Software

SAP’s shifting goalposts puncture Covid-19 hopes

26 Oct 2020

CEO Christian Klein scrapped his 2023 financial targets, wiping 20% off the $174 bln giant’s market worth. New 2025 goals imply a large pandemic-induced boost to cloud computing, which may merit a higher multiple. Investors smarting from Monday’s selloff are apt to wait and see.

Corona Capital: Greenwich, CT real estate

16 Oct 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Home sales in the swank New York City suburb preferred by bankers have soared while Manhattan apartment sales crater.

Teaching apps confront elephant in the classroom

15 Oct 2020

SoftBank’s call to buy a 9.7% stake in Kahoot! reflects a surge in demand for educational tech. But given users of the $2.7 bln Norwegian group’s app access it using Google, the U.S. tech giant may decide to develop its own version. That could at least limit stateside growth.

Deliveroo’s IPO is a dish best served soon

7 Oct 2020

The UK food delivery app is mulling a float in the public market next year. Using its peers’ multiples, Amazon-backed Deliveroo could fetch more than $5 bln. But with the pandemic-induced boost to its top line not guaranteed to last, it can’t afford to dawdle.

Warburg Pincus enjoys Japanese Suga rush

5 Oct 2020

IT conglomerate NEC will splash out $2.2 bln on private equity-backed Swiss fintech firm Avaloq. At 21 times adjusted EBITDA, it’s not cheap. But with new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga vowing to digitise ministries and banks, the deal is well-timed for both sides.

TPG rides IPO wave with McAfee deal

29 Sep 2020

A bubbly public reception to software firms like Snowflake has left an opening for the buyout shop to float the cybersecurity company at three times its 2016 takeover valuation. McAfee has improved, but its owners have bonkers investors rather than better performance to thank.

Microsoft launches $7.5 bln gaming war of addition

21 Sep 2020

That’s what CEO Satya Nadella is paying for ZeniMax, owner of games like “Fallout.” The aim is to persuade more users to enlist in Microsoft’s subscription service and force providers like Apple to stream content on its terms. Success would make Microsoft look unstoppable.

Corona Capital: Newspaper rivals, College football

17 Sep 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: the Wall Street Journal hits up the New York Times’ printing presses; U.S. college football’s Big Ten makes a comeback.

Snowflake takes IPO hubris into the stratosphere

16 Sep 2020

Shares in the data-warehouse firm, already the biggest U.S. public listing of the year, more than doubled in early first-day trading. At about $80 bln, the money-losing firm is worth some 200 times trailing sales. It’s an apt expression of the panicked greed gripping investors.

Unity Software diversifies its IPO options

15 Sep 2020

The maker of software for creating video games is floating this week at a valuation up to $11 bln. It is trying an unusual auction process which could mean less money is left on the table than is typical and Unity has more control. The idea may only work for big-name issuers.

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.