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Tag: Media/Entertainment

  • With Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet earnings hanging on AI, more investors are asking: ‘How are you going to pay for that?’

    With Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet earnings hanging on AI, more investors are asking: ‘How are you going to pay for that?’

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    Shares of big tech companies have coasted through this year on AI euphoria, but as Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. prepare to report results this week, some investors are starting to ask how much those AI advancements might actually cost.

    Those questions have surfaced after several months during simply saying “AI” on earnings calls appeared to be enough for investors. If the economy sours though — as some expect in the second half of this year or next year — big tech’s AI ambitions could go with it.

    “Given the exorbitant costs associated with the development, hosting and serving of AI products, many investors are concerned about the potential for [fiscal 2024] commentary regarding a material increase,” Jefferies analyst Brent Thill wrote, according to a MarketWatch earnings preview for Microsoft’s
    MSFT,
    -0.89%
    results.

    Microsoft and Alphabet Inc.
    GOOGL,
    +0.69%

    GOOG,
    +0.65%    ,
    which both report on Tuesday, have been in heated competition in the world of online search and digital advertisements, as Microsoft leans more on its massive investments in research lab OpenAI to muscle up its own search capabilities. But a Deutsche Bank analyst said that so far, Google appears to have the upper hand in that battle.

    Still, for Microsoft, after a broader pullback in IT spending earlier this year, analysts have found more to like about its cloud-computing business — namely market-share gains, generally-sturdy demand, and whatever ways AI can fit into the equation. Wolfe Research analyst Alex Zukin, in a recent note, said he believed “the focus will turn from what is good enough, to how good can it be,” as Microsoft moves deeper into AI.

    “How good can it be?” might also be a question for Meta
    META,
    -2.73%    ,
    which reports second-quarter results on Wednesday.

    Shares of the social-media company have more than doubled in value so far this year. JMP analyst Andrew Boone, in a recent note, cited likely improvements in Meta’s digital ad segment, better engagement, and a broader advertising backdrop that “appears to be stable” after a slowdown in spending, Still, there are signs that the initial user attraction to Threads, Meta’s answer to Twitter, has fizzled.

    This week in earnings

    For the week ahead, 166 companies in the S&P 500 index report results, including 12 from the Dow, according to FactSet. Among them are Domino’s Pizza Inc.
    DPZ,
    -0.62%    ,
    which now plans to deliver pizza via Uber Eats after years of chafing at third-party delivery apps. Industrials General Electric Co.
    GE,
    -0.82%
    and 3M Co.
    MMM,
    +0.04%
    also report, after 3M agreed to pay $10.3 billion to settle accusations it was responsible for so-called “forever chemicals” in drinking water.

    Quick-service restaurant chains Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.
    CMG,
    +0.20%
    and McDonald’s Corp.
    MCD,
    -0.51%
    also report, with BofA analysts expecting an “almost normal” quarter for the industry, after spending at chain restaurants grew last month and costs for some ingredients started to ease following two years of supply disruptions. Auto makers General Motors Co.
    GM,
    -1.81%
    and Ford Motor Co.
    F,
    -0.71%
    also report, and while parts shortages that have constrained vehicle production have shown signs of fading, so has electric-vehicle “euphoria.”

    The calls to put on your calendar

    Visa, Mastercard: Earlier this month executives from the big banks said U.S. consumers are generally doing OK despite still-rampant inflation, although perhaps less OK than in prior months. This week credit-card giants Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. report results on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. The profit, sales and credit-card volume figures from Visa
    V,
    -0.15%
    and Mastercard
    MA,
    -0.14%
    will offer more specifics on consumer spending, as vacations and concerts compete with more expensive and more pressing needs, like groceries and other bills.

    Shares of Visa and Mastercard are up so far this year, but some analysts said there could be more room investors to step in. SVB MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis recently said shares of both companies were hovering at “unusually attractive” levels.

    The number to watch

    Mattel outlook, and anything ‘Barbie’-related: The “Barbie” movie hit theaters nationwide on Friday. And after an epic marketing campaign, Mattel Inc.’s investors, banking on the film to drive a rebound for the toy maker during the second half of this year, will be zeroed in on the box-office results following the film’s debut on Friday.

    Expectations for the film are huge. And when Mattel
    MAT,
    -0.42%
    reports second-quarter results on Wednesday, executives could offer the first answers to some big questions: Has the film helped revive toy sales? Sales for anything else? Will the “Barbenheimer” effect help or hurt financials?

    The film — directed by Greta Gerwig, written Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling — brings together two writers with indie bona fides and two actors with mainstream starpower. Reviews so far have been favorable, and Barbie is already Mattel’s most profitable franchise. But the movie isn’t directly geared toward children, movie theaters have struggled to get back on track after pandemic lockdowns, and toy demand through this year has been weak after ballooning during the pandemic. And some analysts don’t expect “Barbie” to do much for Mattel’s stock.

    Emily Bary and Jon Swartz contributed reporting to this story.

