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Robinhood is vulnerable to disruption

31 Aug 2021

The complex of brokers like Fidelity had every reason to be upended by Vlad Tenev’s platform. But U.S. regulatory scrutiny and government probes are a distraction for Robinhood management. If those troubles aren’t resolved quickly, a new Robinhood-like firm could swoop in.

Instacart aims to deliver ads as well as groceries

23 Aug 2021

The online shopping service is valued at nearly $40 bln. Going public is on the firm's list, and tech unicorns like their price tags to ratchet upward. New ex-Facebooker boss Fidji Simo hopes to justify that with lots of advertising dollars. She'll need to grab market share fast.

Capital Calls: Pfizer M&A, Uber driver status

23 Aug 2021

The drugmaker has agreed to acquire Trillium Therapeutics for $2.3 billion, looking to its broader post-coronavirus strategy; a California judge has struck down a law exempting tech companies from treating drivers as full employees, complicating their push to keep costs down.

Capital Calls: Amazon, Robinhood, GlobalFoundries

19 Aug 2021

Concise views on global finance: The e-commerce giant may open its own version of department stores; contrary to the stereoptype, Robinhood IPO buyers may be holding rather than flipping; a successful IPO by chipmaker GlobalFoundries would bolster the case for an Arm listing.

Tencent’s Disney-like ambitions will enchant Xi

18 Aug 2021

Games, movies and web shows did well in the quarter, showcasing the $540 bln group’s entertainment prowess. Unlike the U.S. giant, censors dictate what Tencent can do. Yet a Chinese answer to the Magic Kingdom at least fits into Beijing’s vision of a prosperous middle class.

Capital Calls: Oatly, Sonos/Google

16 Aug 2021

Concise views on global finance: The Swedish oat milk producer’s decent results are only good in parts; Sonos gets a boost with a preliminary trade ruling that Google infringed its patents.

Capital Calls: Coupang’s winding road

13 Aug 2021

Concise views on global finance: The fast-growing South Korean e-commerce outfit’s lack of profit is testing investors’ patience.

Beijing puts Baidu comeback within reach

13 Aug 2021

Even though it isn’t obviously targeted in China’s tech crackdown, the web search company has lost half its market value since February. Quarterly results suggest boss Robin Li is making progress in cloud computing and AI. Policy initiatives should actually help the momentum.

Hollywood talent wars call for a new currency

12 Aug 2021

Scarlett Johansson’s fight with Disney shows the old model of paying stars based on the box office doesn’t work in an age of streaming. Netflix has its own radical alternative, but there’s another way, too: Align stars’ pay more closely with numbers shareholders care about.

Norton’s UK cyber raid yields risky bounty

11 Aug 2021

U.S. internet security firm NortonLifeLock has snapped up London-listed Avast for up to 6.2 billion pounds. The premium looks measly and cost savings meaty. But what appears to be a treasure trove for Norton CEO Vincent Pilette comes with long-term competitive threats.

Australian economy proves hard to wreck

10 Aug 2021

Fresh lockdowns are exposing Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s botched vaccine efforts. And yet business is upbeat, asset prices are rising and the central bank will curb support. Mounting fiscal and demographic costs have yet to faze a country conditioned to believe in miracles.

Grab’s tiny deal spotlights big Indonesia turf war

30 Jul 2021

A deal to shore up ties with a Jakarta conglomerate recalls the country’s importance for the super-app’s growth ahead of its $40 bln New York debut, and as top local rivals merge. Grab’s Southeast Asian footprint has benefits, but Indonesia carries outsize strategic value.

New Amazon CEO will have cloud and ads in his cart

29 Jul 2021

Andy Jassy now has the reins at the $1.8 trln group. E-commerce is the base, but cloud services and advertising, both growing fast and with high margins, account for the bulk of operating profit. The two businesses face challenges: one from competitors, the other from regulators.

Robinhood spoons up taste of own medicine

29 Jul 2021

The limp day one stock performance of Vlad Tenev’s online brokerage following its $32 bln IPO says little about its prospects. Consider Facebook’s debut on the one hand, or Ask Jeeves on the other. The sour part is that rapid growth for Robinhood depends on share prices going up.

Tech giants’ next acquisition could be themselves

27 Jul 2021

Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft hold around $600 bln of cash. As revenue booms, investors will be keen to see it put to work. Doing deals is a tough sell politically, so buying back more shares could be the logical answer, even with stock prices riding high.

Viewsroom: Olympic blunders and Robinhood’s IPO

22 Jul 2021

The Tokyo games are struggling with rising Covid-19 infections, corporations pulling out, an unenthused Japanese public and now a bad Holocaust joke. Pete Sweeney and Rob Cox discuss. Meantime, John Foley says Robinhood resembles E*Trade 20 years ago – in good and bad ways.

Robinhood takes E*Trade lessons almost to heart

22 Jul 2021

The online brokerage’s $33 bln IPO valuation looks modest by today’s, if not by tomorrow’s, standards. Like its dot-com-era predecessor, Robinhood is a double bet on jacked-up markets. It can avoid some of E*Trade’s early pitfalls, but risks stumbling into some bigger new ones.

India’s Paytm is smaller, sturdier version of Ant

20 Jul 2021

The fintech posterchild with 333 mln customers is delivering decent growth as it slashes marketing costs. Unlike its Chinese backer, Paytm is well set to expand rapidly in financial services without a rude regulatory shock. Still, a mooted $25 bln IPO price tag looks rich.