure?” Butters asked. “The answer is yes.”
This week in earnings
Many U.S. investors in financial-technology companies likely hadn’t heard of European payments player Worldline SA WLN, +9.06%
before last week, but a warning from the French company about deteriorating conditions in Europe helped send shares of PayPal Holdings Inc. PYPL, -2.63%
and Block Inc. SQ, -3.98%
sharply lower Wednesday, in a selloff one analyst deemed an overreaction. Those companies will look to reassure Wall Street about the health of their businesses with their own reports this week. Plus, while not a payments name, SoFi Technologies Inc. SOFI, -0.43%
will provide another read on the fintech sector. Investors will be watching to see how the end of the student-loan moratorium impacted student lending volumes.
The week ahead will also shed light on how consumers’ dining preferences have evolved in the current economy. Starbucks Corp. SBUX, -0.70%,
Dine Brands Global Inc. DIN, -0.12%,
Cheesecake Factory Inc. CAKE, -0.47%
and Sweetgreen Inc. SG, +0.59%
are among names on the docket. Plus, amid concerns about the impact of GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy on eating habits, Kraft Heinz Co.’s management will be in the spotlight.
You can’t spell Advanced Micro Devices without AI (sort of): Nvidia Corp. NVDA, +0.43%
has been ruling the chip world this year thanks to its dominance with the sort of hardware needed to power the corporate AI fervor. Investors will be watching Tuesday afternoon to see how quickly Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s AMD, +2.95%
own AI story is coming together. “The AMD narrative feels all about their data center (and, particularly, their AI story) right now,” Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon wrote in a note to clients. “In the near term the achievability of their 2H data-center growth (guided to 50% half-over-half) will be the question.” Rasgon expects AMD to discuss recent customer wins for its MI300X chip, though he thinks it will take time for the company to see “real volume.”
The number to watch
PayPal transaction margins: Shares of the one-time investor darling are trading at their lowest levels since May 2017, and the latest source of anguish for Wall Street is the company’s transaction margins. PayPal’s lower-margin unbranded checkout business has been growing more quickly than its higher-margin branded checkout product, a trend that’s been weighing on overall transaction margins. Barclays analyst Ramsey El-Assal expects the third quarter to mark a bottom on the metric before trends stabilize in the fourth quarter. “We do not believe the stock is crowded on the long or short side into earnings, as investors lack conviction regarding the magnitude of transaction margin headwinds in Q3,” he wrote in a recent preview. “In any case, we view Q3 as a potential clearing event.” PayPal posts results Wednesday afternoon.
The ending of the partnership between the artist Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, in October 2022 appeared to come after weeks of his comments about Jewish people and Black Lives Matter, but the New York Times is reporting that the relationship was troubled from the very start.
At a meeting on the collaborative creation of the very first shoe in 2013, Adidas ADS, -0.10%
ADDYY, -0.03%
designers were stunned when West rejected all of the ideas that were presented using fabric swatches on a table and a mood board, the seven-month investigation found. Instead, West, the Times reports, grabbed a sketch and drew a swastika in marker.
The move shocked the Germans in the room. Germany has a strict ban on displaying the symbol of the Nazi era apart from for artistic purposes. Adding to the sense of horror, the company’s founder — Adolf, or “Adi,” Dassler, who died in 1978 — was a Nazi Party member, and the meeting took place close to Nuremberg, where leaders of the Third Reich were famously tried for crimes against humanity.
“A year ago this week, Adidas threw in the towel.”
West’s fixation on the Nazi era continued, the Times reports, when he later told a Jewish manager at Adidas to kiss a portrait of Adolf Hitler every day. He also told Adidas workers that he admired Hitler’s use and command of propaganda.
West also brought porn to the workplace and made crude, sexual comments at meetings, according to the Times report. Before the swastika episode, West, according to the Times, had made Adidas executives watch porn at a meeting in his Manhattan apartment.
In 2022 he reportedly ambushed executives with a porn film. Other workers complained to top managers that he had made angry sexual comments to them.
The artist, said to have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, also frequently cried or became angry during meetings, according to the Times investigation. In one instance in 2019, he reportedly moved the operation designing his shoes to Cody, Wyo., and ordered the Adidas team to relocate. In a meeting to discuss his demands with executives, he threw shoes around the room, the Times reports.
Adidas sought to adapt to this behavior, given how valuable the West-established Yeezy brand was to the company, locked in a perennial battle for both revenue and buzz with its U.S.-based rival Nike Inc. NKE, -2.04%.
Yeezy sales would rapidly surpass $1 billion a year and help Adidas resonate with young American customers.
Managers launched a group text chain they called the “Yzy hotline” to discuss his behavior. To reduce stress on individuals, the company is said to have rotated managers in and out of dealing directly with West.
Over time, meanwhile, Adidas sweetened the terms of West’s deal. Under a 2016 contract, he was entitled to a 15% royalty on sales with a $15 million upfront payment as well as millions of dollars in Adidas stock. In 2019, a further $100 million a year was earmarked for marketing, but, in reality, West could spend those funds at will.
When a decision was reached to sell the product — in release batches — with some of the proceeds directed to charity and most of the rest flowing to Adidas, West, even then, was entitled to royalties.
After bottoming in October 2022, Adidas shares have mounted a 67% comeback, with relief over the company’s not having had to book a damaging loss on the Yeezy line one factor in the restoration of investor confidence.
Adidas is quoted as having told the Times that it “has no tolerance for hate speech and offensive behavior, which is why the company terminated the Adidas Yeezy partnership,” while West reportedly declined requests for interviews and comment.
The Times investigation is said to have been based on access to hundreds of previously undisclosed internal records.
In recent quarters, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been talking more about artificial intelligence and cost cutting, while focusing less and less on the company’s multibillion-dollar investment in the metaverse. Expect more of the same when the parent of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads reports results after the close Wednesday.
Continue reading this article with a Barron’s subscription.
Nearly a year ago, OpenAI released ChatGPT 3 into the world, and investors got visions of dollar signs in their heads as they imagined the ways that artificial intelligence could make big money for businesses.
Wall Street’s now coming to terms with the fact that those sorts of paydays are going to take time. As investors have already seen from the past two quarters of earnings, AI has only really delivered financial benefits for a select few hardware companies so far — while spurring new costs for many others.
“The AI boom has already bifurcated into the contenders and pretenders,” said Daniel Newman, chief executive and principal analyst of Futurum Research. And while Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Intel Corp. and Arm Holdings PLC ARM, +0.38%
have stirred up interest, Nvidia Corp. NVDA, -4.68%
has established itself as far and away the greatest “contender,” with AI driving strong demand for its chips tuned for AI training.