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  • Here’s why Wall Street has fallen out of love with Tesla — for now

    Here’s why Wall Street has fallen out of love with Tesla — for now

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    Late on Wednesday, Tesla Inc.
    TSLA,
    -1.10%
    reported that quarterly sales were up 47% from a year earlier. But the stock tumbled 10% on Thursday.

    Tesla’s shares are still up 113% this year. The company is among a group of 13 in the S&P 500 that stand out with high growth expectations for sales, earnings and free cash flow through 2025.

    But less than half of analysts polled by FactSet rate Tesla a buy. Emily Bary explains what they are worried about.

    Traders have placed large short bets against Tesla and two of its rival EV makers — Rivian Automotive Inc.
    RIVN,
    -2.09%
    and Nio Inc.
    NIO,
    +2.52%    .
    Claudia Assis looks into how well those trades have been working out.

    Cody Willard explains why he remains confident that Tesla and Rivian will dominate the EV market over the long term.

    Related coverage:

    Here’s what may propel U.S. stocks for years.

    Chipotle Mexican Grill is among 14 stocks named by Michael Brush for consideration by investors looking to ride along with long-term improvement of U.S. labor productivity.


    AP

    The S&P 500
    SPX,
    +0.03%
    has returned 19% this year, following its 18% decline in 2022. On the same basis, with dividends reinvested, the benchmark index is still down 2% since the end of 2021.

    What is going on? Michael Brush believes that a high level of corporate investment in new technology and equipment is setting the stage for a long phase of earnings growth for U.S. companies. He shares four developments behind the coming productivity boom and 14 stocks expected to benefit from it.

    A signal for the stock-market’s health


    Getty Images

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average
    DJIA,
    +0.01%
    is up 6% this year. The venerable index has trailed the S&P 500, but its closing level of 35,255.18 on Thursday was only 4% shy of its record close a 36,799.65 on Jan. 4, 2022. Joseph Adinolfi explains Dow Theory, which according to technical analysts is sending a strong bullish signal for the stock market.

    Other opinions about market sentiment:

    Even if you have resisted the idea of a Roth IRA, you may soon be forced to have one

    This year if you are age 50 or older and are already maxing-out your contribution to a 401(K), 403(B) or other qualified employer-sponsored tax-deferred retirement plan at $22,500, you can make an additional “catch up” tax deductible contribution of $7,500 for a total of $30,000. But starting in 2024, the catch up contribution will no longer be tax deductible if you earn at least $145,000 a year. You can still make the contribution with after-tax money into a Roth 401(K) account that your plan administrator may already have set up for you.

    Alessandra Malito provides more details and news about employers’ efforts to delay the rule’s implementation.

    Beth Pinker writes the Fix My Portfolio column. This week she digs into Roth IRA conversions, through which you can simplify your taxes down the line.

    A hot vote in Spain

    The center of Madrid on July 15, 2023. A brutal heat wave could affect turnout for the country’s general election on July 23.


    Uncredited

    Barbara Kollmeyer reports from Spain about a highly contested election on Sunday, with controversy over the government’s policies during the pandemic, parties’ social policies and the possibility of a coalition government that might rattle financial markets.

    Meta vs. Alphabet

    Shares of Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc. trade only slightly higher than the S&P 500 on a forward price-to-earnings bases, while Nvidia Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. trade much higher.


    FactSet

    Leslie Albrecht looks at Meta Platforms Inc.
    META,
    -2.73%    ,
    which is Facebook’s holding company and has a hit on its hands with the new Threads social-media platform, and Google holding company Alphabet Inc.
    GOOGL,
    +0.69%    ,
    to consider which stock is a better buy.

    Brett Arends: ‘I used to work at Nvidia. The stock I got is now half my portfolio. Should I sell?’

    The Ratings Game

    In The Ratings Game column, MarketWatch reporters track analysts’ thoughts about various stocks. Here’s a sampling of this week’s coverage:

    You don’t know every bad factor causing air travel to be nothing but harassment

    Getting there is half the fun.


    Getty Images

    The U.S. flying scene — from shortages of equipment and labor (and runways) to ill-staffed air-traffic control towers — is a well-known nightmare for U.S. travelers. But there is more to the story. Jeremy Binckes looks into other factors that may surprise you and cause great inconvenience this summer.

    The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates again next week

    The Federal Open Market Committee will meet next Tuesday and Wednesday, to be immediately followed by a policy announcement. Economists expect the central to raise the federal-funds rate by another quarter point. The question is whether or not this will end the Fed’s inflation-fighting rate cycle.

    More coverage of the Fed:

    How much would you pay for 100% downside protection in the stock market?


    MarketWatch illustration/iStockphoto

    Over the past 30 years, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
    SPY,

    has returned 1,650%, for an average annual return of 10%, with dividends reinvested, according to FactSet. But it hasn’t been a smooth ride. The ETF, which tracks the benchmark S&P 500, fell 18% last year and 37% during 2008, for example. And there have been even larger declines if the analysis isn’t confined to calendar years.

