Tag: Marketing Services

Tesla’s Elon Musk expects ‘a year of difficulty’ for the global economy

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Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk said late Tuesday he foresees “a year of difficulty” for the global economy, with “lots of companies” going bankrupt, and said that the EV maker will not be immune to the downdraft, even as he teased two new products for Tesla in the future.

“It’s is going to be a challenging 12 months, and Tesla is not immune to the global economic environment,” Musk said at the Tesla
TSLA,
+0.10%
shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas, where he spoke for nearly two hours on a wide range of topics.

The macroeconomic environment will be “difficult for at least the next 12 months,” Musk said. A turnaround, however, would come in the following 12 months, and long-term investors in Tesla will do “extremely well,” he said.

A shareholder in the audience asked about “rumors” that Musk would be about to step down as CEO, ending with “say it ain’t so.” Musk responded with “it ain’t so,” but offered no further details.

The executive also surprised the audience by saying that Tesla, which famously has eschewed traditional advertising, will now do it. “We will try advertising and see how it goes,” he said.

Musk teased two new products to be unveiled in the future, and promised more details at a yet-to-be-detailed launch event. The unnamed products would be “head and shoulders above anything else” currently in the market, he said.

Tesla has been working on a next-generation vehicle that would be cheaper than its current offerings, but nothing has been detailed.

Musk promised a revamp for the Tesla Roadster in 2024, although he said that wasn’t a firm commitment. A new Roadster “will not be a huge contributor to revenue, but it will be sick,” he said.

The CEO’s remarks were largely upbeat, to the applause of the shareholders at the event. Musk also spoke about autonomous driving and Tesla’s plans for alternative energy, and confirmed the Cybertruck, Tesla’s electric pickup truck which has been delayed a couple of times, is on track to be sold this year.

“We will make as many as people want them” eventually, but the production ramp will be slow at first, he said.

See also: Rivian, Lucid and Fisker navigate a ‘treacherous road’ as they struggle to match Tesla’s success

Earlier, a preliminary tally indicated that shareholders voted yes on the proposals endorsed by the company, including approving the nomination of former Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel to the board.

Some shareholders had questioned Straubel’s nomination, saying that Tesla’s board already had too many ties with Musk.

A failed proposal, which had been introduced in previous years and called for a third-party audit into Tesla’s cobalt supply chain to prevent child and forced labor, ended up being embraced by Musk.

“You know what, we will do a third-party audit,” although he said that Tesla products don’t use that much cobalt.

Tesla shares gained 1.2% in after-hours trading. So far this year, Tesla has gained 35%, compared with gains of around 7% for the S&P 500 index
SPX,
-0.64%.

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May 16, 2023
Tesla’s Elon Musk expects ‘a year of difficulty’ for the global economy

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Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk said late Tuesday he foresees “a year of difficulty” for the global economy, with “lots of companies” going bankrupt, and said that the EV maker will not be immune to the downdraft, even as he teased two new products for Tesla in the future.

“It’s is going to be a challenging 12 months, and Tesla is not immune to the global economic environment,” Musk said at the Tesla
TSLA,
+0.10%
shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas, where he spoke for nearly two hours on a wide range of topics.

The macroeconomic environment will be “difficult for at least the next 12 months,” Musk said. A turnaround, however, would come in the following 12 months, and long-term investors in Tesla will do “extremely well,” he said.

A shareholder in the audience asked about “rumors” that Musk would be about to step down as CEO, ending with “say it ain’t so.” Musk responded with “it ain’t so,” but offered no further details.

The executive also surprised the audience by saying that Tesla, which famously has eschewed traditional advertising, will now do it. “We will try advertising and see how it goes,” he said.

Musk teased two new products to be unveiled in the future, and promised more details at a yet-to-be-detailed launch event. The unnamed products would be “head and shoulders above anything else” currently in the market, he said.

Tesla has been working on a next-generation vehicle that would be cheaper than its current offerings, but nothing has been detailed.

Musk promised a revamp for the Tesla Roadster in 2024, although he said that wasn’t a firm commitment. A new Roadster “will not be a huge contributor to revenue, but it will be sick,” he said.

The CEO’s remarks were largely upbeat, to the applause of the shareholders at the event. Musk also spoke about autonomous driving and Tesla’s plans for alternative energy, and confirmed the Cybertruck, Tesla’s electric pickup truck which has been delayed a couple of times, is on track to be sold this year.

