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Time continues to be on TikTok’s side

12 Mar 2024

A US bill that would force the social media app’s parent ByteDance to sell the platform is gaining ground. Demands are like those made years ago, only the app is now more powerful, the relationship with China more complicated, and politicians less willing to compromise.

Reddit loves users, so it’s giving itself a deal

26 Feb 2024

The social media firm plans to reserve IPO shares for loyal visitors, a tactic enlisted by the maker of Sam Adams beer and trading firm Robinhood. So-called “affinity programs” are risky, as Robinhood’s 2021 offering shows. But it may help Reddit get the valuation it wants.

Warner Bros Discovery makes case against media M&A

23 Feb 2024

The HBO owner’s first full year since the merger of Warner and Discovery was a grim one. Boss David Zaslav lived up to cost-cut goals but missed nearly everywhere else. Even well-run deals can’t stem industry woes, making future tie-ups - with, say, Paramount - look ill-advised.

Reddit’s future looks bright through VR goggles

22 Feb 2024

The social media firm's IPO document shows narrowing losses and a fast-growing top line. But compared to competitors, a mooted $5 bln valuation should be a stretch. The upshot is founder Steve Huffman’s plan to sell data to train AI models. That has promise, in a virtual world.

Meta enters the dividend multiverse of madness

8 Feb 2024

The first payout from Facebook’s owner is a small $5 bln sign of financial restraint. Benefits from regularly returning cash to shareholders, however, are about as tangible as the metaverse. Zeal for dividends simply perpetuates inefficiency and irrationality in markets.

Investors will say “OK Boomer” to aging Reddit

7 Feb 2024

The 19-year-old tech firm can justify a $5 bln IPO valuation based on a familiar but flawed revenue multiple. But as Snap shows, a lack of profit portends a shaky business model. Facebook parent Meta shows the benefits of listing on a stronger foundation. Reddit is no different.

Apple’s AI absence may be its advantage

1 Feb 2024

Microsoft and Alphabet pepper quarterly results with the promise of artificial intelligence. The $2.9 trln Apple barely mentions it. The risk is a giant missed opportunity. But its gadgets may indirectly benefit, and without the ballooning capital expenditure at peers like Meta.

Gen Alpha will tire of living online

26 Dec 2023

As kids born since 2010 age into the digital world, their fatigue from being forced online will prompt backlash similar to Gen Z. Both will become smarter about the implicit agreement of trading services for data and make life more difficult for companies from Alphabet to OpenAI.

Kim Kardashian will be kicked off Instagram

22 Dec 2023

The influencer is worth $1.7 bln, which could climb with her shapewear brand’s IPO. That’s value that doesn’t flow to the owners of platforms sustaining content creators’ fame, like Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg. The best way for them to pull some back: suspend her privileges.

Meta’s China quest thaws thin layer of dense cube

10 Nov 2023

The $828 bln social media company plans to sell virtual reality headsets in the country, 14 years after its Facebook service was banned there. Hardware is a less thorny way to grab revenue. It also puts pressure on the US government to soften its stance on some Chinese tech.

X’s rock-bottom leaves Elon Musk little to lose

6 Nov 2023

The Tesla CEO’s investment in the social network once known as Twitter swiftly lost a chunky amount of its $44 bln value. At this point, bold new ideas, such as an AI chatbot powered by user data, or crazier ones, make sense, even if they fail. Musk does well as an underdog.

Meta tenuously clings to financial reality

26 Oct 2023

Facebook’s owner grew quarterly revenue 23% and vowed to keep expenses in check. AI investments and a planned hiring spree may yet run into an economic slump, however, and reverse an ad rebound. Only then will boss Mark Zuckerberg’s power of self-restraint become clear.

Elon Musk could use X to settle old PayPal spat

18 Oct 2023

The site formerly known as Twitter is testing a $1 fee for users. Its billionaire owner says it’s to fight spam, but customer credit card information also could help turn it into a super-app. Adding payments would challenge a company that unceremoniously dismissed him long ago.

Capital Calls: BlackRock, Dollar General

13 Oct 2023

Concise views on global finance: Boss Larry Fink squares off with Uncle Sam; Dollar General bets on its ex-boss’s old magic.

Meta’s EU subscription looks suspiciously pricey

3 Oct 2023

The Instagram owner may allow Europeans to pay $14 a month to avoid ads. It’s hard to see many users signing up, and the price is far higher than Meta’s regional revenue per user. Regulators and courts, which effectively pushed for this outcome, may get a phantom solution.

AI is making Meta virtually cool again

28 Sep 2023

Mark Zuckerberg talked up his $780 bln social media company’s artificial intelligence products at a developer conference. If they added as much value as Instagram, Meta could be worth $140 bln more. But Zuckerberg has to show he can monetize something he’s building from scratch.

Indonesia spoils TikTok’s Southeast Asia party

28 Sep 2023

The region’s largest economy is banning social media outlets from hosting direct sales on their platforms. That’ll hit ByteDance’s short-form video app hard: it has 125 mln Indonesian users and the country is its main e-commerce market. So much for mixing business with pleasure.

Klaviyo is better bellwether than Arm or Instacart

13 Sep 2023

Unlike its hyped peers, the marketing firm is paving the way for garden-variety tech IPOs, targeting an $8 bln valuation. It’s profitable, growing and even has its own invented metric, making it a better gauge of investor sentiment. One wrinkle is its reliance on backer Shopify.