E-commerce

Morgan Stanley puts its seal on Jack Ma’s bazaar

12 Apr 2019

The Wall Street bank upped its stake in a mutual funds joint venture using Taobao, Alibaba’s online mall better known for makeup and clothes. E-commerce is playing a bigger role selling Chinese financial assets, but it makes some uncomfortable. This deal could reassure doubters.

Bezos breathes down overpaid Oracle bosses’ necks

11 Apr 2019

The Amazon founder’s bold bets helped the e-commerce giant create a $30 bln cloud unit. His annual letter talks about winning more commercial-database business. It’s a warning for Oracle’s top executives, who will need to better justify their pay if they’re to see Bezos off.

Asian logistics IPO delivers at a discount

11 Apr 2019

Warburg Pincus plans a Hong Kong listing for $4 bln warehouse operator ESR. Fancy godowns are in short supply and e-commerce is booming. Yet public markets have not favoured regional rivals like GLP, taken private in 2017. Plain packaging will help the sale stack up.

Altaba’s $11 bln tax will be a gift widely shared

4 Apr 2019

Yahoo spent years trying to avoid taxes on selling its stake in China’s Alibaba. After various advisers and schemes failed to find a magic bullet, successor Altaba is paying up. That’s an equitable outcome. It also gives other tax holdouts reason to stop dawdling and pay up.

Lyft takes Japanese backer Rakuten on new ride

28 Mar 2019

An IPO valuing the U.S. taxi app at up to $24 bln warrants a fresh look at its biggest shareholder. Lyft will now account for about a fifth of the sprawling Rakuten’s market value. Even with a SoftBank-lite investment success, however, the scattershot approach looks shaky.

Jumia to test faith in the rare African unicorn

27 Mar 2019

The e-commerce startup from Rocket Internet is hoping for a $1.4 bln price tag when it goes public in New York. Sales are galloping but so are losses. That’s a punchy valuation given the poorest continent’s social and political problems – unless Alibaba or Amazon are the buyers.

Naspers relocates its Tencent discount to Europe

25 Mar 2019

The Johannesburg group is shifting internet investments, including a $134 bln stake in the Chinese web giant, to an Amsterdam-listed unit. That might tempt investors wary of South African risks. But it does little to address fears that Naspers will squander its Tencent windfall.

Levi Strauss IPO looks a few sizes too big

21 Mar 2019

The 166-year-old jeans-to-jumpsuits maker is worth $8.7 bln after shares popped 33 pct on its return to the public market. That’s perhaps justified, but it’s a stretch, suggesting denim will remain in vogue. Recent bankruptcies of two rivals are a reminder such fashion fads fade.

Pinduoduo offers New York a Shanghai bargain

14 Mar 2019

The $29 bln shopping app is giving investors a taste of Chinese tech: promise, growth and volatility. Shares fell over 17 pct after it spent far more than expected in 2018 to lure and retain customers. Still, the experience of rivals like Alibaba suggests better times ahead.

JD’s winding road to profit keeps getting longer

28 Feb 2019

The Chinese e-commerce group’s sales rose by more than a fifth to top $20 bln in the fourth quarter. But heavy investment in new bets means JD is barely breaking even. Financial discipline would help, but may not be enough to counter cooling demand and competition from Alibaba.

Three digital ad giants are no better than two

20 Feb 2019

Google and Facebook’s combined share of U.S. online advertising is poised to fall for the first time this year. The reason: Amazon is taking a bite out of their slice. Even a muscular challenger does little to reduce the case for tighter regulation.

Walmart proves big is relatively beautiful

19 Feb 2019

The $290 bln company’s quarterly sales defied the overall slump that hit U.S. retailers in December. Earnings beat expectations too. Walmart’s growing online revenue and cheap grocery business should help it capitalize on weaker retailers’ misfortune in a softer economy.

Pinduoduo’s bid for calm has its limits

12 Feb 2019

Even by Chinese tech company standards, the $31 bln e-commerce outfit has had a volatile start to public life. A $1 bln follow-on will up the float and help to ease wild price swings. But ballooning losses, competition with Alibaba, and legal woes will continue to create a stir.

Amazon can afford to give Big Apple one more shot

11 Feb 2019

The e-commerce giant’s plan for a second HQ is in jeopardy over local opposition. One idea would be to give up half of the $3 bln in incentives. Amazon can afford it, and rival Google created jobs for less. If that doesn’t quiet the critics, Amazon may be better off elsewhere.

Amazon and Walmart get caught in India’s web

1 Feb 2019

The U.S. titans will be limited to operating marketplaces and prevented from being online retailers under New Delhi’s rules. That opens the door for billionaire Mukesh Ambani to power ahead with his own e-commerce plans. The miscalculation by Amazon and Walmart could be costly.

Amazon’s aggression has sustainable fuel supply

31 Jan 2019

The e-commerce giant’s holiday quarter sparkled with revenue growing 20 pct. Web services and advertising are two of the biggest sources of this expansion. They’re also the most profitable and have plenty of juice left in the tank to power Jeff Bezos’s already lofty ambitions.

Alibaba powers on with small things

30 Jan 2019

Quarterly sales grew 41 pct, the weakest pace in three years. But there’s still momentum in Jack Ma’s retail juggernaut. China’s wider slowdown has been marked by tepid demand for big-ticket items like iPhones. Everyday purchases like groceries and apparel are propelling Alibaba.

The Exchange: Joseph Tsai

29 Jan 2019

Alibaba’s co-founder and executive vice chairman joins Breakingviews to reveal what the future holds for the $400 billion tech giant. As investors fret over economic uncertainties, Tsai also tackles the recent fallout from Huawei, a bruising trade war and the case for tax cuts.

Elliott puts eBay’s parts up for auction

22 Jan 2019

The $30 bln online merchant has a history of spinning off bits of itself. It has, though, missed opportunities in its core business. While the activist may persuade eBay to offload StubHub, for example, the big payoff could be selling the marketplace unit to a buyer like Walmart.

Investors stop giving U.S. retailers an inch

10 Jan 2019

Macy’s shares fell by nearly a fifth after weak December sales prompted it to cut forecasts. Target and Kohl’s also felt the downdraft despite more upbeat numbers. Online disruption and the decline of old stalwarts Sears and J.C. Penney have made investors justifiably jittery.