    But can you ride through market declines? Many studies have shown that most investors who try to time the market sell after a decline has started and buy back in well after a recovery is under way, which means their long-term performance can suffer significantly.

    In this week’s ETF Wrap column (and emailed newsletter), Isabel Wang describes a new buffered fund that can give you 100% downside protection over a two-year period, in return for a cap on your potential gains in the stock market. Here’s the price you would pay for the protection.

    The World Cup games have started

    Hannah Wilkinson scored the home team’s first goal against Norway during the first World Cup game in Auckland, New Zealand, on July 20.


    Getty Images

    The Women’s World Cup began Thursday with an upset victory by New Zealand over Norway.

    James Rogers reports on what is expected to be a much easier environment for FIFA and corporate sponsors than that of last year’s Men’s World Cup in Qatar.

    U.S. Soccer Federation President Cindy Parlow Cone participated in MarketWatch’s Best New Ideas in Money podcast and spoke about the long-term effort to achieve equal treatment for women soccer players.

    More coverage of the World Cup:

    Want more from MarketWatch? Sign up for this and other newsletters to get the latest news and advice on personal finance and investing.

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  • 3 Reasons Sirius XM Stock Just Surged 42%

    3 Reasons Sirius XM Stock Just Surged 42%

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    3 Reasons Sirius XM Stock Just Surged 42%

    Sirius XM Holdings stock surged 42% Thursday on an apparent combination of short covering, an unwinding of a spread trade involving Liberty SiriusXM, and possible buying related to a rebalancing of the Nasdaq 100 index.

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  • Netflix earnings bring big subscriber windfall, but stock gets dinged on light revenue forecast

    Netflix earnings bring big subscriber windfall, but stock gets dinged on light revenue forecast

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    Netflix Inc. wowed Wall Street with new subscribers Wednesday, but lighter-than-expected revenue and sales projections undercut the company’s stock in extended trading.

    Netflix
    NFLX,
    +0.59%
    reported that subscribers increased by a surprising 5.9 million in the second quarter of the year, blowing past analysts’ average estimate of 1.82 million. Netflix reported fiscal second-quarter net earnings of $1.49 billion, or $3.29 a share, compared with $3.20 a share in the year-ago quarter.

    Revenue improved to $8.19 billion from $7.97 billion a year ago. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected on average net earnings of $2.85 a share on revenue of $8.29 billion.

    For the third quarter, Netflix executives guided for earnings of $3.52 a share on $8.52 billion in revenue, while analysts on average were expecting earnings of $3.23 a share on sales of $8.66 billion.

    Free cash flow for the quarter was an eye-popping $1.3 billion, compared with about breakeven in the year-ago quarter.

    Shares dipped slid nearly 7% in after-hours trading immediately following the release of the results, after closing the regular session with a slight increase.

    Earlier Wednesday, the company ended its basic streaming plan in the U.S. ($9.99 a month) and U.K. for new and rejoining members in a move to press to add more subscribers to its ad-supported service ($6.99), which has accrued more than 5 million customers since its launch late last year. The news sent Netflix’s stock up 0.6% during the regular session.

    Read more: Netflix drops basic streaming plan in push for more users of ad-supported plan

    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 Wednesday, company executives said the success of paid shared accounts would be expanded to more countries.

    “We expect revenue growth will accelerate in the second half of 2023 as monetization grows from our most recent paid sharing launch and we expand our initiative across nearly all remaining countries plus the continued steady growth in our ad-supported plan,” Netflix executives wrote.

    In May, Netflix expanded paid sharing to more than 100 countries, which account for over 80% of its revenue. Now, it intends to “start to address account sharing between households in almost all of our remaining countries,” executives said.

    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,
    +1.27%
    and Apple Inc.
    AAPL,
    +0.71%    .

    Shares of Netflix have soared 62% so far this year, while the broader S&P 500 index
    SPX,
    +0.24%
    has advanced 19%.

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  • Pinterest stock advances, Masimo shares slump on outlook and other stocks on the move

    Pinterest stock advances, Masimo shares slump on outlook and other stocks on the move

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    Here are some of the biggest movers of the day:

    Stock gainers:

    Shares of Pinterest Inc.
    PINS,
    +3.64%
    were gaining 4% after an Evercore ISI analyst moved to a bullish stance, cheering better advertising-market conditions and improvements made by Chief Executive Bill Ready, who is about a year into his stint.

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  • Cathie Wood’s ARK funds dump $26 million more in Coinbase stock, shed $13 million more of Tesla shares

    Cathie Wood’s ARK funds dump $26 million more in Coinbase stock, shed $13 million more of Tesla shares

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    Funds associated with Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment continued to cull shares of Coinbase Global Inc. and Tesla Inc. on Monday, according to recent trade disclosures.

    The ARK Fintech Innovation ETF
    ARKF,
    +1.58%
    dumped 76,788 Coinbase shares
    COIN,
    +0.23%
    on the day, while the ARK Innovation ETF
    ARKK,
    +2.29%
    sold 127,266 and the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF
    ARKW,
    +2.23%
    sold 44,784 shares.