Nvidia last quarter reported record earnings, including a 141% jump in revenue for its graphics chips used in AI infrastructure building up data centers. Nvidia, which reports near the end of earnings season on Nov. 21, posted record revenue of $13.5 billion last quarter and is expected to easily top that with $16 billion in the most recent quarter, a surge of 170% versus a year ago. Those estimates include $12.3 billion of revenue coming from data-center sales.
Other chip companies could post gains from AI as well, but to far lesser extents. Candidates include Broadcom Corp. AVGO, -2.01%
and system maker Super Micro Computer Inc. SMCI, +2.35%,
as well as Marvell Technology Inc. MRVL, -0.91%,
which last quarter told analysts that it expects to end the year at a revenue run rate of about $800 million this year from cloud/data-center chips related to AI.
“This is well above what we had outlined last quarter. Put this in perspective: This would put us at the run rate we had previously communicated for all of next year,” Marvel Chief Executive Matthew Murphy told analysts.
Much as Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, -1.24%
and Intel Corp. INTC, -1.37%
want to be in the AI conversations with the graphics chips they hope will be used for AI data-center applications, they won’t see much of an impact yet from AI revenue. Plus, those companies are experiencing a slowdown in PC sales that may overshadow any small benefit from AI chips.
The AI boom in chips is clearly not providing enough of a boost to lift finances for the overall semiconductor sector, which is forecast to see earnings fall 3.3% in the third quarter and post a revenue decline of 0.6%, according to FactSet. The industry is being dragged down in part by Micron Technology Inc. MU, -0.12%,
which reported a 40% drop in revenue and a whopping fiscal fourth-quarter loss in late September for the quarter ended Aug. 31, which is included in FactSet’s third-quarter data. Even so, the company called a bottom to the memory-chip downturn.
“Most of the consumer-based tech is still struggling, [including] PCs, laptops and to a certain extent smartphones,” said Daniel Morgan, senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust Co. Wall Street has tempered expectations related to the impact of Apple Inc.’s AAPL, -0.88%
iPhone 15 launch on the quarter, as estimates call for an overall 1% drop in September-quarter revenue. Last quarter, Apple executives forecast that both Mac and iPad sales would be down by double-digits and that revenue performance would be similar to its June quarter, when revenue fell 1.3%
In addition, when asked about AI, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company views AI and machine learning “as core fundamental technologies that are integral to virtually every product that we build.” Those comments, though, can also apply to the bulk of tech companies, where AI is built into software as another layer to improve a product. Internet companies such as Meta Platforms Inc. META, +0.89%
and Alphabet Inc. GOOG, +0.36%
GOOGL, +0.45%
incorporate AI into their software and algorithms but don’t treat it as a specific, revenue-generating product.
Other software companies are building AI into their products as separate features or add-ons, but they are still in the early stages of seeing whether or not customers will pay more for them. Take Microsoft Corp., MSFT, -0.17%
which has showed off Copilot, an extra AI feature for customers of Microsoft 365.
“[Microsoft] can distinguish itself by providing more details around its AI revenue ramp since we don’t expect much information from Google, who really doesn’t seem to have the monetization plan for Bard and AI-assisted search (SGE) ready to articulate yet,” Melius Research analyst Ben Reitzes said in a note to clients this week. He also noted that the cost of offering AI products to consumers is steep, and requires lots of investment.
“There are sophisticated issues to contend with for Microsoft, including balancing the potential for higher revenue from Copilots with the high costs per query and much-needed investment,” Reitzes said. “The balance of AI adoption vs. cost was implied when Microsoft guided to flat operating margins year over year for fiscal 2024.”
Earlier this year, the Information reported that OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT and recipient of a hefty investment from Microsoft, has costs of up to $700,000 a day, because the massive amounts of computing power needed to run queries. In February, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Plus, for $20 a month, a service that will give subscribers access to its AI during peak times and faster response times.
Another example is Adobe Inc. ADBE, +1.70%,
which has a few AI offerings, including a subscription service called Generative Credits, tokens that let customers turn text-based prompts into images. Another is Firefly, a generative AI service for images, and an AI option in Photoshop, currently called Photoshop Beta AI, to help users fill in images and other collaborative tools. Adobe did not provide any forecasts on potential revenue generation during its analyst day earlier this month.
Toni Sacconaghi, a Bernstein Research analyst, said AI could drive a massive increase in enterprise productivity, and companies could dramatically increase IT spending on servers in order to invest in productivity-enhancing AI. “However, we note that enterprise adoption appears to be in early stages,” he said in a recent note to clients, adding that it was feasible that spending on AI infrastructure could take money away from other IT projects in process. “We do worry that projected AI infrastructure build out may be occurring too quickly, necessitating a digestion period, which could result in a commensurate stock pullback in AI-related names.”
Overall, the information-technology sector itself is expected to see anemic revenue growth this quarter. The consensus on FactSet forecasts a meager 1.35% revenue uptick in the third quarter, with earnings growth of 4.65%. FactSet’s estimates for IT companies exclude internet companies like Meta and Alphabet, which are under the category of communications/interactive media services. That sector is expected to see sales growth of 12%, and earnings growth of 51%, thanks to a 116% boost in Meta’s net income, after it hit a low point in the year-ago quarter.
Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -0.81%,
in the category of consumer discretionary/broadline retail, is forecast to see earnings growth of 109%, and revenue growth of 11%. Amazon’s cloud services business, AWS, is expected to also see a potential uplift from customers spending money on AI projects, according to a TD Cowen & Co. survey, in which 41% of respondents said they were “highly considering” allocating a budget for generative AI.
“This trend could bode well for Amazon’s AWS,” TD Cowen analyst John Blackledge said in a recent report, adding that he expects AWS revenue growth to reaccelerate in the second half of this year and in 2024, boosted by the move of additional workloads to the cloud, possibly including generative AI.
As companies build up their infrastructure, or their spending on cloud computing to add or improve AI capabilities, they are seeing higher costs, which is affecting margins — especially if revenue has slowed down, as it has in some sectors. Across both the broader S&P 500 SPX,
and the IT sector, earnings are lower than a year ago.
As Newman of Futurum pointed out, “AI stole the budget this year.” And that is a mixed bag for tech.
U.S. stocks are poised to rise on Monday ahead of a week of earnings and economic data releases, including quarterly reports from
Tesla, Netflix, and .
By most measures, Gary Black qualifies as a big supporter of electric-vehicle giant Tesla. The Chicago fund manager has had Tesla as his No. 1 or No. 2 holding since he opened his fund in 2021, and often appears on social media (and sometimesCNBC) to talk about it, usually supportively. But there’s one thing Black has had on his mind lately: That Tesla is wasting money on price cuts to keep growth rates high.
