Data

TikTok deal depends on how, not how much

29 Jul 2020

Some of the social network’s investors have proposed buying it at $50 bln, or 50 times sales. That would suggest growth that vastly outpaces rivals like Snap. It’s possible, but with bans in places like India, TikTok’s worth depends on how cleanly it can cut ties with China.

Bezos’s D.C. delivery hangs on lawmaker wish lists

28 Jul 2020

Amazon’s CEO faces his first congressional hearing, joining peers from Apple, Google and Facebook who have sat in the hot seat before. Those grillings were mostly grandstanding by ill-prepared politicians. If they have upped their game, Bezos and Co face more of a challenge.

Apple and peers could lose “when in China” shield

16 Jul 2020

The iPhone maker is one of many firms that tailors products to suit China’s demands, recently deleting an app used by Hong Kong protesters. Such decisions could soon be treated by U.S. authorities as foreign lobbying. That would curtail a delicate – and profitable – dance.

EU data ruling opens new front in tech’s cold war

16 Jul 2020

The bloc’s highest court blew up the legal basis on which companies transfer data to America. Privacy evangelists would have Facebook and others store personal information locally. A better solution would be a new U.S.-EU data protection deal, but Washington won’t like the terms.

Google strengthens as U.S. antitrust case weakens

14 Jul 2020

The Justice Dept may soon make its case against the unit of Alphabet, which is back to its pre-pandemic $1 trillion market value. With 90% market share in some areas, Google is a legitimate target. But by mixing political and economic aims, the DOJ risks tripping itself up.

U.S. buyer can take advantage of TikTok’s problems

13 Jul 2020

Donald Trump is considering a ban on the video-sharing app because of its Chinese roots. Selling to an American suitor, whether it’s Disney, Twitter or another firm, would normally trigger regulatory watchdogs. They may turn a blind eye, though, leaving an open door.

Palantir mystery extends to public-market value

7 Jul 2020

The data-analytics firm, co-founded by Peter Thiel in 2003, has ramped up revenue slowly – it's set to reach $1 bln this year. A $20 bln valuation, the private mark in 2015, looks optimistic. Yet growth is on the up. The company's worth depends on how durable that is.

U.S. economic reboot menaced by bug in the system

2 Jul 2020

Almost 5 million Americans found work in June as the unemployment rate fell to 11%. But the recovery could easily crash again, or freeze, because of coronavirus spikes caused by premature reopenings. Infections, not jobs, are the better numbers to track.

IPO pricing gets back to business-as-unusual

1 Jul 2020

Dun & Bradstreet shares leapt 18% on their debut, even after its underwriters raised the price range – as they also did with insurer Lemonade, which starts trading on Thursday. Last week Albertsons aimed too high in its debut. Which strategy is better depends who is asking.

Real-time economic data show Covid-19 wariness

25 Jun 2020

The pandemic has placed a premium on figures that give rapid hints about how the economy is doing. TomTom’s traffic flows and OpenTable’s restaurant data reveal the positive impact of U.S. states easing restrictions – but also how worsening outbreaks send people back home.

Old is new in frothy U.S. IPO market

18 Jun 2020

Dun & Bradstreet, the 179-year-old data firm that plans to raise up to $1 bln, is a stark contrast to new-fangled tech hopefuls like Lemonade. Yet its private equity owners may make a handy return using an old-fashioned playbook: cutting staff, and surfing a rising market tide.

EU’s data harpoon won’t be last shot at Amazon

11 Jun 2020

The European Commission may soon charge Jeff Bezos’s company over the alleged use of data gathered from third-party sellers to unfairly compete against them. Antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager may well already be lining up the next salvo, perhaps targeting Amazon's advertising.

Chancellor: A catastrophic failure of risk control

5 Jun 2020

Dependency on risk models may be leading policymakers astray in handling the pandemic, just as such models did ahead of the financial crisis. If “risk societies” are to prosper, they must apply large doses of common sense to avoid the groupthink that hinders smart decisions.

New data will track reopening in real time

21 May 2020

Plenty of financial-market information is available instantaneously, but economic metrics can be months out of date. In the ongoing pandemic, that has proved too slow. Novel sources like Klaviyo's online spending tracker and TomTom's traffic flows may have staying power.

Viewsroom: Freebies no more

16 Apr 2020

Breakingviews columnists check in from home in New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong to discuss disappearing Silicon Valley perks like free meals and booze, office activism at tech firms, the mystery of China’s 20 million lost mobile-phone subscribers and an ascendant TikTok.

Bank of England’s AI approach will toughen up

21 Feb 2020

UK finance has yet to face many restrictions on using artificial intelligence. But the technology brings risks as well as opportunities, the BoE’s fintech director told Breakingviews. A light-touch approach will change as machines make increasingly important financial decisions.

Equifax hack shows China aims wide as well as high

10 Feb 2020

The U.S. government blamed China’s military for 2017’s giant credit-reporting breach. It contends Beijing seeks not just kompromat and trade secrets, but also material to hone its own AI tools. That potentially makes any company with large data troves an espionage target.

Democratizing U.S. data access has drawbacks

21 Jan 2020

Plans to change how journalists handle some releases, including the crucial jobs report, aim to ensure traders and the public get them at the same time. But markets may become jumpier. And those with big bucks will still contrive to get the data a few microseconds sooner.

Finablr faces tricky reboot after Travelex hack

14 Jan 2020

Shares in the London-listed fintech group have fallen 23% after a cyberattack on its bureau de change unit. The $350 mln decline probably overstates the immediate damage. The bigger risk is whether the mess deters corporate clients from Finablr’s faster-growing payments business.

Infrastructure investors catch the tech bug

9 Jan 2020

Macquarie may be in talks to buy AirTrunk for over $2 bln. It follows a record year for data centre M&A which saw volumes triple. Growing consumption of the new oil is fuelling demands for storage warehouses. And the hunger for yield is building up towering multiples.