[ad_1]
Snowflake shares were gaining ground Wednesday after the cloud data warehouse software company posted better-than-expected results for the quarter ended Oct. 31.
Source link
Tag: Online Service Providers
-
PDD Stock Soars on Earnings as Alibaba and Amazon Rival Sees Staggering Growth
[ad_1]
[ad_2]Shares in PDD Holdings soared Tuesday after the online retailer reported quarterly results that were far ahead of Wall Street’s expectations. The rival to both Alibaba and Amazon revealed staggering growth.
Source link -
Zscaler’s stock falls after earnings as company keeps billings outlook intact
[ad_1]
Zscaler Inc. topped expectations with its results for the latest quarter and its outlook for the ongoing one, but shares of the cybersecurity company were moving lower in Monday’s extended session as Zscaler declined to up its full-year billings forecast.
Calculated billings for the fiscal first quarter came in at $457 million, up from $340 million a year prior, whereas analysts had been looking for $443 million. Despite showing upside in the latest quarter, Zscaler ZS kept its full-year forecast at $2.52 billion to $2.56…
Master your money.
Subscribe to MarketWatch.
Get this article and all of MarketWatch.
Access from any device. Anywhere. Anytime.
Already a subscriber?
Log In
[ad_2]
-
Musk Strategy to Contain Anti-Semitism Fallout Is to Go ‘Thermonuclear’
[ad_1]
[ad_2]Elon Musk employed an aggressive strategy—including the threat of a “thermonuclear” lawsuit— to contain the fallout after his endorsement of anti-Semitic rhetoric on X that prompted an advertising backlash at the billionaire’s social media company and some on Wall Street to call for his censure.
Source link -
Elon Musk’s X apocalyptic moment
[ad_1]
Is this the beginning of the end for X, the social-media site previously known as Twitter?
In the last two days, major advertisers, ranging from IBM Corp. IBM, Apple Inc. AAPL, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. LGF.A, Walt Disney Co. DIS, even the European Union, have pulled their ads from X, after Elon Musk appeared to endorse antisemitic conspiracy theories and because these big spenders weren’t thrilled with the algorithm’s product placement nestled alongside pro-Nazi posts.
Earlier…
[ad_2]
-
Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia—What Tech Stocks Hedge Funds Are Buying and Selling
[ad_1]
[ad_2]It’s filing season for a string of major hedge funds, and big tech names like Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia were among the most-traded equities in the third quarter.
Source link -
Amazon offers Prime members primary care for $9 a month
[ad_1]
Amazon.com Inc.
AMZN,
-0.58%
said Wednesday that it will offer Prime members primary care for $9 a month through its healthcare business One Medical.The new One Medical membership includes unlimited round-the-clock virtual care nationwide, Amazon said. Prime members who sign up for the benefit can also schedule same-day or next-day in-person appointments at One Medical primary care offices, but they must use their insurance or pay out-of-pocket for office visits, the company said.
The $99 annual cost of One Medical for Prime members represents a $100 discount off the standard One Medical annual membership fee. Prime membership costs $139 a year.
The new offer comes as the e-commerce giant has been expanding its health services with Amazon Pharmacy and the online healthcare service Amazon Clinic as well as its $3.9 billion acquisition of One Medical, which closed earlier this year. The company’s healthcare efforts could be an important driver of future sales, potentially generating an extra 1 percentage point of revenue growth in 2026, D.A. Davidson analysts wrote in a September research note.
Amazon is among several retailers pushing into the primary care business. Costco Wholesale Corp.
COST,
-0.67%
recently started offering members access to healthcare, including $29 virtual primary care visits, through a deal with online marketplace Sesame. Walmart Inc.
WMT,
-0.51%
has been setting up Walmart Health centers, providing primary care, dental care, labs and other services, inside some of its Walmart Supercenters.Although One Medical has hundreds of locations scattered across roughly two dozen metro areas, it doesn’t have the same presence as some companies that have established healthcare services in their retail locations. CVS Health Corp.
CVS,
+0.01% ,
for example, has more than 1,100 MinuteClinic locations.Amazon shares were roughly flat Wednesday morning and have gained 70% in the year to date, while the S&P 500
SPX
has gained 14%.[ad_2]
-
Datadog Stock Skyrockets 30% on Upbeat Outlook and Customer Growth
[ad_1]
[ad_2]Datadog stock surged Tuesday after the security software provider generated more profit than expected in the quarter and raised its sales outlook for the full year.