His once-lonely campaign has been picking up allies lately in a domain where Musk pays close attention — social media. An online poll run by @TroyTeslike, another active social-media Tesla fan, found half of the 8,000-plus respondents thought Tesla should start advertising, beating out growth strategies like more price cuts and adding technology to high-end Model S and Model X.
The investor pressure, or at least nudging, didn’t come out of nowhere. Last May at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting, Musk looked surprised, if a little amused, when a shareholder challenged him on the issue about 70 minutes in, to the cheers of a crowd dominated by Tesla fanboys.
“525 bucks off of every car this year is half of Netflix’s ad budget, and 1000 bucks is the entire Netflix ad budget and I see their ads everywhere. Why not advertise these things you told us about here?” said Kevin Paffrath, who runs The Meet Kevin Pricing Power ETF in southern California. Hespecifically referred to safety features including airbag deployment technology as Tesla advantages that might appeal to consumers through advertising.
Musk expressed openness to the idea.
“There are amazing features and functionality about Teslas that people just don’t know about, although obviously a lot of people who follow the Tesla account and my account to some degree, it is preaching to the choir and the choir is already convinced,” Musk said.
Then Musk made a promise. “I think what you are saying does have some merit and I believe in taking suggestions and we’ll try a little advertising and see how it goes,” he said.
The shareholders erupted in cheers, to which Musk responded, “I wasn’t expecting that level of enthusiasm.”
If shareholders expected a major advertising push, they’d be disappointed today. In the months since, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, Tesla has spent very minor amounts on online and social advertising. At the same time, the major price cuts continue as Musk’s primary strategy to drum up more interest in Teslas.
Musk has been a firm proponent of cost-cutting first. As he said at this year’s annual meeting, Tesla’s goals include bringing electric transportation to mass-market consumers, and as he said, many Model 3s can be had in the U.S. market for less than the average cost of a new passenger vehicle.
Indeed, the average price of most Teslas has fallen about 20% since August 2022, according to Cox Automotive. The figures don’t include the restoration of the $7,500 federal tax credit for Teslas under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
But the most recent round of price cuts, announced over the past month, is costing Tesla an annual $2 billion a year, Black said. Overall, the price cuts over the past year have shaved revenue by much more, Ives estimated.
Black’s premise, in effect, is that Musk should reconsider how much Tesla relies on price cuts versus spending money on advertising to get the word out about features like the falling cost of EVs and safety features like over-the-air software updates. It becomes especially pressing considering that Tesla stock, while up about 140% this year, is still one-third below its 2021 peak and has trailed the S&P 500 over the last year.
“I don’t think that you get that much demand elasticity by cutting a Model Y to $48,000 from $55,000,” Black said. “Instead of a $2,000 price cut, let’s do $1,800 and try advertising more.”
CNBC reached out to Tesla multiple times. The company did not respond.
In effect, Black argues that Tesla price cuts are a de facto marketing expense, saying Tesla’s share losses among EVs by Tesla this year suggest price cuts alone aren’t working.
Indeed, Tesla’s U.S. market share among EVs has been slipping even as it cuts prices. Third-quarter deliveries were 435,059 units, up sharply from 343,830 a year earlier but below second-quarter unit sales of 466,140 and first-quarter sales of about 423,000. In a press release, Tesla blamed the third-quarter number, which missed analyst projections, on “planned downtime for factory upgrades.”
The lower prices are also showing up in Tesla’s gross margins, which dropped to 18% of sales in the second quarter from 25% in the second quarter of 2022, Ives said. That implies a $1.5 billion drop in potential gross profit, unless some of it is made up in higher sales volume, he said.
What a Tesla ad campaign might look like
It’s possible to guess at what an effective Tesla ad campaign might do, said Allen Weiss, CEO of MarketingProfs, a marketing research and training firm, who pointed to many features beyond just safety that consumers do care about.
“I would start by identifying what benefits customers are looking for, which are likely some [about performance] but others are [about] luxury and even others are symbolic, [being] a person who helps save the planet,” he said. “I would find out what these benefits are, target a segment of these buyers and put a great theme around these benefits. That way, you can have fun ideas but are connecting with the buyers on what they really care about.”
New Tesla electric vehicles fill the car lot at the Tesla retail location on Route 347 in Smithtown, New York on July 5, 2023.
Newsday Llc | Newsday | Getty Images
Tesla’s challenge is that, as it grows, it’s competing more directly with companies that are experienced marketers, Weiss said. Ford has already spent conspicuously to promote its F-150 Lightning pickup, and General Motors has run Super Bowl ads for the last three years. Weiss said Swedish EV maker Polestar also advertises, spending an estimated $20 million this year. Polestar and BMW have both touted EVs on the Super Bowl telecast, the most expensive U.S. TV buy, and industry data firm iSpot estimates that about a quarter of 2022 car ad spending was for EVs, a move Ives called a “tidal wave” that he predicts will grow.
“Other carmakers are used to focusing more on customer benefits, while Tesla is not,” Weiss said. “Go to Ford’s website and click on electric and you will immediately see words like head-turning design, impressive performance and thrill. Go to BMW’s electric vehicles page and you see ‘cutting edge performance and luxury.’ Go to Tesla’s site and you see, well, price.”
Musk himself conceded at the annual meeting that he is often confronted by people who tell him that EVs are too expensive.
“I’ve talked to lots of people who still think Teslas are, like, super-expensive,” Musk said. “I’m like, no, the [average selling price] of a Tesla is lower than the average selling price in the U.S.”
Tesla doesn’t need to spend as much as Ford or GM do on advertising, Ives said, arguing that a focused campaign could zero in on specific Tesla or EV advantages.
“There are differentiations to Tesla that people don’t know about,” he said. Advertising can also be deployed to sustain Tesla’s luxury brand image even as the average cost of its cars falls, he said. “You start to change perceptions.”
The “name of the game” at Tesla as it reaches its full scale is volume and operating margins, Ives said. Black argues that it’s worth finding out, soon, whether advertising more will help. Even Musk may be convincible, and the irony of his longstanding reluctance to advertise wasn’t lost on him at the annual meeting:
“I think it’s ironic that Twitter [X] is highly dependent on advertising and here I am ‘never use advertising’ and now have a company that’s highly dependent on it. I guess I should say advertising is awesome and everyone should do it.”
The NCAA started allowing college athletes to make money from their name, image and likeness in 2021, after decades of student-athletes saying it wasn’t fair that they didn’t receive any money while the games they played in generated millions of dollars — especially football and basketball contests. And today, many of these athletes are not just making some extra cash on the side — they’re making millions.