“We will make as many as people want them” eventually, but the production ramp will be slow at first, he said.

See also: Rivian, Lucid and Fisker navigate a ‘treacherous road’ as they struggle to match Tesla’s success

Earlier, a preliminary tally indicated that shareholders voted yes on the proposals endorsed by the company, including approving the nomination of former Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel to the board.

Some shareholders had questioned Straubel’s nomination, saying that Tesla’s board already had too many ties with Musk.

A failed proposal, which had been introduced in previous years and called for a third-party audit into Tesla’s cobalt supply chain to prevent child and forced labor, ended up being embraced by Musk.

“You know what, we will do a third-party audit,” although he said that Tesla products don’t use that much cobalt.

Tesla shares gained 1.2% in after-hours trading. So far this year, Tesla has gained 35%, compared with gains of around 7% for the S&P 500 index
SPX,
-0.64%.

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May 16, 2023
Elon Musk says he’s hired new CEO for Twitter; is it NBCUniversal’s Linda Yaccarino?

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Twitter Chief Executive Elon Musk says he’s found a new CEO to run Twitter and its parent company, X Corp., and “she” starts soon.

“Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!” Musk tweeted Thursday afternoon. “My role will transition to being exec chair & [chief technology officer], overseeing product, software & sysops.”

Musk did not offer any clues as to the identity of Twitter’s incoming CEO, but late Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s head of advertising, was in talks to become the CEO.

Yaccarino has worked at Comcast’s
CMCSA,
+1.28%
NBCU for more than a decade, and has been an industry advocate in finding better ways to measure advertising’s effectiveness, according to the Journal.

Yaccarino oversees global, national and local ad sales, partnerships, marketing, ad tech, data, measurement and strategic initiatives, according to her bio, which says she and her team have generated more than $100 billion in ad sales.

“She knows metrics in advertising, and has played in different media,” Timothy Hubbard, assistant professor of management at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, said in an interview. “I don’t know much about her, but she can balance Musk somewhat with her flexibility in advertising.”

She and Musk appeared in a keynote conversation at a conference in Miami last month, according to Dateline, before NBCU and Twitter inked a major ad pact for the 2024 Olympics.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the move is good for the stock of Tesla Inc.
TSLA,
+2.10%,
where Musk is also CEO.

“Musk stepping down as Twitter CEO sooner than thought is clearly good news overall for Tesla investors,” Ives said on Twitter. “Less time focused on Twitter platform and more time around Tesla SpaceX…balancing act too difficult and needed to make this move sooner rather than later.”

In a note, Ives added: “With the tweet this afternoon, Musk’s reign as CEO of Twitter has finally come to an end and thus will be a positive for Tesla’s stock starting to finally remove this lingering albatross from the story,” and maintained Tesla’s outperform rating.

Tesla shares advanced 1.6% in after-hours trading.

After Musk acquired the social media giant for $44 billion, he posted a Twitter poll in December that asked if he should step down as CEO. A majority (57%) said yes, and he responded saying: “I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job! After that, I will just run the software & servers teams.”

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May 11, 2023
Elon Musk says he’s hired new CEO for Twitter; is it NBCUniversal’s Linda Yaccarino?

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Twitter Chief Executive Elon Musk says he’s found a new CEO to run Twitter and its parent company, X Corp., and “she” starts soon.

“Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!” Musk tweeted Thursday afternoon. “My role will transition to being exec chair & [chief technology officer], overseeing product, software & sysops.”

Musk did not offer any clues as to the identity of Twitter’s incoming CEO, but late Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s head of advertising, was in talks to become the CEO.

Yaccarino has worked at Comcast’s
CMCSA,
+1.28%
NBCU for more than a decade, and has been an industry advocate in finding better ways to measure advertising’s effectiveness, according to the Journal.

“She knows metrics in advertising, and has played in different media,” Timothy Hubbard, assistant professor of management at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, said in an interview. “I don’t know much about her, but she can balance Musk somewhat with her flexibility in advertising.”

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the move is good for the stock of Tesla Inc.
TSLA,
+2.10%,
where Musk is also CEO.

