Software

Capital Calls: Twitter time-wasting, News Corp

25 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Congressional hearings on Big Tech get ever less productive; meanwhile, the parent of the Wall Street Journal snaps up Investor’s Business Daily.

Capital Calls: Leon Black, Happiness index

22 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: Apollo’s founder still has his imprint on the Museum of Modern Art and Dartmouth College; people are proving surprisingly resilient in the pandemic, a recent poll suggests.

Capital Calls: New York, Allegro exit

17 Mar 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: The Big Apple reigns in a new ranking of global cities, but the prize isn’t what it was; shareholders in Polish e-commerce group Allegro sell down early.

Big Tech’s data virtue-signalling has casualties

16 Mar 2021

Apple and Google are making it harder for marketers to track individual users. It’s a no-brainer: the changes will cement their dominance and please privacy-focused regulators. But mobile-game developers and the rest of the $330 bln online advertising sector will feel the pain.

Stripe’s $95 bln pop raises bar for payments hype

15 Mar 2021

The privately held group run by the Collison brothers raised money at almost triple its last valuation. It seems rich even next to listed peer Adyen. Investors in the companies are betting on a decade of breakneck growth. Rising competition means they can’t all be winners.

VW drives for second place in Tesla-led tech race

12 Mar 2021

Boss Herbert Diess wants to steer the $128 bln German automaker into the thick of the fast-growing market for in-car software. Closing the gap on Elon Musk’s outfit will be tough. But even a podium finish behind the leader would jump-start Volkswagen’s analogue valuation.

Panasonic turning dial too far on $6.5 bln deal

10 Mar 2021

After paring some sprawl, the electronics giant may now buy the rest of supply-chain software developer Blue Yonder. The faster-growing tech would help lift profitability, but at a hefty price of 40 times forecast EBITDA. Some $2 bln of erased market value speaks to the overload.

Microsoft nears dot-com valuation in Gen-Z world

26 Jan 2021

The rise of rapidly growing cloud software has underpinned the firm’s advance to a $1.8 trln market cap. That implies a valuation that approaches a 20-year high. Yet it is downright quaint based on comparable companies like Amazon. Even so, warning bells are ringing.

Corona Capital: Satellites, Shoes

15 Jan 2021

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: SoftBank pours cash into satellite startup; and footwear winners and losers.

Corona Capital: Target, IPOs keep coming

13 Jan 2021

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Retailer Target gets an extra sales boost from its earlier e-commerce efforts, while buy-now-pay-later company Affirm continues one of 2020’s less-hated features – a smoking hot IPO market.

Corona Capital: Bond bonanza, Albertsons

12 Jan 2021

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: U.S. companies' bond issuance in 2020 hits records across the board; and America’s No. 3 grocer continues to take advantage of the shopping habits created by Covid-19 lockdowns.

Qualtrics’ German parent will SAP its IPO value

6 Jan 2021

The survey maker’s float coincides with sky-high multiples for software peers. Its high revenue growth rate could in theory merit a price tag of $20 billion or more. Yet a potentially meddlesome controlling shareholder in European behemoth SAP argues for a hefty discount.

Picture this: Netflix and Amazon buy cinema chains

22 Dec 2020

The tech giants’ streaming services have become more powerful with people cooped up at home. But competition has intensified, and theatres remain an important marketing channel. To extend their leads, bundling box office access with a subscription serves as a key differentiator.

Big Tech’s gaming gamble will call for M&A

22 Dec 2020

Google and Amazon want to do to video games what Netflix has done to television. Their cloud-based gaming services face technical challenges, but the bigger test is luring gamers from established platforms like Microsoft’s Xbox. Acquisitions are the fastest way to the next level.

Corona Capital: Holiday Zoom

18 Dec 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The video call company is removing the 40-minute time limit on free calls for the holidays – a gift it can easily afford, and one that may not be appreciated.

Philips’ cardiac deal carries heart-stopping price

18 Dec 2020

CEO Frans van Houten agreed to buy U.S. group BioTelemetry for $2.8 bln including debt. It’s wise to push further into “telehealth”, where doctors treat and monitor patients remotely rather than in hospital. But the valuation he’s paying will make it hard to earn a good return.

EU’s Google-Fitbit approval sets risky precedent

17 Dec 2020

Antitrust tsar Margrethe Vestager approved the $2.1 bln deal with conditions. The buyer’s pledges, like giving rival fitness trackers equal access to the Android operating system, are great in theory but hard to monitor. Vestager may only spot the loopholes once the harm is done.

Sensitive U.S. hack is one more problem for Biden

14 Dec 2020

Network software used by America’s armed forces and big companies was compromised for months, possibly by Russia. The maker, Texas-based SolarWinds, has egg on its face. For users in D.C. and elsewhere, it’s a reminder that cybersecurity can’t be ignored, even in a pandemic.

U.S. gaming giants find extra gear in UK developer

14 Dec 2020

Electronic Arts offered $1.3 bln in cash for London-listed Codemasters, overtaking rival Take-Two Interactive. The $40 bln group clearly sees scope to squeeze more value out of its target’s “F1” driving game. Shareholders can sit back and watch the race unfold.

Corona Capital: Supercars, Cooking, Home working

10 Dec 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Debt-laden carmaker McLaren tries to hitch a ride on the SPAC bandwagon; meal-kit deliverer HelloFresh’s virus feast only goes so far; and America’s working-from-home boom survives the crisis.