These NIL deals are negotiated by college athletes and their representation, and typically involve leveraging an athlete’s brand and influence through promotional means. For example, a car dealership near a university campus may ask the college’s high-profile quarterback to do a commercial for them in exchange for a monetary payment or a car. Similarly, an athlete can make money from social media, depending on how big their following is.
Football players are among the college athletes who make the most money from NIL deals, followed by men’s basketball, women’s volleyball and women’s basketball. That’s because college football and basketball have multibillion-dollar TV contracts to broadcast games, while most other sports generally have lower visibility.
With that in mind, here are the college athletes who make the most money from NIL deals according to On3’s proprietary NIL algorithm, which is based on NIL-deal data, performance, influence and exposure
10. J.J. McCarthy, $1.3 million
J.J. McCarthy of the Michigan Wolverines in action against the Georgia Bulldogs.
Getty Images
As the junior quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines football team, McCarthy is one of the six college football QBs in the top 10 of NIL earners.
McCarthy sports 276,000 followers across his social-media platforms, and has deals with Alo, Bose and Bowman.
Tie-8. Bo Nix, $1.4 million
Bo Nix of the Oregon Ducks throws a pass against the Stanford Cardinals.
Getty Images
The senior QB for the Oregon Ducks has led his team to a perfect 5-0 start this season.
Nix has 219,000 followers on social media and NIL deals with 7-Eleven, Bojangles and Celsius. Nix is considered one of the top players in the nation and has the third-best betting odds to win college football’s Heisman Trophy on DraftKings DKNG, -2.52%
sportsbook.
Tie-8. Spencer Rattler, $1.4 million
Spencer Rattler of the South Carolina Gamecocks warms up before a game against the Tennessee Volunteers.
Getty Images
The South Carolina Gamecocks senior QB has one of the more robust NIL profiles in the nation. He has deals with Mercedes-Benz MBG, -1.23%,
Leaf trading cards and Raising Canes.
Rattler also has 578,000 followers across TikTok, Instagram META, -0.71%
and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
7. Angel Reese, $1.7 million
Angel Reese of the LSU Lady Tigers during the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game.
Getty Images
Reese was one of the breakout stars of the women’s March Madness basketball tournament this year. The Louisiana State University hooper led her team to the 2023 title and famously flashed a “you can’t see me” gesture in the title game.
Reese has brand deals with Airbnb, PlayStation and Intuit TurboTax INTU, -0.50%
and has appeared in ads for Amazon AMZN, +0.01%
and Pepsi Co.’s PEP, +0.59%
Starry. She also has 5.2 million followers across her social-media platforms.
During LSU’s magical title run last season, Reese set an NCAA single-season record with her 34th double-double against the Iowa Hawkeyes and was named the most outstanding player of the Final Four.
Reese is one of just two female athletes inside the top 10 in On3’s NIL valuation tracker, and the top college basketball player on the list.
6. Travis Hunter, $2.3 million
Travis Hunter of the Colorado Buffaloes signals first down after a catch against the TCU Horned Frogs.
Getty Images
Hunter was one of the college football players who transferred to the University of Colorado from Jackson State last season to follow coach Deion Sanders.
Hunter, a five-star sophomore prospect, plays on both offense and defense — as a wide receiver and a cornerback — a rarity in a high-level college program. He has 1.9 million followers on social media, a successful YouTube GOOG, -0.08%
channel, and endorsements with Celsius Energy Drink and 7-Eleven.
Hunter entered the 2023 college season as the most highly touted NFL prospect at Colorado, and Deion Sanders contends rival schools have attempted to poach him via lucrative NIL deals.
“People offered Travis Hunter a bag — about $1.5 million to try to lure him and buy him out of the transfer portal,” coach Sanders told 247Sports over the summer. “But Travis is not the kind of guy that can be bought. He isn’t built like that. Travis is a relational young man that is built on relationships and stability. And that’s what he wanted and desired. That is why he decided to ride and stay with us.”
If and when Hunter decides to declare for the NFL draft, he will likely have a multimillion-dollar contract as a rookie that could dwarf his collegiate NIL earnings.
5. Caleb Williams, $2.7 million
Caleb Williams of the USC Trojans warms up before a game against the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Getty Images
The University of Southern California QB is seen as a generational NFL prospect and the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, but he isn’t the top NIL earner.
Williams has 347,000 followers on social media, and brand deals with United Airlines UAL, -1.24%,
Alo and Beats by Dre.
Once the USC junior QB declares for the draft, his rookie contract will likely be set above $37 million, per Spotrac’s estimates.
4. Arch Manning, $2.8 million
Arch Manning of the Texas Longhorns warms up prior to a game against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Getty Images
The Texas Longhorns freshman QB is one of several top NIL earners whose family plays a role in their fame. Arch Manning is the nephew of Super Bowl champion QBs Peyton and Eli Manning, and the grandson of former NFL QB Archie Manning.
Despite being a backup quarterback with no recorded statistics, the younger Manning has 277,000 followers on social media and has a brand deal with Panini. That deal involved him autographing an extremely rare one-of-one Prizm Black card that was auctioned off for $102,500, which was later donated to charity.
Manning was a standout high school recruit, ranked No. 5 in the nation in the 2023 class, and could have an NFL future.
3. Livvy Dunne, $3.2 million
Olivia Dunne of LSU looks on during a PAC-12 meet against Utah.
Getty Images
Dunne is the only college athlete in the top 10 of NIL earners who doesn’t play basketball or football. The junior LSU gymnast is the top female NIL earner in the nation and has brand deals with Vuori clothing, Body Armor KO, +0.62%
and American Eagle Outfitters.
Dunne is the second most-followed college athlete on social media with 12.1 million followers on Instagram, TikTok and X combined.
For many years Dunne was seen as the poster child for NIL deals, and she said earlier this year that she could make as much as $500,000 from a single post.
“What I love with certain brands is getting long-term brand deals,” Dunne said on the Full Send podcast in June. “Those are probably the best because you build a relationship with the brand and they want you year after year.”
2. Shedeur Sanders, $4.8 million
Shedeur Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes celebrates as he walks off the field following an NCAAF game against the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Getty Images
University of Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders has become a phenomenon in the sports world. The 21-year-old junior made headlines after throwing for 510 yards and four touchdowns in Colorado’s season-opening shocker against No. 17–ranked Texas Christian.
Colorado has become the center of the football world since Shedeur’s father Deion took over as coach. Coach Prime’s team is currently 4-2 — the team was 1-11 last season, good for last place in its conference.
The quarterback has more than 2.3 million followers on social media, and has already inked several deals with big brands, including with yogurt producer Oikos 0KFX, -1.13%,
Gatorade and Mercedes-Benz. He has shown fans some of his new Mercedes cars on social media, too.
