Technology

TSMC’s high-tech stock beset by low-tech problems

18 Apr 2024

Shares of Taiwan's $640 bln tech titan are up 36% this year thanks to its AI chip dominance. Yet they trade at a decade-high valuation discount to peers. Geopolitical risk is one factor, as are sluggish handset sales and over-expansion fears. All look out of TSMC's control.

Walmart-backed IPO makes brick-and-mortar AI pitch

17 Apr 2024

Ibotta is chasing a $2.6 bln public valuation for one of marketing’s oldest tricks: rebates on in-store purchases. Its data-gathering is simple – customers scan receipts – yet solid and profitable. But efforts to cover the company in a high-tech sheen look like a stretch.

Salesforce’s activist makeover faces trial by M&A

16 Apr 2024

A swarm of pushy investors last year pushed the software firm into cutting costs, returning capital, and de-emphasizing dealmaking. Now it’s mulling a takeover of $11 bln Informatica, the WSJ says. The price will signal whether founder and CEO Marc Benioff has changed his ways.

Microsoft-backed IPO breaks rule of 40 at bad time

16 Apr 2024

Cybersecurity firm Rubrik is going public despite failing the sector’s metric to judge success. Sure, the company backed by the $3 trln giant is starting to rely on stable subscriptions. But it’s burning cash. Based on others that flout the rule, a low valuation is in store.

Sotheby’s next hot auction: a Picasso-backed bond

11 Apr 2024

The auctioneer owned by Patrick Drahi is selling securities backed by collectors’ hoards. With only $34 bln of art-based lending, there’s scope to reach more borrowers. But there are good reasons why art, which is hard to verify and value, has resisted slice-and-dice financing.

Grab-GoTo merger would be an all-round win

11 Apr 2024

A union of the two superapps would create an $18 bln Southeast Asian food delivery-to-ride-hailing giant and speed their journey to profit. A costly fight in Indonesia is holding them back. A tie-up looks more necessary, too, as global investors cool on the region's startups.

EU tech rules bite ever-closer to Apple’s core

10 Apr 2024

As Brussels gains new powers and enforces a March music-streaming ruling, the European Union can finally force Apple to change how the iPhone works with outside developers. A US antitrust case adds pressure. Users may not like the results, which means investors should care too.

Norwegian fund’s podcast guru plays both sides

9 Apr 2024

Nicolai Tangen, head of the country’s $1.6 trln sovereign vehicle, has a side gig hosting interviews with corporate leaders like Elon Musk. The jaunty chats give CEOs cover with one of their few engaged investors. At least the fund is not afraid to vote against his guests.

Tech FOMO prices at a disturbingly high level

9 Apr 2024

Destiny Tech100, a newly listed fund with only $53 mln of stakes in private firms such as SpaceX and OpenAI, is now worth about $700 mln. Investors are clearly overeager to get in earlier on hot trends. A multiple of 13 times net asset value resets the Silicon Valley hype bar.

AI might rewrite Samsung’s memory chip past

5 Apr 2024

The tech giant estimates quarterly operating profit surged 10-fold to $5 bln, as prices for standard data-storage semiconductors recover. New demand for specialised versions that support artificial intelligence might help the company better navigate the next boom-and-bust cycle.

US antitrust push invites creative dealmaking

4 Apr 2024

Policymakers and trustbusters are eyeing new restrictions on mergers and acquisitions. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists unpack some imaginative workarounds being used by companies ranging from Big Tech to fast food.

GameStop saga ends. Winner: capital markets

3 Apr 2024

The game retailer cashed in on meme stock mania, revamped management, but failed to reinvent itself. Reddit-fueled investors, eager to fight shortsellers, may just lose their shirts. It would be a costly lesson that, some broken pockets aside, the market was working all along.

TSMC’s most complex engineering task is itself

3 Apr 2024

The $625 bln chipmaker has built a monopoly in advanced semiconductors by staying in Taiwan. Now it’s expanding abroad, spurred by subsidies and US-China tensions. Despite higher costs, it can generate decent returns. The bigger challenge will be keeping its technological edge.

Profitability is next sacrifice at inflation altar

2 Apr 2024

Central bankers want LVMH, Pepsi and others to pay higher wages without raising prices. Bottom lines in the euro zone already have dipped to 40% of output, the lowest rate since 2020, and Big Tech accounts for most US margin growth. CEOs and investors can expect leaner times.

Xiaomi enters China’s EV race in fine form

2 Apr 2024

The smartphone maker run by Lei Jun logged 90,000 orders in 24 hours for its debut vehicle and buyers face a seven-month wait. Investors cheered, adding 16% to the group's $48 bln market value. Competition is cutthroat but there's always room for strong upstarts.

AI’s power surge short-circuits longer-term plans

1 Apr 2024

Data centers account for 2.5% of the US grid, and machine learning is supercharging growth. Where and how to build megaplexes consuming as much electricity as a small nuclear plant are the immediate problems, but they’re solvable. Calculating future demand is the real conundrum.

BYD is unscathed in China’s electric-car wars

27 Mar 2024

The world’s largest EV maker founded and led by Wang Chuanfu is winning market share and accelerating its profit margins. That suggests the $86 bln company can keep cutting prices and investing overseas despite reporting its slowest quarterly profit growth in two years.

Alibaba sends out SOS on Hong Kong’s market

27 Mar 2024

The Chinese e-commerce giant ditched plans to list its logistics unit in the city and offered to buy out minority shareholders including Singapore's Temasek at a $10 bln valuation, half the mooted worth six months ago. It points to more pain for owners of unlisted Chinese assets.

Middle East AI dream depends on luring brainpower

22 Mar 2024

An abundance of cheap energy to power data centres gives artificial intelligence startups reason to consider the Gulf. But to become a force in AI, Saudi Arabia and the UAE will have to design their own advanced chips. Attracting talent to the region will require more than money.

Tencent is running out of excuses for gaming woes

21 Mar 2024

Revenue at the $350 bln giant is shrinking in its core business in China and abroad. That implies Beijing's crackdowns are not to blame this time. It pledged to double share buybacks but Tencent admits it needs to get its "own house in order". That looks increasingly urgent.