Software

Snowflake-led IPO boomlet puts hope over profit

14 Sep 2020

The cloud-data firm’s $3 bln public debut will be the largest IPO this year, in the busiest week for new listings since 2014. The glut of tech-heavy deals will keep investment bankers happy. But with many of the candidates losing money, investors are betting big on fast growth.

Snowflake’s $2.7 bln IPO is so hot it could melt

9 Sep 2020

The data-warehouse firm is growing astonishingly fast and offers clients an alternative to Amazon. But the Zoom-like valuation it’s chasing of nearly 60 times trailing sales takes it close to the sun. The imprimatur of Berkshire Hathaway and Salesforce could lift it even nearer.

Palantir investor day is direct-listing bonus

8 Sep 2020

The data-analytics firm is making its big pitch this week. There is plenty to cover, like the rationale for variable-voting shares. Unlike an IPO, at least it’s a public event. Work-management outfit Asana is next. Future candidates for direct listings may raise capital, too.

Corona Capital: U.S. debt, Junk bonds, Vaccines

3 Sep 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: U.S. debt rises to levels not seen since World War Two; this year’s returns on high-yield debt turn positive despite the coronavirus; and Donald Trump’s hope of a vaccine by Nov. 1 is dangerously political.

Snowflake IPO may test cloud heights

28 Aug 2020

The data-warehouse firm is more than doubling revenue, but sports big losses, too. Sticky corporate IT spending and customers’ fear of having no alternative to giants like Amazon bolsters Snowflake’s potential. But rivals’ valuations mean its IPO price is likely to hit thin air.

TikTok starts to attract a FOMO premium

27 Aug 2020

Walmart’s interest in teaming up with Microsoft to buy the China-backed video app makes sense only in that TikTok is one of a kind, and ByteDance is a forced seller. Like rival bidder Oracle, Walmart is taking a strategic detour. History offers sad examples of how that can end.

China’s Ant can gobble up $200 bln valuation

25 Aug 2020

The fintech firm’s IPO filing shows it handled $17 trln worth of online payments in the year to June. Earnings are volatile, but the trend is strongly positive. The Alibaba affiliate is well placed in the expanding Chinese market. The mooted price tag looks conservative.

Corona Capital: KFC ditches finger lickin’

25 Aug 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The Yum Brands’ fast-food chain made eating fried chicken synonymous with cleaning your digits with your mouth. KFC has at last realized that’s a no-no in a pandemic.

SoftBank wins most in $5 bln industrial-data M&A

25 Aug 2020

UK-listed Aveva, part of the French Schneider, is buying OSIsoft, backed by the Japanese tech investor. SoftBank gets a handsome profit on an investment made three years ago. For the new owner, justifying the price requires massive growth in sales of factory-analysis software.

Corona Capital: Dividends, Zoom, Big-screen blues

24 Aug 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: As company bosses try to conserve cash, investors are feeling the pinch; Zoom has a back-to-school problem; and a mediocre debut for Russell Crowe’s new road-rage movie shows Hollywood is stuck in the slow lane.

Tencent encapsulates new challenge for China tech

12 Aug 2020

The $635 bln giant derives most of its value from video games, ads and payments units that don’t rely much on foreign partners. But any restrictions on working with U.S. firms might have an outsize effect on its growth. Boss Pony Ma will have to sweat his company harder.

Corona Capital: PizzaExpress, Aerospace pain

4 Aug 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The UK restaurant chain’s restructuring is not that tasty a meal for creditors; Airplane-parts maker Spirit’s reliance on Boeing’s 737 MAX has it heading into worse turbulence.

Corona Capital: Ford narrows the gap

30 Jul 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The Detroit automaker put in a better second-quarter performance than expected. That’s good news for under-pressure CEO Jim Hackett – and allows Ford to close some of the distance to rival GM.

SAP may bank a lucky Qualtrics IPO win

27 Jul 2020

The German IT giant will float its U.S. survey business, for which it paid $8 billion in 2018. It’s an admission that all sides would be better off if the unit had more autonomy. A saving grace is the rise in tech valuations: Qualtrics may be worth more now than two years ago.

Microsoft’s cloud mostly floats above Covid-19

22 Jul 2020

The $1.6 trln software giant’s latest quarter showed the pandemic's effects, good and bad. A sharp fall in advertising showed the company can’t entirely escape the real economy. But cloud services, on-demand software, and video gaming grew rapidly, thanks to more work from home.

Mukesh Ambani flaunts Jio’s global tech ambitions

15 Jul 2020

Reliance Industries’ boss unveiled a home-grown 5G solution with export potential at a meeting held on the Indian company’s answer to Zoom. His push is bad news for Huawei. And the latest investment in Jio, $4.5 bln from Google, points to a formidable competitor for all rivals.

India prize for U.S. tech grows with Chinese wall

14 Jul 2020

Google will invest $10 bln in India over five years or so. A chunk might follow Facebook into Mukesh Ambani’s Jio. The showy confidence in an iffy economy can help to ease regulatory headwinds. When new rules have crippled Chinese-capital dependent rivals, it is extra helpful.

SAP will struggle to walk, chew gum at same time

9 Jul 2020

The $190 bln software group is weathering the Covid storm: CEO Christian Klein kept sales rising while also slashing costs. Yet keeping up with fast-growing U.S. rivals like Salesforce requires investment. That implies a margin hit, and disappointment for cash-hungry investors.

Palantir mystery extends to public-market value

7 Jul 2020

The data-analytics firm, co-founded by Peter Thiel in 2003, has ramped up revenue slowly – it's set to reach $1 bln this year. A $20 bln valuation, the private mark in 2015, looks optimistic. Yet growth is on the up. The company's worth depends on how durable that is.

Corona Capital: Texas hold it

7 Jul 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The iconic State Fair of Texas has been canceled as coronavirus cases in the region soar. The decision adds some $500 mln to the Lone Star State’s economic and human toll from the pandemic.