Overall, Shedeur Sanders’s NIL value currently sits at $4.8 million, according to On3, up from $1.5 million at the beginning of the year — that’s the highest value in all of college football. For context, that’s nearly twice the average NFL player’s salary.
1. Bronny James, $5.9 million
Bronny James playing at his high school, Sierra Canyon.
Getty Images
James has perhaps the most famous family member of any person on this list. He is the son of NBA legend LeBron James, and is currently set to begin his freshman basketball season at USC.
The younger James has yet to play a game at his new school, but will immediately be one of the most well-known players in college athletics. James has 13.5 million social media followers, the most of any college athlete, and has brand deals with Nike NKE, +1.10%
and Beats by Dre AAPL, -0.06%,
two brands his dad is also repped by.
Bronny James suffered cardiac arrest in July during a basketball practice and had to be taken to the hospital. But he’s on the road to recovery, and hopes to play basketball this season.
“Bronny is doing extremely well,” the older James said last week. “He has begun his rehab process to get back on the floor this season with his teammates at USC. (With) the successful surgery that he had, he’s on the up-and-up. It’s definitely a whirlwind, a lot of emotions for our family this summer. But the best thing we have is each other.”
Stock futures posted modest gains Thursday ahead of a report likely to show that
U.S. inflation fell in September as gasoline price growth slowed and used-car costs declined.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Google Ads is one of the most powerful advertising platforms on earth, a position it’s held for over two decades since it first launched in October 2000. Today, Google Ads boasts over $200 million in ad revenue and — perhaps without even knowing — a whopping 63% of all internet users have clicked on a Google Ad in their lifetime.
With its reach and targeting capabilities, Google Ads can drive significant traffic and conversions. Personally, I’ve run Google Ads for each of my income-generating web properties, and I’ve helped hundreds of clients over the years make the most of their Google Ads experience.
As with any tool, the difference between amateur and expert usage can be vast. To help make Google Ads work for you, I’ve decided to put together a list of some of my top “hacks” to elevate the results of your Google Ads pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaigns.
1. Master the art of SKAGs (Single Keyword Ad Groups)
SKAGs are a powerful way to increase the relevance of your ad copy and landing page to the user’s search query. By focusing on one keyword per ad group, you can tailor your message more specifically, which often leads to higher click-through rates (CTR) and conversion rates.
Here’s an excellent resource for learning more about SKAGs and how they tend to drive higher CTRs than bidding on multiple keywords within ad groups.
2. Employ ad extensions wherever possible
Ad extensions provide additional information about your business, like location, phone number and site links. These not only make your ads more prominent but also provide additional avenues for users to interact with your business and can boost local SEO ranking factors as well for cross-channel marketing success.
3. Optimize and adjust bids by device
Users behave differently on mobile devices versus desktops. Maybe mobile users convert better for your business, or perhaps desktop users do. Adjusting your bids based on device performance can help allocate your budget more efficiently.
Fortunately, Google makes it easy to add device targeting to your Google Ads campaigns. Adding these parameters to your campaigns can help you avoid sending ads to users on devices that have a lower probability of opening your ads.
4. Schedule your ads for peak performance
Depending on your target audience, there may be specific days or hours when they’re more active. Using ad scheduling, you can increase your bids during these high-performance times and reduce them during low-performance periods.
In the Google Ads dashboard, navigate to the “Dimensions” tab and then “Time” to view the days of the week and time of day when your ads perform the best. Once you’ve identified your best-performing times, consider adding an “Ad schedule” to concentrate or limit your ads to these specified times.
4. Refine your ad’s location targeting
If you’re a local business or find that certain regions drive better results, utilize advanced location targeting. This way, you can bid more aggressively for high-performing locations and exclude areas that don’t align with your business goals.
If you operate a physical business, make sure you set your ad radius to at least 100 kilometers to cater to customers in neighboring communities.
6. Use dynamic keyword insertion at every opportunity
This feature allows Google to dynamically replace text in your ad with one of your keywords, making the ad more relevant to the searcher’s query. However, use this with caution to avoid creating nonsensical ad copies.
7. Implement remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA)
RLSA lets you tailor your search campaigns based on whether users have previously visited your site and how they interacted with it. This means you can bid more aggressively for high-value users who have shown interest in your offerings.
While a broad match can offer extensive reach, it may also bring irrelevant traffic. Experiment with phrase match, modified broad match and exact match settings to hone in on the most effective keywords for your campaign.
Personally, I usually opt for phrase match as this tends to generate my ads for viewers who specifically search for the keywords that I’m targeting. However, your mileage may vary, so play around with different match types to see what works.
9. Use negative keywords, not only positive
By continually adding negative keywords to your campaign, you prevent your ads from showing up for irrelevant searches, saving your budget and maintaining a higher CTR. This is your best tool for weeding out disinterested ad viewers.
10. Test, test, and then test some more
Whether it’s A/B testing your ad copy, landing pages or trying out different bidding strategies, testing is crucial. Google Ads provides a lot of data. Use it to your advantage to continuously refine your campaigns.
In-depth A/B testing can be a highly technical and resource-intensive endeavor, and PPC marketing agencies often offer this as an add-on Google Ads optimization service.
11. Stay in-the-know about Google’s new features
Google’s core algorithm frequently releases new features and updates — in fact, there have been 18 total overhauls in recent memory. By staying updated and incorporating these changes into your strategy, you can maintain a competitive edge.
Mastering Google Ads requires a combination of technical know-how, continuous optimization and a deep understanding of your target audience. By employing these “hacks” and best practices, you can set your campaigns up for greater success.
Take it from me, I’ve been using Google Ads since it was first released (back in the “Adwords” days), and I’ve seen firsthand what this platform can do. When used correctly, Google Ads can generate a higher return than months’ worth of SEO campaigns — it all depends on whether you can utilize its features to the fullest.
If you find you can’t do it yourself (although I think you probably can!), consider hiring a PPC marketing agency to do the footwork for you.
Two things investors can be sure about: Nothing lasts forever and the stock market always overreacts. The spiking of yields on long-term U.S. Treasury securities has been breathtaking, and it has led to remarkable declines for some sectors and possible bargains for contrarian investors who can commit for the long term.
First we will show how the sectors of the S&P 500
have performed. Then we will look at price-to-earnings valuations for the sectors and compare them to long-term averages. Then we will screen the entire index for companies trading below their long-term forward P/E valuation averages and narrow the list to companies most favored by analysts.
Here are total returns, with dividends reinvested, for the 11 sectors of the S&P 500, with broad indexes below. The sectors are sorted by ascending total returns this year through Monday.