“Musk stepping down as Twitter CEO sooner than thought is clearly good news overall for Tesla investors,” Ives said on Twitter. “Less time focused on Twitter platform and more time around Tesla SpaceX…balancing act too difficult and needed to make this move sooner rather than later.”

In a note, Ives added: “With the tweet this afternoon, Musk’s reign as CEO of Twitter has finally come to an end and thus will be a positive for Tesla’s stock starting to finally remove this lingering albatross from the story,” and maintained Tesla’s outperform rating.

In December, Musk posted a Twitter poll asking if he should step down as CEO. A majority said yes, and he responded saying: “I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job! After that, I will just run the software & servers teams.”

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May 11, 2023
Netflix stock falls after subscriber growth, earnings forecast miss. But it’s bouncing back on ad plans, shared-password crackdown in U.S.

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Netflix Inc.’s stock initially plunged in after-hours trading Tuesday, after the streaming giant posted weaker subscriber growth and forecast a smaller profit than Wall Street expected. But shares later recovered and crossed into positive territory on company disclosures that its new ad-supported service is a success and its crackdown on shared accounts in the U.S. is coming this quarter.

Netflix
NFLX,
+0.29%
reported that subscribers increased by 1.75 million in the first quarter of the year, missing analysts’ average estimate of 2.2 million. Netflix reported fiscal first-quarter net earnings of $1.31 billion, or $2.88 a share, compared with $3.53 a share in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue improved to $8.16 billion from $7.87 billion a year ago. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected on average net earnings of $2.86 a share on revenue of $8.18 billion.

For the second quarter, Netflix executives guided for earnings of $2.84 a share on $8.24 billion in revenue, while analysts on average were expecting earnings of $3.07 a share on sales of $8.18 billion. Netflix no longer provides guidance on subscriber additions, a sign its years of rapid growth are clearly cooling.

Shares plunged lower than $300 in after-hours trading immediately following the release of the results, after closing with a 0.3% increase at $333.70. But shares had crossed into positive territory and were recently above $335 in the extended session.

Netflix executives have hoped to goose their financial results with cheaper, ad-supported options and a crackdown on password sharing. In a letter to shareholders Tuesday, company executives said the ads plan in the U.S. “already has a total ARM (subscription + ads) greater than our standard plan.”

At the same time, they disclosed a password crackdown in the U.S. will occur in the second quarter, a bit later from previous expectations.

“We shifted out the timing of the broad launch from late Q1 to Q2,” Netflix executives wrote. “While this means that some of the expected membership growth and revenue benefit will fall in Q3 rather than Q2, we believe this will result in a
better outcome for both our members and our business.”

Additionally, Netflix also announced that it will end the DVD-by-mail business that launched the company into consumers’ homes. Revenue from the DVD business had declined from $911 million in 2013 to $146 million in 2022.

“This a catch-22 environment for streaming companies as they are pivoting from chasing subscribers to chasing profits while at the same time inflation-weary consumers are reassessing their discretionary spending habits,” KPMG U.S. National Media Leader Scott Purdy said, in assessing the results. “Today’s figures, a bellwether for the industry at large, signal that winter is coming for the consumer. All of the subsidies are ending. Consumers can expect to be hit with ads, higher prices, and password sharing crackdown.”

Expectations among investors heading into Netflix’s quarterly report were muted. The focus was on Netflix’s switch toward better monetization with an ad-supported service and a rolling crackdown on shared accounts. Analysts in particular were closely watching the performance of Netflix’s new “Basic with Ads” plan ($6.99 a month) and its effectiveness in stanching the defection of subscribers to competing services from Walt Disney Co.
DIS,
+0.63%
and Apple Inc.
AAPL,
+0.75%.

Netflix’s rollout of the ad-supported tier could also have a temporary impact on margins: Netflix reported an operating margin of 21%, compared with about 25% in the year-ago quarter.

At the same time, Netflix put an end to paid shared accounts in some Latin American countries last year, and expanded plans to do so Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain in February.

“In our view, the password-sharing crackdown will result in a greater number of subs as well as revenue because the primary account holder will either pay an additional fee for members who have moved out of the household or those sharing accounts become full subscribers,” Bank of America analysts said in a recent note.

Shares of Netflix have climbed 12% so far this year, while the broader S&P 500 index
SPX,
+0.09%
has advanced 8%.