Source link -
Disney and other entertainment giants report after upbeat results from peers, but investors are getting harsher on companies that don’t deliver
[ad_1]
Last month, Netflix Inc.
NFLX,
+1.80%
stock jumped after it reported big subscriber gains and hiked prices. Last week, results from Paramount Global
PARA,
+15.44%
beat expectations, sending shares of the streaming and entertainment giant on its best percentage gain in nearly a year, and Roku Inc.
ROKU,
+8.58%
also offered an upbeat outlook.This week — as Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. all report results — we’ll get a deeper sense of whether the entertainment industry is starting to make investors happy again, even if they make viewers less happy in the process.
Those companies will report as the streaming industry, under pressure from investors to turn a better profit, consolidates and as platforms charge more to watch and cram more advertisements into shows and films.
Cable TV providers and movie theaters, too, are trying to figure out a way forward as streaming becomes more prevalent. Even as Hollywood’s writers come back to work following a strike that shut down production, its actors are still striking, with issues surrounding AI usage to portray actors, streaming payments and other issues in the balance.
Disney
DIS,
+2.14% ,
which reports results on Wednesday, faces questions about losses at Disney+, efforts to cut billions in costs and stamp out streaming-account sharing, its planned takeover of the streaming platform Hulu and speculation over which of its large media properties it might sell. BofA analysts recently estimated that ESPN, which Disney has leaned on for years, could be worth around $24 billion. Meanwhile, activist investor Nelson Peltz has been angling for seats on Disney’s board, and its fight with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continues.Elsewhere, Warner Bros. Discovery
WBD,
+6.23%
— the parent company of the streaming service Max, Warner Bros. Pictures, Discovery Channel, CNN and other channels — reports on Wednesday, as it tries to turn its reserves of intellectual property into franchise films. Meme-stock theater chain AMC
AMC,
+2.19% ,
which also reports Wednesday, following upbeat results from rival Cinemark Holdings Inc.
CNK,
-2.43% .Sales at the theater chains have been lifted in recent months by “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” While both were original films, analysts have said the avalanche of sequels and remakes in theaters is unlikely to stop.
The pressure to boost profits will ultimately affect what TV shows and films get made, and what viewers actually consume. And a report from FactSet on Friday found that investors have been more unkind than usual to companies whose results come up short of Wall Street’s expectations.
That report found that through the third-quarter earnings season, companies whose earnings miss expectations have seen an average stock-price drop of 5.2% during the two days before the publication of the results through the two days after. If that figure holds, it would be the stock market’s biggest adverse reaction to an earnings miss since the second quarter of 2011.
This week in earnings
Among S&P 500 companies, 55 including one from the Dow, will report quarterly results during the week ahead.
EV startup Rivian Automotive Inc.
RIVN,
+0.68%
reports amid concerns about EV demand. Following Ticketmaster parent Live Nation Entertainment Inc.’s
LYV,
+3.53%
blowout quarterly results last week, results from Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp.
MSGE,
+1.03%
will shed more light on people’s appetites for live entertainment. Results from digital marketing platform Klaviyo Inc.
KVYO,
+3.86%
and fast-casual chain Cava Group Inc.
CAVA,
+5.49%
— both recent IPOS — will offer a deeper look at digital ad budgets and a competitive restaurant backdrop, respectively.The New York Times Co.
NYT,
+0.91%
also reports during the week. So do Planet Fitness Inc.
PLNT,
-0.09% ,
Gilead Sciences
GILD,
+0.44% ,
eBay Inc.
EBAY,
+3.98%
and Take-Two Interactive Software
TTWO,
+1.03% .The call to put on your calendar
Cybersecurity drama: Cyberattacks are getting more severe, and customers are starting to feel their effects more acutely. Against that backdrop, casino and resort operator MGM Resorts International
MGM,
+5.27%
will report quarterly results on Wednesday, in the wake of a cyberattack that took down some of its systems. MGM has said that attack, which the company disclosed in September, would cost them roughly $100 million.The company said the fallout of that attack — which disrupted hotel bookings and put hotels on manual operations, resulting in long lines — was largely contained to September. But the SEC last week accused software company SolarWinds Corp.
SWI,
+1.74%
of failing to disclose its purported cybersecurity vulnerabilities, potentially leaving other companies wondering whether they’re vulnerable to similar legal action.The numbers to watch
The gig economy and delivery demand: Rival ride-hailing platforms Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. report results on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Maplebear Inc.