    Those were worth $26.3 million based on Coinbase’s Monday closing price of $105.55, and the sales follow ARK’s move to dump about $50 million in Coinbase’s stock Friday.

    Coinbase represents 0.78% of the Fintech Innovation ETF, along with 0.15% of the Innovation ETF and 0.30% of the Next Generation Internet ETF. ARK disclosed the transactions and weightings in the daily trade notifications it posts to its website.

    Read: Coinbase’s spectacular stock surge after Ripple ruling sparks fierce debate

    Meanwhile, the ARK Innovation ETF shed 38,329 Tesla shares
    TSLA,
    +3.20%
    on Monday, while the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF sold 6,855. Those shares were worth $13.1 million based on Tesla’s Monday closing level of $290.38. Tesla represents about 0.12% of both funds as they continue to unload shares.

    Don’t miss: Tesla is looking at its best sales quarter ever

    ARK scooped up 455 shares of Meta Platforms Inc.
    META,
    +0.57%
    within its Next Generation Internet ETF and bought up 3,729 shares within the ARK Innovation ETF. That amounted to $1.3 million worth of stock based on Meta’s $310.62 Monday close.

    Two ARK funds bought a combined $790 million in Robinhood Markets Inc.’s stock
    HOOD,
    +0.89%    ,
    with the fintech fund scooping up 25,641 shares and the Next Generation Internet ETF buying 37,630 shares. ARK added 4,608 shares of SoFi Technologies Inc.
    SOFI,
    +4.41%
    to the fintech fund, worth $43,683 based on Monday’s close.

    See also: SoFi’s stock catches another downgrade as analyst says it ‘needs to be valued more like a bank’

    ARK was also active in shares of Twilio Inc.
    TWLO,
    -0.63%    ,
    buying 15,702 within the Fintech Innovation ETF, 133,499 within the Innovation ETF and 22,748 within the Next Generation Internet ETF. That amounted to $11.4 million in Twilio’s stock based on Monday’s $66.47 closing price.

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  • AT&T’s stock sinks toward 30-year low as it nabs another downgrade

    AT&T’s stock sinks toward 30-year low as it nabs another downgrade

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    Shares of AT&T Inc. were falling again Monday after a Citi Research analyst weighed in with a more cautious view in light of recent reporting on legacy use of lead-sheathed cables within the telecommunications industry.

    Citi’s Michael Rollins cut his rating on AT&T’s stock
    T,
    -6.69%
    to neutral from buy Monday, writing that it was among names that could see an “overhang” following The Wall Street Journal’s recent reporting on risks related to industry’s historical use of lead-sheathed cabling as Wall Street works to understand potential financial implications.

    He also downgraded shares of Frontier Communications Parent Inc.
    FYBR,
    -15.79%
    and Telephone & Data Systems Inc.
    TDS,
    -8.38%
    to neutral from buy, and he already had a neutral rating on Verizon Communications Inc.’s stock
    VZ,
    -7.50%    .

    “First, copper network deployed with possible lead sheathing could be a significant percentage of the legacy network deployed nationally with varying exposures for each firm,” Rollins wrote. He said he was “unable to specifically quantify financial risks (if anything material)” for wireline telecommunications companies stemming from these issues, though “the timing to receive more information could take at least a couple months and full resolution could take years.”

    AT&T’s stock was off 3.8% in Monday morning action, to a recent $13.95, and on track to close at its lowest level since March 24, 1993, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The stock is on pace to spend a ninth-straight session without a daily gain, factoring in one day of flat performance last week alongside a string of daily losses.

    “We still expect the company to display forward progress on cash flow generation and setting the stage to reduce net debt leverage over the next two years before considering any potential liabilities, if anything material, associated with lead sheathed cables,” Rollins wrote, though he called out “uncertainty from the industry’s use of lead-sheathed cabling” as a key reason for the downgrade.

    See also: AT&T sees ‘incredibly healthy’ wireless market, even as several factors will ding growth this quarter

    Frontier shares were down 8.2%, while TDS shares were off 5.0%. Verizon’s stock was down 1.6% and on pace for its eighth consecutive losing session.

    USTelecom, a trade association that counts AT&T and Verizon as members, said in a statement that the telecommunications industry “has a long tradition of closely following science and evidence as it relates to public health, environmental protection, and worker safety issues,” while “safe work practices within the industry have proven effective in reducing potential lead exposures to workers.”

    There are “many considerations” that go into deciding whether to remove legacy cables, “including those regarding the safety of workers who must handle the cables, potential impacts on the environment, the age and composition of the cables, their geographic location, and customer needs as well as the needs of the business and infrastructure demands,” the spokesperson continued.

    The trade group said in a prior statement that it had “not seen, nor have regulators identified, evidence that legacy lead-sheathed telecom cables are a leading cause of lead exposure or the cause of a public health issue.”

