E-commerce

Global supply chain scars will spark sea change

31 Jan 2023

The business of shifting goods around the world plunged into chaos during the pandemic. In this Exchange podcast Alan Murphy, boss of researcher Sea-Intelligence, explains China’s changing role in global trade and how that impacts the price of everything from iPhones to cars.

Capital Calls: Activism, Bond spat, Airline M&A

18 Jan 2023

Concise views on global finance: Aggressive shareholder campaigns picked up in 2022, but activism is becoming an overcrowded strategy. Meanwhile, M&A machine Melrose takes on a fight that might not be worth winning, and German airline Lufthansa eyes a stake in Italy’s ITA.

Jack Ma’s Ant is China tech’s tiniest bellwether

9 Jan 2023

The founder is ceding control of his fintech giant, sending shares of affiliate Alibaba up 7%. The move was expected, yet investors clearly see Ant's rehabilitation as symbolic. That may be misguided, but any excuse to reevaluate China’s beat-down internet sector will do.

E-commerce will go viral on social media in 2023

27 Dec 2022

TikTok and YouTube are among those fighting for a piece of the estimated $46 bln shopping market that’s growing twice as fast as ads. It’s a sensible strategic move, but recession would dash some plans. Many products also won’t suit the apps and competition is expanding quickly.

New buy-now-pay-later fad runs old-school risks

8 Dec 2022

After Klarna and others saw their valuations slashed, venture investors are now pouring money into business-focused lenders like Wayflyer. It sounds like digital trade finance, which has a patchy past. There’s often a good reason that small borrowers can’t get money elsewhere.

Capital Calls: Twitter’s news problem

6 Dec 2022

Concise views on global finance: If the U.S. Congress passes a law that allows news organizations to band together and negotiate with online platforms, Elon Musk may have one more challenge to add to his growing list.

Capital Calls: Farfetch

1 Dec 2022

Concise views on global finance: Shares of the New York-listed online retailer dropped over 20% as its plan to sell e-commerce services to luxury groups like Salvatore Ferragamo failed to convince investors.

Buy-now-pay-later has a case of the holiday blues

29 Nov 2022

Even though the use of credit cards has jumped, the big U.S. shopping weekend hasn’t been great for e-borrowing. With the economic outlook weakening, that isn’t terrible. The trouble is that investors in companies like Affirm are still expecting massive growth.

Capital Calls: Ticketmaster and Taylor Swift

18 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: A meltdown involving the pop star’s upcoming “Eras” concert tour is attracting an audience on Capitol Hill and risks an unwanted corporate fight with the artist herself.

Capital Calls: American shoppers

16 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: Target blamed its ugly quarterly results on consumers pulling back on discretionary items even as fresh government data shows they keep buying loads of stuff.

Walmart turns inflation into a land grab

15 Nov 2022

The $375 bln retailer is attracting higher earners with its lower prices, gaining market share in the third quarter. That’s leading to revenue growth despite the uptick in prices. But the makers of the soaps and snacks that Walmart sells are seeing their pricing power slip away.

Capital Calls: Jeff Bezos

15 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: The Amazon founder is telling consumers to batten down the hatches. Yet the e-commerce giant has plenty of room to capture more online market share.

Capital Calls: Roche’s risky big drug bets

14 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: Shares in the Swiss drugmaker fell 4% after a treatment for dementia produced disappointing results in a late-stage trial, reminding investors of the downsides of pursuing potential blockbusters.

Capital Calls: Twitter ads, Supervoting stock

11 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: Elon Musk is giving big brands an easy out – and a drain on advertising is harder for Twitter to overcome than Facebook; a dual-class share structure enabled the ousted CEO of TuSimple to team up with his co-founder and sack the board.

UK tech flops expose perils of IPO forecasts

2 Nov 2022

E-commerce group Made.com has all but collapsed little more than a year after issuing sunny targets in an 800 mln pound float. Stock market duds Deliveroo and Funding Circle had optimistic guidance. When initial public offerings restart, investors should ignore the projections.

Capital Calls: DuPont, Dollar stores, Twitter

2 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: The chemicals company takes an unexpected but welcome M&A break; Dollar General is being sued for practices that raise questions about pricing power; and Elon Musk plans to charge micro-bloggers for blue checks to help cover his huge deal costs.

Capital Calls: Ocado in South Korea

1 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: The $6 bln online grocer’s shares surged almost 40% after it announced a partnership with Lotte Shopping, showing that its strategy of building warehouses for global supermarkets may have legs.

Brazil can buoy Sea’s growth ambitions

28 Oct 2022

The Singaporean games-to-payments group is exiting smaller countries and cutting costs to satisfy impatient investors. But it is making progress in the fast-growing Latin American market, where losses are narrowing. A $6.5 bln cash pile suggests Sea can stay the course.

Amazon gets irrationally swept up in tech angst

27 Oct 2022

The online retailer lost $200 bln of market value after its Christmas outlook spooked investors. The results are decent, however, with strong contributions from retail and cloud. A fresh focus by fund managers on profit diverges from the company’s ethos, which poses a problem.

Capital Calls: Netflix struts

18 Oct 2022

Concise views on global finance: The $109 bln streaming service reversed its subscriber losing streak and reminded rivals of its first-mover advantage.