CART,
+0.94% ,
better known as the grocery-delivery platform Instacart, also reports on Wednesday.Analysts have been kinder to Uber
UBER,
+2.73% ,
the larger of the two ride-hailing companies. But Lyft has tried to cut its prices and roll out new services, including one that tries to match women and non-binary riders and drivers. The financials from all three companies will land after strong results from food-delivery platform DoorDash Inc.
DASH,
+5.35% ,
which has expanded its services into retail an effort to compete with Instacart and other delivery providers. And they’ll fill in the picture of rider demand following the back-to-school season and a bigger push to get workers back into offices.Beyond ride-sharing, results from Uber and Instacart will narrow the lens on delivery demand, as some analysts question whether higher prices for basics and the return of student-loan payments might make food delivery more dispensable. Analysts also seem likely to zero on in those companies’ high-margin digital-ad businesses, as more e-commerce platforms try to turn their apps and websites into online billboard space.
[ad_2]
-
Big Tech earnings have been strong, but Apple is about to answer the thousand-dollar question
[ad_1]
While the stock market reactions may not prove it, Big Tech is four-for-four so far this earnings reporting season.
Alphabet Inc.
GOOG,
-0.03% 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.Read: Invisalign maker’s stock craters after soft earnings, but analysts still say it’s a buy
Granted, some might say that iPhones are glorified necessities these days for Apple fans, even with their high price tags. But Apple conducted an effective price increase on its iPhone 15 Pro model when it rolled out its new phones in September, all while delivering a mostly incremental suite of feature upgrades across all its latest models. Will the new phones prove enticing enough in a period of stretched budgets?
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.The call to put on your calendar
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.
[ad_2]
-
Amazon Stock Jumps on Earnings Beat. Cloud Results Were Good Enough.
[ad_1]
[ad_2]Amazon shares rose in late trading Thursday after the company posted better-than-expected financial results for the September quarter.
Source link -
The Nasdaq just fell into a correction. Now what?
[ad_1]
The Nasdaq Composite Index fell into its 70th correction in history on Wednesday, as surging long-term Treasury yields increased borrowing costs and weighed on stocks.
The interest rate sensitive Nasdaq
COMP
barreled higher in the year’s first half, in part on optimism about a potential Federal Reserve pivot away from rate hikes to fight inflation, but stocks have been under fire in recent months as the Fed dialed up its message that interest rates could will stay higher for longer.The tech-heavy equity index fell 2.4% on Wednesday to close below the 12,922.216 threshold, marking a drop of a least 10% from its prior peak, which was set in mid-July at 14,358.02, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
That met the common definition for a correction in an asset’s value and is the Nasdaq’s 70th close in correction territory since the index’s inception in February 1971.
Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth Management, said the sharp rise in long-term Treasury yields has spooked investors, especially those in highflying, high-growth technology stocks where rising rates can be particularly corrosive.
Pavlik likened the dynamic to the spending power of a lottery winner hitting a jackpot when rates are at 2% versus someone who wins when rates are closer to 10%.
He also expects the 10-year Treasury yield
BX:TMUBMUSD10Y,
which rose to 4.952% Wednesday, to top out at 5.25% to 5.5% and likely complicate any recovery for the Nasdaq.In the past 20 corrections for the Nasdaq, it took an average of three months for performance to improve, with index then gaining 14.4% on average a year later, according to Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Nasdaq corrections are usually followed by a bounce in a few months
Dow Jones Market Data
The damage on Wednesday was most acute in shares of highflying technology stocks, including Alphabet Inc.
GOOG,
-9.60%
as shares skid 9.5%, after it reported earnings that were overshadowed by downbeat performance for its Google Cloud business. Spillover also hit shares of rival cloud computing giant Amazon.com Inc.,
AMZN,
-5.58%
with its shares slumping 5.6%“You’re feeling the pressure in some big-name stocks,” Pavlik said. “But this too will, at some point, end. But concerns about the Fed are still in the forefront of everybody’s minds.”
The Nasdaq was still up 22.5% on the year through Wednesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA
was down 0.3% and the S&P 500 index
SPX
was up 9% in 2023, according to FactSet.[ad_2]
-
Meta’s Earnings Story Will Be a Good Ol’ Rebound in Ads
[ad_1]
Oct 25, 2023, 1:00 am EDT
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.
[ad_2]
-
Microsoft and Alphabet results show Wall Street only cares about AI
[ad_1]
Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc. both reported mostly strong results Tuesday, but the disparate reactions from investors showed that Wall Street only cares about artificial intelligence right now.