Returns for 2022 are also included, along with those since the end of 2021. Last year’s weakest sector, communications services, has been this year’s strongest performer. This sector includes Alphabet Inc. GOOGL
and Meta Platforms Inc. META,
which have returned 52% and 155% this year, respectively, but are still down since the end of 2021. To the right are returns for the past week and month through Monday.
On Monday, the S&P 500 Utilities sector had its worst one-day performance since 2020, with a 4.7% decline. Investors were reacting to the jump in long-term interest rates.
Here is a link to the U.S. Treasury Department’s summary of the daily yield curve across maturities for Treasury securities.
The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes
jumped 10 basis points in only one day to 4.69% on Monday. A month earlier the 10-year yield was only 4.27%. Also on Monday, the yield on 20-year Treasury bonds
rose to 5.00% from 4.92% on Friday. It was up from 4.56% a month earlier.
The Treasury yield curve is still inverted, with 3-month T-bills
yielding 5.62% on Monday, but that was up only slightly from a month earlier. An inverted yield curve has traditionally signaled that bond investors expect a recession within a year and a lowering of interest rates by the Federal Reserve. Demand for bonds pushes their prices down. But the reverse has happened over recent days, with the selling of longer-term Treasury securities pushing yields up rapidly.
Another way to illustrate the phenomenon is to look at how the Federal Reserve has shifted the U.S. money supply. Odeon Capital analyst Dick Bove wrote in a note to clients on Friday that “the Federal Reserve has not deviated from its policy to defeat inflation by tightening monetary policy,” as it has shrunk its balance sheet (mostly Treasury securities) to $8.1 trillion from $9 trillion in March 2022. He added: “The M2 money supply was $21.8 trillion in March 2022; today it is $20.8 trillion. You cannot get tighter than these numbers indicate.”
Then on Tuesday, Bove illustrated the Fed’s tightening and the movement of the 10-year yield with two charts:
Odeon Capital Group, Bloomberg
Bove said he believes the bond market has gotten it wrong, with the inverted yield curve reflecting expectations of rate cuts next year. If he is correct, investors can expect longer-term yields to keep shooting up and a normalization of the yield curve.
This has set up a brutal environment for utility stocks, which are typically desired by investors who are seeking dividend income. In a market in which you can receive a yield of 5.5% with little risk over the short term, and in which you can lock in a long-term yield of about 5%, why take a risk in the stock market? And if you believe that the core inflation rate of 3.7% makes a 5% yield seem paltry, keep in mind that not all investors think the same way. Many worry less about the inflation rate because large components of official inflation calculations, such as home prices and car prices, don’t affect everyone every year.
We cannot know when this current selloff of longer-term bonds will end, or how much of an effect it will have on the stock market. But sharp declines in the stock market can set up attractive price points for investors looking to go in for the long haul.
Screening for lower valuations and high ratings
A combination of rising earnings estimates and price declines could shed light on potential buying opportunities, based on forward price-to-earnings ratios.
Let’s look at the sectors again, in the same order, this time to show their forward P/E ratios, based on weighted rolling 12-month consensus estimates for earnings per share among analysts polled by FactSet:
Sector or index
Current P/E to 5-year average
Current P/E to 10-year average
Current P/E to 15-year average
Forward P/E
5-year average P/E
10-year average P/E
15-year average P/E
Utilities
82%
86%
95%
14.99
18.30
17.40
15.82
Real Estate
76%
80%
81%
15.19
19.86
18.89
18.72
Consumer Staples
93%
96%
105%
18.61
19.92
19.30
17.64
Healthcare
103%
104%
115%
16.99
16.46
16.34
14.72
Financials
88%
92%
97%
12.90
14.65
14.08
13.26
Materials
100%
103%
111%
16.91
16.98
16.42
15.27
Industrials
88%
96%
105%
17.38
19.84
18.16
16.56
Energy
106%
63%
73%
11.78
11.17
18.80
16.23
Consumer Discretionary
79%
95%
109%
24.09
30.41
25.39
22.10
Information Technology
109%
130%
146%
24.20
22.17
18.55
16.54
Communication Services
86%
86%
94%
16.41
19.09
19.00
17.43
S&P 500
94%
101%
112%
17.94
19.01
17.76
16.04
DJ Industrial Average
93%
98%
107%
16.25
17.49
16.54
15.17
Nasdaq Composite Index
92%
102%
102%
24.62
26.71
24.18
24.18
Nasdaq-100 Index
97%
110%
126%
24.40
25.23
22.14
19.43
There is a limit to how many columns we can show in the table. The S&P 500’s forward P/E ratio is now 17.94, compared with 16.79 at the end of 2022 and 21.53 at the end of 2021. The benchmark index’s P/E is above its 10- and 15-year average levels but below the five-year average.
If we compare the current sector P/E numbers to 5-, 10- and 15-year averages, we can see that the current levels are below all three averages for four sectors: utilities, real estate, financials and communications services. The first three face obvious difficulties as they adjust to the rising-rate environment, while the real-estate sector reels from continuing low usage rates for office buildings, from the change in behavior brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Your own opinions, along with the pricing for some sectors, might drive some investment choices.
A broader screen of the S&P 500 might point to companies for you to research further.
We narrowed the S&P 500 as follows:
Current forward P/E below 5-, 10- and 15-year average valuations. For stocks with negative earnings-per-share estimates for the next 12 months, there is no forward P/E ratio so they were excluded. For stocks listed for less than 15 years, we required at least a 5-year average P/E for comparison. This brought the list down to 138 companies.
“Buy” or equivalent ratings from at least two-thirds of analysts: 41 companies.
Here are the 20 companies that passed the screen, for which analysts’ price targets imply the highest upside potential over the next 12 months.
There is too much data for one table, so first we will show the P/E information:
Apple Inc. is blaming a software bug and other issues tied to popular apps such as Instagram and Uber for causing its recently released iPhone 15 models to heat up and spark complaints about becoming too hot to handle.
The Cupertino, Calif., company AAPL, +0.30%
said Saturday that it is working on an update to the iOS17 system that powers the iPhone 15 lineup to prevent the devices from becoming uncomfortably hot and is working with apps that are running in ways “causing them to overload the system.”
Instagram, owned by Meta Platforms META, -1.23%,
modified its social media app earlier this week to prevent it from heating up the device on the latest iPhone operating system.
Uber UBER, -0.33%
and other apps such as the video game Asphalt 9 are still in the process of rolling out their updates, Apple said. It didn’t specify a timeline for when its own software fix would be issued but said no safety issues should prevent iPhone 15 owners from using their devices while awaiting the update.