    Representatives from Frontier and TDS couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

    Rollins noted in his report that “Verizon and AT&T indicated their expectation as that the exposure should be small,” though he said that “for Verizon, we learned the term ‘small’ could be as much as 20% of its copper network infrastructure.”

    Don’t miss: Verizon CEO says the wireless market isn’t such a bad business after all

    He joined JPMorgan’s Philip Cusick, who downgraded AT&T’s stock Friday and mentioned potential lead-cable liabilities as a concern.

    SVB MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett weighed in on the issue as well Monday, calling out heavy uncertainty.

    “The unsatisfying, but honest, answer is that at this point we have nothing but unknowns to work with and no real way to quantify the companies’ exposures,” he wrote. “Lead risk is clearly not a good thing, but we don’t know how bad it will ultimately be. It would be disingenuous to try putting firm numbers around it.”

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  • Should Twitter have rejected Musk’s offer and remained publicly traded?

    Should Twitter have rejected Musk’s offer and remained publicly traded?

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    Would Twitter have been better off to remain a public company rather than be taken private by Elon Musk?

    We’ll never know for sure, of course. But it’s hard to imagine that it would have performed any worse. Twitter as a private company is hemorrhaging advertisers, and according to a recent Fidelity analysis its market value is down nearly two-thirds from the $44 billion Musk paid for it.

    Grading Twitter’s performance as a private company is more than an idle armchair exercise. It goes to the heart of an age-old debate over whether companies can be more profitably managed when private rather than public. The private equity (PE) industry not surprisingly claims that its approach is superior, and much of Wall Street agrees since many PE firms have produced impressive long-term returns.

    The industry’s claims are not devoid of dissenters. Consider a recent study from Verdad Capital entitled “Private Equity Operational Improvements.” It was conducted by Minje Kwun of Dartmouth College and Lila Alloula of Yale University.

    In order to overcome the otherwise insuperable obstacle of being unable to measure how private companies are performing, the researchers focused on a subset of leveraged buyouts (LBOs) from 1996 to 2021 in which the private equity firms issued public debt. In order to sell debt to the public, of course, the PE firms had to issue financial statements publicly, and that enabled the researchers to analyze the LBOs’ performance after going private, relative to public companies in the same industry sector.

    Kwun and Alloula focused on six indicators of financial performance: Revenue growth, EBITDA margin, capital expenditures as a percentage of sales, and the ratios of gross profit to total assets, EBITDA to total assets, and debt to EBITDA. (EBITDA, of course, refers to Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization.)

    Relative to public companies in the same sector over the three years after going private, LBOs on average did not show any operational improvement along these six dimensions. The researchers conclude: “The [private equity] industry mythology of savvy and efficient operators streamlining operations and directing strategy to increase growth just isn’t supported by data.”

    Their results are consistent with those of a near-decade ago study by Jonathan Cohn and Lillian Mills of the University of Texas and Erin Towery of the University of Georgia. They used a different technique to access the otherwise inaccessible financial data of newly-private companies: Their tax returns. The professors focused on the operating performance of a sample of companies that had gone private between 1995 and 2007, comparing them to otherwise-similar companies that remained public. On average over the three years after going private, the researchers found, the private companies performed no better than the public ones.

    The source of PE’s industry high returns

    What, then, is the source of the increased return that the private equity industry often produces? The answer appears to be increased leverage. Leverage increases returns on the upside, even if it magnifies losses on the downside. Leverage has worked to the PE industry’s advantage over the last several decades since public markets have on balance have risen significantly.

    Notice that increasing leverage requires no particular management expertise or shrewd strategic planning. In principle it’s no more difficult than you or me purchasing stock on margin.

    These studies are not the final word on the subject. Some other studies, using alternate methodologies, have found some operational improvement at companies after being taken private. If different methodologies can reach such different conclusions, however, that would suggest that the benefits of going private are not as obvious and overwhelming as the private equity industry would have us believe.

    At a minimum, Kwun and Alloula argue, we should be skeptical “of any claims of operational improvements being a major contributor to PE’s performance relative to public markets.”

    Mark Hulbert is a regular contributor to MarketWatch. His Hulbert Ratings tracks investment newsletters that pay a flat fee to be audited. He can be reached at mark@hulbertratings.com

    More: These 5 fast-growing stocks pay generous dividends you can count on

    Also read: Top investment newsletters are down on tech, Tesla and Meta Platforms. Here’s what they like.

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  • Meta, Bank of America, Affirm, AmEx, JetBlue, and More Stock Market Movers

    Meta, Bank of America, Affirm, AmEx, JetBlue, and More Stock Market Movers

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    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.

    https://www.barrons.com/articles/stock-market-movers-3beb512f

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  • Meta launches Threads, its app to rival Twitter, a day early

    Meta launches Threads, its app to rival Twitter, a day early

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    Meta Platforms Inc. launched Threads, its rival to Twitter, a day early Wednesday.

    “Let’s do this. Welcome to Threads,” Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg posted on the new app.