While Microsoft shares
MSFT,
+0.37%
rose 4% in after-hours trading following the company’s latest report, Alphabet shares
GOOG,
+1.61% GOOGL,
+1.69%
dropped 6% as Wall Street got the sense that AI is manifesting differently in the companies’ cloud businesses.Microsoft surprised investors with 28% constant-currency growth in its Azure cloud-computing business, above the company’s own forecast and the projection for 25.6% growth that analysts were modeling on average. While Microsoft continues to see “optimization” challenges as customers remain conscious about their spending, the company is also benefiting from AI tailwinds in the cloud.
Companies looking to beef up their AI offerings are often looking to add AI services for their customers through additional cloud services, so they don’t have to do as much internal development themselves. In addition, AI offerings ranging from chatbots to tools that can streamline the writing of reports require ever more computing power, and both Azure and Google Cloud are starting to offer new software applications to address those needs.
Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella called AI a “unique and different” factor that was helping Azure trends. “Given our leadership position, we are seeing complete new project starts, which are AI projects,” he said in response to an analyst question about the sustainability of cloud growth rates.
In addition, Microsoft, which has invested heavily in ChatGPT-creator OpenAI, offers an Azure OpenAI service that more than 18,000 organizations are now using. Some of these customers are new to Azure.
Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood forecast that Azure revenue growth should be around 26% in constant currency in the fiscal second quarter, driven by new workload trends and with the growing contributions from AI.
Investors seem less confident that Alphabet is seeing the same tailwinds in its Google Cloud business, especially as that segment showed its slowest quarterly growth since Google began breaking out results that way back in 2019. Cloud revenue of $8.4 billion, with growth of 22%, was $250 million shy of consensus estimates on Wall Street, according to Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Baird. That overshadowed an upbeat performance in the company’s advertising business.
When one analyst asked Alphabet executives about the deceleration in the revenue growth of its cloud business, Chief Executive Sundar Pichai was vague but said that customers are being selective of where they are spending their IT budgets.
“On cloud, what I would say is overall, we have definitely started seeing customers looking to optimize spend,” Pichai said. “We leaned into it to help customers, given some other challenges they were facing, and so that was a factor.”
Alphabet is seeing “a lot of interest in AI,” but it remains to be seen whether that’s contributing materially to its financial performance just yet.
“Google Cloud missed consensus revenue expectations (although in line with Baird) on slowing growth, and we believe consistent with the view that newer Gen-AI workloads will take time to move the needle,” Sebastian wrote in a note to clients.
Insider Intelligence senior analyst Max Willens added that Google Cloud is facing tough competition, and while the business seems to have traction with AI startups that “may bear fruit in the long run, it is not currently helping Google Cloud enough to satisfy investors.”
Wall Street clearly is looking to AI to fuel better growth rates and help offset sluggish macroeconomic trends. The poster child for that dynamic is Nvidia Corp.
NVDA,
+1.60% ,
which is expected to single-handedly drive earnings growth for the information technology sector thanks to booming demand for its AI hardware.Given economic pressures, it’s becoming obvious that companies without much of an AI story to contribute this quarter will continue to fall out of favor with investors.
[ad_2]
-
Microsoft Tops Estimates, Powered by Cloud Business
[ad_1]
[ad_2]Microsoft shares were trading higher after the company posted better-than-expected financial results for its September quarter, aided by better performance than expected from the company’s cloud computing business.
Source link -
These 10 college athletes are making over $1 million a year from NIL
[ad_1]
It now pays to be an amateur.
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.”
See also: Michael Jordan is now worth $3 billion. Here’s what billionaire athletes have in common.
[ad_2]
-
Amazon, Microsoft Cloud Services Face UK Competition Probe
[ad_1]
By Michael Susin
The U.K.’s communications regulator has referred the cloud market to the country’s competition watchdog for an investigation, alleging that certain features by market leaders Amazon and Microsoft could limit competition.
The Office of Communications regulator said Thursday that a market study found that high fees for transferring data, committed spend discounts and technical restrictions could make it difficult for customers to switch cloud provider or to use multiple providers.
“Some U.K. businesses have told us they’re concerned about it being too difficult to switch or mix and match cloud provider, and it’s not clear that competition is working well. So, we’re referring the market to the [Competition and Markets Authority] for further scrutiny, to make sure business customers continue to benefit from cloud services,” Ofcom’s director responsible for the market study, Fergal Farragher, said.
The regulator said Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft had a combined market share in the U.K. of 70% to 80% in 2022.