“We have identified a few conditions which can cause iPhone to run warmer than expected,” Apple in a short statement provided to The Associated Press after media reports detailed overheating complaints that are peppering online message boards.
The Wall Street Journal amplified the worries in a story citing the overheating problem in its own testing of the new iPhones, which went on sale a week ago.
It’s not unusual for new iPhones to get uncomfortably warm during the first few days of use or when they are being restored with backup information stored in the cloud — issues that Apple already flags for users. The devices also can get hot when using apps such as video games and augmented reality technology that require a lot of processing power, but the heating issues with the iPhone 15 models have gone beyond those typical situations.
In its acknowledgement, Apple stressed that the trouble isn’t related to the sleek titanium casing that houses the high-end iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max instead of the stainless steel used on older smartphones.
Apple also dismissed speculation that the overheating problem in the new models might be tied to a shift from its proprietary Lightning charging cable to the more widely used USB-C port that allowed it to comply with a mandate issued by European regulators.
Although Apple expressed confidence that the overheating issue can be quickly fixed with the upcoming software updates, the problem still could dampen sales of its marquee product at time when the company has faced three consecutive quarters of year-over-year declines in overall sales.
The downturn has affected iPhone sales, which fell by a combined 4% in the nine months covered by Apple’s past three fiscal quarters compared with a year earlier.
Apple is trying to pump up its sales in part by raising the starting price for its top-of-the-line iPhone 15 Pro Max to $1,200, an increase of $100, or 9%, from last year’s comparable model.
Investor worries about Apple’s uncharacteristic sales funk already have wiped out more than $300 billion in shareholder wealth since the company’s market value closed at $3 trillion for the first time in late June.
Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy took aim at social-media companies during the second GOP presidential debate, saying Wednesday night that he would aim to ban anyone age 16 or under from using those companies’ platforms.
“If you’re 16 years old or under, you should not be using an addictive social-media product — period,” said Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur who ranks fourth in GOP primary polls, according a RealClearPolitics average.
He said this move would help with improving mental health and stopping the fentanyl epidemic. Earlier, Ramaswamy had talked about a mom and dad in Iowa whose son died after the teen bought Percocet laced with fentanyl through Snapchat.
That type of ban would hit companies such as Meta Platforms META, -0.41%,
the parent of Instagram and Facebook; Snap SNAP, +1.80%,
the parent of Snapchat; X, formerly known as Twitter; and ByteDance, the Chinese parent of TikTok.
Ramaswamy has started using TikTok in his White House campaign, and another GOP presidential candidate, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, attacked him over that at another point in the debate.
“TikTok is one of the most dangerous social-media apps we could have,” she said. “Honestly, every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber.”
The company announced Friday that its streaming service — a part of Prime subscriptions that cost $14.99 a month — will now have limited ads in its TV series and movies.
Advertising on Prime Video, known for shows such as “The Boys” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” will roll out in the U.S. and other cities in early 2024, with other countries to follow later in the year. If U.S. customers don’t want commercials, they will have to pay an additional $2.99 a month. Live events and sports will continue to feature ads in this tier, the company said in its announcement.
Prime customers will get an email in the weeks leading up to the advertising rollout, which will include the option to sign up for the ad-free tier.
“To continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time, starting in early 2024, Prime Video shows and movies will include limited advertisements,” the company said in a post Friday.
Amazon said it plans to have “meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming providers.”
Prime Video will now join rival streaming services, including Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery‘s Max and Disney‘s Hulu and Disney+, that are leaning on advertising. The ad-supported options are not only giving consumers a cheaper option as the list of streaming apps grows, but are also bringing in an additional revenue source.
Media companies in particular have been trying a variety of ways to make the streaming business profitable, from advertising to password-sharing crackdowns to cost cutting.
Streaming behemoth Netflix switched gears late last year and began offering a cheaper, ad-supported plan. Netflix was slow to embrace advertising, but as subscriber growth slowed, the company instituted the option in an effort to boost revenue.
The company recently removed its cheapest, ad-free plan in a push to get more sign-ups for its ad option. Company executives have said the economics of its ad plan were higher than the basic plan, and that advertising is incremental to Netflix’s revenue and profit.
We’ve detected you are on Internet Explorer. For the best Barrons.com experience, please update to a modern browser.
Summary
Summary
U.S
Europe
Asia
FX
Rates
Futures
ETFs
Crypto
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com.
These Stocks Are Moving the Most Today: FedEx, Klaviyo, KB Home, CrowdStrike, and More
Stock futures traded lower Thursday after equities dropped as the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady but signaled that one more quarter-point rate hike was possible this year.
KB Home shares declined in the extended session Wednesday even after the home builder reported results that topped Wall Street estimates, hiked its revenue forecast for the year and reported steady demand amid rising mortgage rates.
KB Home KBH shares slid more than 2% after hours, following a 0.7% decline in the regular session to close at $48.06.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The average small to mid-sized business spends about $10,000 annually on Google Ads.
Naturally, there are a lot of agencies and experts offering their “Google Ads Management Services” right now. If you’re planning to hire someone to optimize your campaigns and are wondering what to look for, this article is for you.
When searching for a Google Ads agency or consultant to manage your advertising campaigns, you’re obviously looking for a measurable ROI on your ad spend, so you need to be careful about who you give this responsibility to.
There are several important factors to consider to ensure you’re choosing a reputable and effective partner. Over the course of my career in the pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and search engine optimization industry, I’ve learned that these are the most critical factors to consider when hiring a Google Ads agency.
Look for agencies or consultants with a proven track record of managing successful Google Ads campaigns. Ask about their experience working with businesses similar to yours regarding industry, size and goals. I recommend firms with no fewer than 10 years of Google Ads management experience to their name.
2. Google Partner certification
Google Partner certification indicates that the agency or consultant has demonstrated expertise in Google Ads. Google Partners have passed Google’s certification exams and meet certain performance criteria that, while imperfect, provide a good baseline standard for establishing trust.
3. Services offered
Consider your specific needs. Do you need help with campaign setup, optimization or both? Make sure the agency or consultant offers services that align with your requirements. If you don’t know where to start, ensure that your agency offers a “full service” solution to help you from end to end.
4. Customization and strategy
A good agency or consultant should take the time to understand your business goals and develop a tailored strategy for your campaigns. Avoid those that offer a one-size-fits-all approach.
5. Transparency
Transparency is crucial. The agency or consultant should provide clear insights into campaign performance, including data on clicks, impressions, conversions and costs. Regular reporting should be part of their service, including KPI tracking.
6. Communication
Open and frequent communication is essential. Choose an agency or consultant that is responsive and keeps you informed about campaign updates, changes and results as they happen. Sluggish response times or waiting a day or longer for a reply is a non-starter.