    The text-based app, a spinoff of Meta’s META Instagram, had been set to launch Thursday morning, but instead went live for users in the U.S. and more than 100 other…

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  • Meta’s Twitter-rival Threads: How to sign up, what it costs and what we know so far

    Meta’s Twitter-rival Threads: How to sign up, what it costs and what we know so far

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    Meta’s Twitter-rival Threads launches tomorrow: What we know so far

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  • Meta’s Twitter killer, Threads, is reportedly coming Thursday

    Meta’s Twitter killer, Threads, is reportedly coming Thursday

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    Meta Platforms Inc.’s answer to Twitter is poised to launch, according to a new report, as Elon Musk’s faltering microblogging app struggles to hold onto advertisers and over the weekend placed restrictions on posts viewed by users.

    The Wall Street Journal reported late Monday that Meta’s
    META,
    -0.33%
    Threads will be released Thursday, and is expected to be built off of Instagram user data, giving it the potential to catch on and grow quickly.

    Bloomberg News also reported it would launch Thursday, citing a listing on Apple Inc.’s
    AAPL,
    -0.78%
    App Store.

    If Threads does launch Thursday, it could come at a perfect time for Meta to capitalize on anger toward Twitter. Late Monday, Twitter announced it was moving its popular TweetDeck viewing tool behind a paywall in 30 days, spurring widespread user outrage.

    Last week, the Threads app briefly appeared on Alphabet Inc.’s
    GOOGL,
    +0.17%

    GOOG,
    -0.34%
    Google Play Store in some regions.

    Threads allows users to port their Instagram username to a new platform that essentially opens direct-message chats on a more public forum. The Facebook parent company has been developing a text-based platform for some time.

    Read more: Musk vs. Zuckerberg: Which tech heavyweight is already winning the Wall Street cage match?

    Twitter, meanwhile, continues to seek ways to stem hemorrhaging advertising under new Chief Executive Linda Yaccarino as it puts a stranglehold on what subscribers can view. In a tweet Saturday, Musk — who acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October — said verified accounts were at one point limited to reading 6,000 posts a day. For unverified accounts, the number was 600 posts a day, while new account could only see 300. That number was later upgraded to 10,000, 1,000 and 500, respectively.

    Animosity between Musk and Meta co-founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has been growing as the Twitter-rival app gets closer to market, culminating in Musk’s cage-fight challenge to Zuckerberg last month.

    Mike Murphy contributed to this report.

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  • Disney Finance Chief Christine McCarthy to Step Down

    Disney Finance Chief Christine McCarthy to Step Down

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    Disney Finance Chief Christine McCarthy to Step Down

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  • Pat Robertson, religious broadcaster and presidential candidate, dies at 93

    Pat Robertson, religious broadcaster and presidential candidate, dies at 93

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    VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Pat Robertson, a religious broadcaster who turned a tiny Virginia station into the global Christian Broadcasting Network, tried a run for president and helped make religion central to Republican Party politics in America through his Christian Coalition, has died. He was 93.

    Robertson’s death Thursday was announced by his broadcasting network. No cause was given.

    Robertson’s enterprises also included Regent University, an evangelical Christian school in Virginia Beach; the American Center for Law and Justice, which defends the First Amendment rights of religious people; and Operation Blessing, an international humanitarian organization.

    But for more than a half-century, Robertson was a familiar presence in American living rooms, known for his “700 Club” television show, and in later years, his televised pronouncements of God’s judgment on America for everything from homosexuality to the teaching of evolution.

    The money poured in as he solicited donations, his influence soared, and when he moved directly into politics by seeking the GOP presidential nomination in 1988, he brought a huge following with him.

    Robertson pioneered a now-common strategy of courting Iowa’s network of evangelical Christian churches, and finished in second place in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of Vice President George H.W. Bush.

    At the time, Jeffrey K. Hadden, a University of Virginia sociologist and a Robertson biographer, said Robertson’s masterstroke was insisting that three million followers across the U.S. sign petitions before he would decide to run. The tactic gave him an army.

    ″He asked people to pledge that they’d work for him, pray for him and give him money,” Hadden told The Associated Press in 1988. ″Political historians may view it as one of the most ingenious things a candidate ever did.″

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  • Palo Alto, Dish Network, C3.ai, EPAM Systems, and More Stock Market Movers

    Palo Alto, Dish Network, C3.ai, EPAM Systems, and More Stock Market Movers

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    These Stocks Are Moving the Most Today: Palo Alto, Dish Network, C3.ai, EPAM Systems, and More

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  • Nvidia barrels toward rare $1 trillion valuation after putting a dollar figure on AI boost

    Nvidia barrels toward rare $1 trillion valuation after putting a dollar figure on AI boost

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    Nvidia Corp. headed toward market-capitalization gains of nearly $200 billion in after-hours trading Wednesday, which could put the chip maker within sight of becoming only the seventh U.S. company to top a valuation of $1 trillion.