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April 18, 2023

10 dividend stocks yielding at least 4.5% that are rated ‘buy’ by most analysts

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During a period of high interest rates, it might be more difficult to impress investors with dividend stocks. But the stocks can have an important advantage over the long term. The dividend payouts can increase over the years, helping to push share prices higher over time.

When considering stocks for dividend income, yield shouldn’t be the only thing you consider. If a stock’s price has tumbled because investors are worried about the company’s business prospects, the dividend yield might be very high. A double-digit yield might mean investors expect to see a cut to the dividend soon.

There are many ways to look at companies’ expected ability to maintain or raise their dividend payouts. But one can also take a simple approach to begin researching stock choices.

At the moment, you can get a bank CD with a yield of close to 5% pretty easily. Here’s a look at current yields for CDs and U.S. Treasury securities and an approach for laddering them not only to protect your cash but to hedge against interest-rate risk.

For investors who would rather aim for long-term growth to go along with dividend income, or take a relatively conservative approach to growth while reinvesting dividends, a screen of stocks in the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.33%
produces only 10 stocks with dividend yields of 4.5% or higher with majority “buy” or equivalent ratings among analysts polled by FactSet. Here they are, sorted by dividend yield:

Company	Ticker	Dividend Yield	Expected payout increase through 2025	Share “buy” ratings	April 16 price	Consensus price target	implied 12-month upside potential
Comerica Inc.	CMA, +4.00%	6.56%	10%	58%	$43.30	$60.53	40%
Citizens Financial Group Inc.	CFG, +4.19%	5.77%	12%	74%	$29.10	$39.29	35%
Healthpeak Properties Inc.	PEAK, +2.33%	5.71%	9%	60%	$21.01	$27.69	32%
Hasbro Inc.	HAS, +1.28%	5.34%	8%	69%	$52.40	$69.27	32%
Philip Morris International Inc.	PM, +0.46%	5.11%	11%	67%	$99.48	$113.56	14%
Realty Income Corp.	O, +1.30%	5.04%	7%	56%	$60.77	$70.00	15%
Fifth Third Bancorp	FITB, +3.33%	4.99%	3%	72%	$26.44	$34.55	31%
VICI Properties Inc.	VICI, +1.58%	4.82%	12%	95%	$32.35	$37.73	17%
Organon & Co.	OGN, +1.01%	4.71%	5%	55%	$23.80	$31.89	34%
Iron Mountain Inc.	IRM, +0.82%	4.69%	15%	78%	$52.76	$56.00	6%
Source: FactSet

Click on the ticker for more about each company.

Click here for Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information available for free on the MarketWatch quote page.

The dividend yields for this group of 10 companies are based on current annual regular payout rates, with all paying quarterly except for Realty Income Corp.
O,
+1.30%,
which pays monthly.

These two oil and natural gas producers would have passed the above screen based on their most recent dividend payments and analysts’ sentiment, however, they pay a combined fixed-plus-variable dividend every quarter, with the fixed portion relatively low:

Shares of Pioneer Natural Resources Co.
PXD,
-0.77%
closed at $230 on April 14. Among analysts polled by FactSet, 59% rate the stock a “buy” or the equivalent, and the consensus price target is $257.42. The company pays a fixed quarterly dividend of $1.10 a share, which would make for a dividend yield of only 1.91%. However, the most recent variable quarterly dividend was $4.48 a share, for a combined quarterly dividend of $5.58, which would translate to an annualized dividend yield of 9.70%. The consensus estimate for dividends in 2025 is $4.63 — the analysts are only estimating the fixed portion of the dividend. Pioneer has held preliminary merger discussions with Exxon Corp.
XOM,
-1.16%,
according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Devon Energy Corp.’s
DVN,
-0.72%
stock closed at $55.70 on April 14. The shares are rated “buy” or the equivalent by 55% of analysts and the consensus price target is $67.66. The fixed portion of Devon’s quarterly dividend is 20 cents a share, for an annualized dividend yield of 1.44%. The variable portion of the most recent quarterly dividend was 69 cents a share. The total payout of 89 cents would make for an annual dividend yield of 6.39%. Analysts expect the fixed portion of annual dividends to total $3.61 in 2025, according to FactSet.

Don’t miss: Buffett is buying in Japan. This overseas value-stock fund is also making bets there. Is it a good way to diversify?