7. Budget management
Ensure the agency can effectively manage your budget to achieve the best possible results. They should be capable of optimizing your campaigns to deliver the highest ROI without cost overruns. Google Ads makes it easy to assign budgets and spending targets, so there is no excuse for an agency to run over these preset figures.
Ask about the tools and software they use to manage and track campaigns. Advanced tools can help optimize campaigns more efficiently and effectively.
While the Google Ads dashboard provides some solid insights, other tools like Fluency, WordStream and SEMrush provide more advanced analytics (note: I’m not involved or associated with any of these companies).
9. Case studies and references
Request case studies or references from previous clients. This can provide insights into the agency’s or consultant’s ability to deliver results. Review the submitted materials before making any hiring decision with a Google Ads agent.
10. Ethical practices
Ensure the agency follows ethical advertising practices and adheres to Google Ads’ policies. Avoid agencies that promise unrealistic results or engage in black-hat tactics that may result in a Google penalty that harms your SEO performance.
Questions to ask potential candidates
When evaluating a Google Ads agency or consultant, asking the right questions can help you gauge their expertise, approach and suitability for your business. Here are some essential questions to ask:
1. What other services do you offer? Clarify the range of services they provide. This could include campaign setup, keyword research, ad copywriting, ongoing optimization, tracking setup and more.
2. How do you determine the appropriate budget for our campaigns? A knowledgeable agency should be able to explain how they calculate and allocate budgets for maximum ROI.
3. How do you measure and report campaign performance? Ask about the metrics they track, the reporting frequency and the level of detail you can expect in their reports.
4. Can you explain your approach to keyword research and targeting? This question helps you assess their approach to finding relevant keywords and targeting the right audience segments.
5. How do you handle ad creatives and copywriting? Their response will give you insight into their ability to create compelling ads that resonate with your audience.
6. How do you stay updated with Google Ads trends and changes? Look for agencies that emphasize continuous learning and staying up-to-date with the latest industry developments.
7. How do you optimize campaigns for better performance? Their optimization strategy should involve monitoring, adjusting bids, refining targeting and A/B testing ad variations.
8. What is your pricing structure and payment terms? Ensure that their Google Ads billing structure matches the industry standard pricing model.
9. What happens if campaign performance isn’t meeting expectations? A reliable agency should have a plan for addressing underperforming campaigns and making necessary adjustments.
10. Can you provide a clear timeline for campaign setup and launch? Having a timeline will help you understand when to expect your campaigns to go live and start generating results.
Twenty years after its initial launch, Google Ads is still the number one game in town when it comes to PPC advertising. Although used by many, it’s a difficult marketing channel to perfect. A qualified Google Ads consultant or agency can help you create or refine your Google Ads strategy so that you can make the most of your ad spend.
By following the steps I’ve outlined above, and asking the right questions, I believe you can maximize your chances of landing a top-notch Google Ads partner for the job.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday is set to come face-to-face with his most ardent critics as House Republicans prepare to use a routine oversight hearing to interrogate him about what they claim is the “weaponization” of the Justice Department under President Joe Biden.
Garland is appearing before the House Judiciary Committee for the first time in two years and at an unprecedented moment in the Justice Department’s history: He’s overseeing two cases against Donald Trump, the first former president to face criminal charges, and another against the sitting president’s son, Hunter Biden.
“Our job is not to take orders from the president, from Congress, or from anyone else, about who or what to criminally investigate,” Garland will say, according to prepared remarks.
“ ‘I am not the President’s lawyer. I will also add that I am not Congress’s prosecutor. The Justice Department works for the American people.’ ”
— Attorney General Merrick Garland in prepared remarks
Republicans on the committee were tight-lipped about what they planned to ask Garland, telling the Associated Press on Tuesday that they wanted to keep lines of attack under wraps until the hearing.
But Garland will likely face tense and heated questions about the Trump and Hunter Biden criminal cases, forcing him to defend the country’s largest law enforcement agency at a time when political and physical threats against agents and their families are on the rise.
“All of us at the Justice Department recognize that with this work comes public scrutiny, criticism, and legitimate oversight. These are appropriate and important given the gravity of the matters before the department,” Garland will say, according to his prepared remarks. “But singling out individual career public servants who are just doing their jobs is dangerous — particularly at a time of increased threats to the safety of public servants and their families.”
Democrats say they plan to “act as kind of a truth squad” against what they see as Republican misinformation and their ongoing defense of Trump, who is now the Republican frontrunner to challenge Biden in next year’s election. They say Republicans are trying to detract attention from the indicted former president’s legal challenges and turn a negative spotlight on Biden.
“I’ll be using this opportunity to highlight just how destructive that is of our system of justice and how once again, it is the GOP willing to undermine our institutions in the defense of their indefensible candidate for president,” Rep. Adam Schiff, a senior Democrat on the committee, told the AP.
Garland’s testimony also comes just over a week after Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from inland south-central California, launched an impeachment inquiry into his boss, Biden, with a special focus on the Justice Department’s handling of Hunter Biden’s years-long case.
The White House has dismissed the impeachment inquiry as baseless and worked to focus the conversation on policy instead. Hunter Biden’s legal team, on the other hand, has gone on the offensive against GOP critics, most recently filing suit against the Internal Revenue Service after two of its agents raised whistleblower claims to Congress about the handling of the investigation.
Republicans contend that the Justice Department — both under Trump and now Biden — has failed to fully probe the allegations against the younger Biden, ranging from his work on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma to his tax filings in California and Washington, D.C.
“I am not the President’s lawyer. I will also add that I am not Congress’s prosecutor. The Justice Department works for the American people,” Garland is expected to say.
“ Democrats have said they plan to ‘act as kind of a truth squad’ at the House hearing. ”
An investigation into Hunter Biden had been run by the U.S. attorney for Delaware, Trump appointee David Weiss, who Garland had kept on to finish the probe and insulate it from claims of political interference. Garland granted Weiss special counsel status last month, giving him broad authority to investigate and report his findings. He oversees the day-to-day running of the probe and another special counsel, Jack Smith, is in charge of the Trump investigation, though Garland retains final say on both as attorney general.
The Republican chairmen of the Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means committees launched an investigation into Weiss’ handling of the case, which was first opened in 2018 after two IRS agents claimed in congressional testimony in May that the Justice Department improperly interfered with their work.
Gary Shapley, a veteran IRS agent assigned to the case, testified to Congress that Weiss indicated in October 2022 that he was not the “deciding person whether charges are filed” against Hunter Biden.
That testimony has been disputed by two FBI agents who were also in the room for that meeting.
Hunter Biden has since sued the IRS, alleging that the episode has breached his right to privacy.