    Nvidia shares
    NVDA,
    -0.49%
    jumped 25% in the extended session Wednesday, after executives predicted that revenue would exceed the company’s record by more than 30% in the current quarter. The audacious forecast arrived as tech companies look to jump on advances in artificial intelligence that are largely powered by Nvidia’s computing gear.

    Nvidia ended Wednesday’s session with a market cap — the total value of all shares in existence — of roughly $754.3 billion, according to FactSet. A 25% increase would add nearly $189 billion to that total, putting the company within striking distance of $1 trillion. Only six U.S. companies have ever attained a $1 trillion market cap: Apple Inc.
    AAPL,
    +0.16%
    and Microsoft Corp.
    MSFT,
    -0.45%
    are currently worth more than $2 trillion apiece; Google parent Alphabet Inc.
    GOOGL,
    -1.35%
    and Amazon.com Inc.
    AMZN,
    +1.53%
    have valuation of more than $1 trillion; and Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.
    META,
    +1.00%
    and Tesla Inc.
    TSLA,
    -1.54%
    have both touched the $1 trillion plateau previously.

    For more: From U.S. Steel’s $1 billion market cap to Apple’s $1 trillion — a brief history of valuation milestones

    Nvidia’s market cap was ahead of both Meta and Tesla as of Wednesday’s close, with both worth less than $650 billion, showing the potential fleeting nature of such a valuation. Nvidia’s record market cap is $834.4 billion, established on Nov. 29. 2021, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

    If Nvidia’s gains hold through Thursday’s trading session, the company could challenge for the largest one-day market-cap gain in history. The biggest currently on record was Amazon’s $191.2 billion increase on Feb. 4, 2022, according to Dow Jones Market Data, followed closely by a $190.9 billion gain by Apple on Nov. 10, 2022. Nvidia also stands to gain more than rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
    AMD,
    +0.14%
    is worth in total — AMD ended Wednesday’s session with a market cap of $174.4 billion.

    Nvidia is closing in on the rare $1 trillion plateau because of huge gains in its stock this year, as hopes and hype about generative AI have flooded the tech sector. After OpenAI debuted its ChatGPT AI offering, and investor Microsoft quickly integrated the chatbot into many of its services, expectations for the technology have exploded.

    Despite the hype, most companies have avoided providing hard figures for revenue gains expected from AI. Nvidia’s fiscal second-quarter forecast — which calls for roughly $11 billion in sales, nearly 33% higher than Nvidia’s previous quarterly record of $8.28 billion — could be seen as the first sign of a wave of fresh spending coursing through the tech sector.

    Other companies have indicated that they will be forced to spend to develop their technology before reaping large financial rewards from it. Microsoft, for example, disclosed to investors last month that capital expenditures are increasing as it builds AI capabilities into its Azure cloud-computing platform — spending that is largely going toward Nvidia.

    Full earnings coverage: Nvidia stock soars toward all-time high as AI push leads executives to predict record revenue

    That is a rather typical path for large jumps in tech spending: Companies that make the necessary hardware see gains before the companies that use that gear can develop offerings that take advantage of it. Other gear makers joined Nvidia in the sharp move higher in after-hours trading Wednesday, including AMD, which gained more than 10%; chip maker Marvell Technology Inc.
    MRVL,
    -1.31%    ,
    which increased more than 5%; and networking specialist Arista Networks Inc.
    ANET,
    +0.53%    ,
    which added about 5%.

    Alphabet and Microsoft stocks both increased around 2% in after-hours trading, and software companies that have made AI a core part of their offerings also saw gains. Palantir Technologies Inc.
    PLTR,
    -3.24%
    and C3.ai Inc.
    AI,
    +2.54%
    shares both increased more than 8%, for example.

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  • Meta begins third round of layoffs: reports

    Meta begins third round of layoffs: reports

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    Meta Platforms Inc. has started to execute on its latest round of layoffs, according to reports.

    The third round of cuts is part of a plan that Meta
    META,
    +3.70%
    Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg announced in March in an effort to further slash costs at the social-media company. He said at the time that Meta would lay off about 10,000 workers while closing roughly 5,000 additional roles for which the company had yet to make hires.

    The current rounds of cuts build on at least 11,000 layoffs that were announced last fall.

    See more: Meta steadily rolls out 3-part round of layoffs

    CNBC reported Wednesday that Meta employees in user experience, marketing and recruiting roles indicated they were affected by the current round of cuts.

    Zuckerberg said in a March note to employees, which was also shared as a company blog post, that the company planned to make restructuring moves in its technology groups in late April before making changes to the business groups in late May.

    Reuters reported that the latest layoffs mainly affect employees in non-engineering positions, part of Zuckerberg’s goal of boosting the ratio of engineers at Meta relative to other positions.

    Don’t miss: Meta’s ‘outstanding’ stock rally can keep roaring, analyst says in upgrade

    Meta declined to comment in response to a MarketWatch request for confirmation of the latest layoffs.