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April 17, 2023

Microsoft Looks to ChatGPT AI to Transform Its Digital Ad Business

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Microsoft Looks to ChatGPT AI to Transform Its Digital Ad Business

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April 16, 2023
Chicago to host 2024 Democratic convention

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Chicago will host the 2024 Democratic National Convention, the Democratic National Committee said Tuesday, bringing the event back to the city for the first time since 1996.

The Democratic Party seems to be closing ranks behind President Joe Biden as its 2024 nominee, although Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are mounting long-shot challenges. The president said Monday that he’s “planning on running” but wasn’t prepared to make a formal announcement yet.

Read: As Biden says he’s ‘planning on running,’ here are the potential 2024 Republican candidates.

“The Midwest reflects America and will give Democrats an opportunity to showcase some of President Biden and Vice President Harris’s most significant accomplishments for American families,” DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement. Chicago beat out cities including New York and Atlanta in the competition to host the convention.

A water taxi plies the Chicago River.

Getty Images

Biden said in a statement that the city is a “great choice” for the event and that his party will “showcase our historic progress including building an economy from the middle out and bottom up, not from the top down.”

Republicans are planning to host their 2024 convention in Milwaukee.

Read more: Republicans pick Milwaukee to host 2024 national convention

Chicago hosted the Democratic convention most recently in 1996, when President Bill Clinton was renominated. The 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago was marked by violent clashes between police and antiwar demonstrators.

Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson called his city “unmatched when it comes to hosting events of this scale.”

Johnson said: “I look forward to working closely with the DNC to facilitate a spectacular convention that showcases Chicago’s diverse culture, our beautiful lakefront, our renowned hospitality sector, and our best asset: our amazing people.”

The Democratic convention is scheduled for Aug. 19-22, 2024.

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April 11, 2023
Ryan Reynolds Sells Mint Mobile for $1.35 Billion to T-Mobile

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Ryan Reynolds Sells Mint Mobile for $1.35 Billion to T-Mobile

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March 15, 2023
Trade Desk stock rockets after earnings as CEO says company is outperforming like never before

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Shares of Trade Desk Inc. surged on Wednesday after the advertising-technology company issued an upbeat outlook that helped quell fears about the digital-ad market.

Chief Executive Jeff Green spoke positively on the earnings call about the company’s performance relative to rivals, saying that the company grew 24% in the fourth quarter while most of its “large competitors” saw negative growth.

Trade Desk’s
TTD,
+25.60%
revenue rose to $491 million from $396 million, while analysts tracked by FactSet were modeling $490 million.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had the level of industry outperformance in our six years or so as a public company as we did in 2022,” he said, according to a transcript provided by AlphaSense/Sentieo. “And it means that we can be very confident that we’re gaining share and that our platform continues to gain traction with advertisers.”

Shares of Trade Desk were up 28% in morning action. Shares of streaming-media company Roku Inc.
ROKU,
+9.04%,
which is due to post results after the closing bell, were up more than 7%.

Executives at Trade Desk, which makes programmatic ad technologies for connected television, see that area of the market as particularly compelling right now.

“Not only is the shift from linear to CTV driving significant growth in digital spend as advertisers shift dollars from linear TV to connected TV, but more spend is happening outside the walled gardens as advertisers shift spend from user-generated content to premium streaming content,” Green shared.

The company reported fourth-quarter net income of $71 million, or 14 cents a share, compared with $8 million, or 2 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. On an adjusted basis, Trade Desk said it earned 38 cents a share, down from 42 cents a share a year before but ahead of the FactSet consensus, which was for 35 cents a share.

For the first quarter, management anticipates at least $363 million in revenue, along with about $78 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda).

The FactSet consensus was for $358 million in revenue and $75 million in adjusted Ebitda.

“2023 will be the year that everything in TV changes,” Green told investors on the earnings call. “The market needs an upfront that is always on, but also leverages data so that content owners sell fewer, more relevant ads at higher CPMs and advertisers get more efficacy.” CPM stands for “cost per mille” and measures what advertisers pay for impressions.

The company also announced Wednesday that its board of directors has authorized it to buy back up to $700 million of its stock.

“The new share-repurchase program is designed to help offset the impact of future share dilution from employee stock issuances,” Trade Desk said in a release.

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February 15, 2023

Tag: Marketing Services

A water taxi plies the Chicago River.