The CMA will now start an independent investigation to decide whether there is an impact on competition.
Neither Amazon nor Microsoft were immediately available for comment.
Write to Michael Susin at michael.susin@wsj.com
[ad_2]
-
Apple says it will fix app software problems blamed for making iPhone 15 models too hot to handle
[ad_1]
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.Read: The Magnificent Seven could be considered the messy seven after a ‘meh’ third quarter
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.
Read: Here’s what Apple’s iPhone 15 says about the world
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.
[ad_2]
-
Netflix officially ends DVD rentals. This is the movie inside the final red envelope.
[ad_1]
Netflix
NFLX,
+0.33%
has officially ended its DVD-delivery service, and will allow all DVD.com subscribers to keep their discs after Friday, Sept. 29, for free.The streaming company announced on Friday that the last DVD the company sent out via an iconic red envelope was the 2010 film “True Grit.” DVD.com, through which Netflix has operated its legacy by-mail service, now redirects to Netflix’s primary website.
What’s Worth Streaming: How to maximize your streaming in October 2023, and why Netflix is all you really need
Netflix posted the following message about the end of its DVD business:
“In 1998, we delivered our first DVD. This morning, we shipped our last. For 25 years, we redefined how people watched films and series at home, and shared the excitement as they opened their mailboxes to our iconic red envelopes. It’s the end of an era, but the DVD business built our foundation for the years to come – giving members unprecedented choice and control, a wide variety of titles to choose from and the freedom to watch as much as they want. Today, we wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for watching.”
Despite Netflix’s primary business as a streamer, the company has still been delivering DVDs, aka “digital video discs” or “digital versatile discs,” to consumers on DVD.com. Like its streaming model, its DVD delivery service has different plan types based on customers’ needs.
DVD.com has multiple plan offerings just like Netflix’s streaming platform.
Netflix
The DVD service generated $145.7 million in revenue last year, which translated into somewhere between 1.1 million and 1.3 million subscribers, based on the average prices paid by customers, according to the Associated Press. Netflix made $31.6 billion in revenue in 2022.
Netflix announced it was planning to shut down its DVD-by-mail rental service — the service upon which Netflix was founded prior to the rise of video streaming — back in April.
“Our goal has always been to provide the best service for our members, but as the business continues to shrink that’s going to become increasingly difficult,” co–Chief Executive Ted Sarandos said in a blog post titled “Netflix DVD — The Final Season.”
See also: As Amazon Prime Video adds commercials, here’s how streaming services match up on pricing
Netflix’s DVD business has dwindled in the past decade from more than $900 million in revenue in 2013.
After years of declining revenue, Netflix Inc. announced that it will cease renting DVDs by mail.
Uncredited
Netflix launched as NetFlix.com in 1998, a direct-to-consumer DVD-rental company and didn’t debut its streaming service until 2007.
Shares of Netflix are up more than 60% in the last 12 months.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which is made up of major movie studios and streaming companies including Netflix, Disney
DIS,
+1.15%
and Sony Pictures
SONY,
-0.45% ,
and the Writer’s Guild of America agreed to end their months-long strike this week. Hollywood actors, represented by SAG-AFTRA, are still striking, although the union is expected to meet with the AMPTP next week.Netflix did not respond to MarketWatch’s request for comment.
Read on (July 2023): Netflix criticized for posting AI jobs paying up to $900,000 while writers and actors are on strike
[ad_2]
-
Blue Apron notches triple-digit percentage gain while Nike rallies after earnings beat and boosts Foot Locker stock
[ad_1]
Here are the day’s biggest movers:
Stock gainers:
Blue Apron Holding Inc.’s stock
APRN,
+133.52%
rocketed by 134% after food-delivery start-up Wonder said it would acquire the company for $13 a share or about $103 million, just a fraction of its $2 billion in 2017 when the company went public.Shares of Nike
NKE,
+5.96%
rallied 7% as the apparel maker, which is also part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
reported better-than-expected earnings, news that also lifted shares of European rivals including Adidas
ADS,
+6.22% .Foot Locker
FL,
+2.71% ,
which sells athletic apparel, saw its stock rise by 3%.Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.‘s stock
WBA,
+6.39%
rose 6.2% as a top gainer among the Nasdaq 100
NDX
as stocks reacted with gains to the latest inflation data.Stock decliners:
Bionomics
BNOX,
-11.87% ,
whose shares jumped 242% on Thursday after reporting positive results from a mid-stage trial of a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, fell 8% in regular trade.[ad_2]
