Technology

Tencent’s investor giveaway buys welcome respite

16 Nov 2022

The Chinese web giant is handing a $20 bln stake in food delivery firm Meituan to shareholders. The second such move in a year comes on top of increased share buybacks. The focus on boosting returns goes a long way to make up for slowing growth in Tencent’s video-game business.

Capital Calls: American shoppers

16 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: Target blamed its ugly quarterly results on consumers pulling back on discretionary items even as fresh government data shows they keep buying loads of stuff.

Google owner makes a quixotic Chris Hohn target

15 Nov 2022

The billionaire’s TCI fund wants boss Sundar Pichai to slash pay, pare moonshots and repurchase more stock. Setting aside that Alphabet is controlled by its founders, its performance stacks up well against peers. There’s room to improve, but it also can afford to keep being bold.

Musk needs a third of America to pay for Twitter

15 Nov 2022

As the social media firm’s new boss says, it's losing $4 mln a day - before accounting for big drops in ad revenue. Even with cutting costs, sky-high interest means Twitter has to grow into its debt, which could require as many as over 110 million people to pay for the platform.

Vodafone’s misery strengthens Xavier Niel’s hand

15 Nov 2022

The 26 bln pound group’s shares sank 8% after it cut its profit forecast. CEO Nick Read’s efforts to streamline the sprawling telco are getting bogged down by rising costs and weak growth. His new shareholder, the Iliad founder, may push for faster disposals and deeper cost cuts.

Zombie firms shuffle away from reckoning

14 Nov 2022

Carvana, Peloton and others assumed capital would always be plentiful. It’s not, and they continue to burn cash with business models that need work. Yet these larger firms, on average, have two years of money left. With cost cutting, many may survive, if not thrive.

Sam Bankman-Fried did financial system a favour

14 Nov 2022

The curly-haired cryptocurrency kingpin pushed regulators and politicians to legitimise assets like bitcoin. A few more years and his now-bankrupt exchange FTX would have burrowed deeper into mainstream finance, amplifying the damage. His downfall sends the process into reverse.

Capital Calls: Roche’s risky big drug bets

14 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: Shares in the Swiss drugmaker fell 4% after a treatment for dementia produced disappointing results in a late-stage trial, reminding investors of the downsides of pursuing potential blockbusters.

Inflation has gig economy perk: more side hustlers

11 Nov 2022

Uber is seeing more drivers. Airbnb has had strong growth in hosts. As wallets are pinched, people are looking to pick up odd jobs. For those who profit off the shared economy, that should help their businesses. And at least for now, demand is holding up, too.

Tech mess hastens Irish economic turn inwards

11 Nov 2022

Multinationals like Meta Platforms bring in a quarter of Ireland’s $68 bln tax revenue, and the salaries they pay prop up its housing market. Now they’re shedding staff, the risk is a budget hole. Irish business may not like how a future Sinn Féin government would fill it.

Capital Calls: Twitter ads, Supervoting stock

11 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: Elon Musk is giving big brands an easy out – and a drain on advertising is harder for Twitter to overcome than Facebook; a dual-class share structure enabled the ousted CEO of TuSimple to team up with his co-founder and sack the board.

FTX crash is old lesson for financial newcomers

9 Nov 2022

The crypto exchange, once valued at $32 bln, hangs in the balance after rival Binance scrapped a rescue bid. Customers could face losses; a prolonged selloff could ensue. While it may not comfort founder Sam Bankman-Fried, the cryptoverse will be better off for FTX’s agonies.

Geely and Renault engineer new model for old tech

9 Nov 2022

The Chinese and French duo will jointly supply hybrids and gas guzzlers to rivals. Doubt over the role of Renault’s Japanese partner Nissan is awkward, but as automakers hesitate on investing in legacy vehicles, the idea is smart. Scale and moving first will help them rev up.

Tech firms can’t swing the axe equally

8 Nov 2022

Companies from Meta to Twitter are cutting swaths of jobs. But Mark Zuckerberg’s $253 billion outfit was far more efficient – on a per-employee basis – last year than the social media firm now run by Elon Musk. That suggests it has less room to move with layoffs.

IPhone plant woes are least of Apple’s problems

7 Nov 2022

The supplier of the $2.2 trillion tech giant’s devices, Foxconn, may lose up to 30% of production from a key facility following a Covid outbreak. That sounds bad, but it may only hit 1% of revenue. Waning demand and a slower transition to services affects Apple more.

Tesla success is less fleeting than AV upcharge

7 Nov 2022

Boss Elon Musk charges $15,000 a car for self-driving tech that doesn’t yet work. Ford wants to do that too, even as it ditches plans for robotaxis. Like power steering, fees for hands-free driving may disappear. Good chance Musk’s technology innovates before competitors.

NFTs may not get back up off the canvas

7 Nov 2022

Global non-fungible token sales have dropped over 90% since January. Enthusiasts remain hopeful that NFTs can branch into new, more durable applications that are less like trinkets. But with rate rises upending niche assets, don’t bet on it.

Lisbon tech schmooze takes baby steps to reality

4 Nov 2022

Amid 2022’s cratering valuations, venture capitalists attending the Portugal-based Web Summit are appropriately more cautious about new startups. Yet crypto crowds are still out in force. That’s despite the need for tech cash to focus more on solving problems like climate change.

Abrdn’s battered model may yet start to shine

4 Nov 2022

The British group meshes staid fund management with technology platforms for savers and wealth managers. The latter are growing and benefitting from higher interest rates. CEO Stephen Bird’s turnaround has a long way to go, but an undemanding valuation leaves plenty of upside.

Elon Musk’s $44 bln Twitter challenge begins

3 Nov 2022

The Tesla boss is now the proud owner of the social media platform. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss the billionaire’s plans to boost revenue, the implications for the electric carmaker’s shareholders, and what the saga tells us about mega-deals.