    The company is in the midst of what Zuckerberg has dubbed a “year of efficiency,” which comes in response to investor concern last fall about high spending levels at the company alongside the backdrop of declining revenue. Meta has since become arguably the most aggressive of the largest public technology companies in its cost-cutting efforts.

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  • Altice UK Buys 650 Mln Shares in BT; Says It Won’t Make Bid for the Company

    Altice UK Buys 650 Mln Shares in BT; Says It Won’t Make Bid for the Company

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    By Joe Hoppe

    Altice UK said Tuesday that it has purchased a further 650 million shares in BT Group for around 961 million pounds ($1.20 billion), bringing its ownership up to around 24.5% of the company’s issued share capital.
    

    The telecommunications and mass media company said it has restated its position to the board of BT that it doesn’t plan to make an offer for the company and will be bound by that statement under U.K. takeover rules.
    

    

    Based on BT’s closing share price of 147.85 pence on Monday, this implies Altice’s new purchase is worth around GBP961 million. Its full stake is now worth around GBP3.60 billion.
    

    Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com
    

    

    

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  • 
		
		
    
			
    Disney is about to face its ‘biggest decision yet’ over ESPN’s future
    
			
    Disney is about to face its ‘biggest decision yet’ over ESPN’s future
    
			
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    Walt Disney Co. is about to face “perhaps its biggest decision yet” as it charts a future for ESPN, and the path forward initially may be a rocky one, according to an analyst.
    

    Macquarie’s Tim Nollen downgraded Disney shares
    
        DIS,
    
        -2.57%
    
       to neutral from outperform Friday, writing that Disney faces a tricky balance as it tries to set up ESPN for the new reality of media. The downgrade comes after The Wall Street Journal reported a day earlier that Disney was “actively preparing” for a future in which it would offer the flagship ESPN service as a stand-alone streaming service. 
    

    

    “Doing so is inevitable, and it’s hard to see how it will be smooth: steep losses assumed in the pay TV bundle will have to be offset by strong subscriber sign-ups at a presumed high price, and before Disney even gets there it has to negotiate terms with pay TV operators on content, and with the leagues on costs for streaming rights,” Nollen wrote. 
    

    Disney already offers the ESPN+ streaming service, but that doesn’t include access to the flagship programming that airs through the traditional cable channel. 
    

    Nollen expects that Disney ultimately succeeds with the transition of core ESPN to streaming, though it might require at least a year or two of pain in the interim.
    

    He has concerns about other factors that could weigh on Disney shares as well. For one, the company is making progress in stemming operating losses for its streaming business, but he thinks that “prior guidance of DTC [direct-to-consumer] attaining profitability during FY’24 may now be off the table.”
    

    See also: Disney scraps plans on roughly $1 billion investment at new corporate campus in Florida 
    

    Nollen flagged that Disney now looks more likely to buy out Comcast Corp.’s one-third stake in Hulu to take full ownership of the service. That development, which is expected to take place early next year, “along with a slower pace of sub adds (Disney+ may actually lose subs for the 3rd straight quarter in [the fiscal third quarter]) may factor in to extended DTC operating losses beyond [fiscal 2024],” Nollen wrote.
    

    He further noted that growth for Disney’s parks business “is set to slow from here, removing a recent support.” 
    

    Disney shares are off more than 2% in afternoon trading Friday.
    

    Also on MarketWatch: Disney’s Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser experience is closing — here’s what to know if you booked a trip
    

    

    

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  • 
		
		
    
			
    Instagram is readying a Twitter-like service
    
			
    Instagram is readying a Twitter-like service
    
			
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    Embattled Twitter may soon have a serious rival: Facebook’s Instagram is planning to release a text-based app as a competitor.
    

    Instagram, a property of Meta Platforms Inc.
    
        META,
    
        -0.49%    ,
    
       has been testing the service with creators, celebrities and influencers for months, according to people familiar with Meta’s strategy. 
    

    

    “We’re exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests,” a Meta spokesperson told MarketWatch. 
    

    The app could debut as early as June, according to Lia Haberman, an adjunct professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who teaches social and influencer marketing. She published a screenshot of an early description of the app, which may eventually be compatible with rival Twitter apps like Mastodon.
    

    Twitter has hemorrhaged users since Tesla Inc.
    
        TSLA,
    
        +1.84%
    
       Chief Executive Elon Musk began his chaotic leadership of the company late last year, prompting an exodus by disgruntled customers to alternative services like Mastodon and Bluesky.
    

    Jasmine Enberg, an analyst at Insider Intelligence, said the text-based service has been in the works for months alternately code-named P92 or Barcelona. 
    

    “The big picture here is that there is clearly an appetite for Twitter-like services,” Enberg said in an interview. “With Twitter’s problems and so many alternatives, Meta’s new service looks like a mashup of Instagram and Twitter. Meta sees an opportunity to tap into this market, and it has a history of copying other popular apps [like Snap].”
    

    Meta’s stock was flat in Friday’s regular trading session.
    

    

    

    

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