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☆ Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls: Rivian, DraftKings, Nio, Fox, Carvana, Pfizer and more
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Here are Friday's biggest calls on Wall Street: UBS double-downgrades Rivian The firm said to sell the electric vehicle maker's stock, joining a growing group of concerned analysts following the company's earnings report. Raymond James upgrades Carvana The investment bank moved Carvana to market perform from underperform following the fourth-quarter earnings results. Guggenheim initiates Pfizer The firm opened coverage of the biopharmaceutical stock with a buy rating and $36 price target. " Rosenblatt initiates Adeia The firm began coverage with a buy rating and $15 price target. Roth MKM initiates CPI Card Group Roth MKM started coverage of the financial technology stock with a buy rating and $40 price target.

Persons: Ross, ROST, Raymond James, EBITDA, 4Q23, Guggenheim, ATNI, Morgan Stanley, Brighthouse, Rosenblatt, Roth MKM, Fred Imbert Organizations: UBS, Barclays, CNBC, Citi, Fox, JV, Ross, Price, Pfizer, DRG, Equitable, JPMorgan, Traction, JPMorgan downgrades Locations: 1Q24, Xperi, 4Q22

☆ A former Obama aide who advised Succession writers on their chaotic presidential election outcome hopes 'that ultimately, life does not imitate art'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Schultz wrote about how he helped craft the show's fictional presidential election. A former Obama White House aide who worked with writers on crafting the chaotic end to the show's fictional presidential election expressed hope that the brief chapter in the Roys' saga doesn't become real life. "With Succession, I can only hope we didn't predict the future and that, ultimately, life does not imitate art." Roman Roy, played by Kieran Culkin, teases his sister Shiv by saying "False Flag" repeatedly when she raises the possibility of a pro-Mencken plot. AdvertisementAdvertisement"So much for my political expertise," Schultz wrote of how he dismissed concerns about arson in actual political circles.

Persons: Eric Schultz, Schultz, doesn't, fixating, Eric Shultz, Jeryd Mencken, Kendall, Roman Roy, Jesse Armstrong, Armstrong, Darwin Perry, Adam Godley, Kieran Culkin, Shiv, Mencken, Politico's Zach Montellaro, Donald Trump, Mike Pence Organizations: HBO's, Service, Obama White House, White, Hollywood, HBO, Republican, ATN, Democratic, Electoral College Locations: Wall, Silicon, Milwaukee

☆ ‘Succession’ Is Over. Why Did We Care?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Alexis Soloski | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Sunday night, with the second son, Kendall, poised to take it all, his younger sister, Shiv, betrayed him. The company would be sold to Lukas Matsson, a Swedish tech anarchocapitalist, with Shiv’s husband, Tom Wambsgans, as C.E.O. In its final season, “Succession” drew fewer than half the viewers, across all platforms, of “The Sopranos” or “Game of Thrones.” So if this was a water cooler show, that water was filtered. Yet its queasy, stinging satire of the ultrawealthy exerted an outsize influence on its audience. If you hardened your heart, or if your heart came pre-hardened, it made for a mutinous kind of comfort viewing, in which pleasure, envy and outrage could twine.

☆ ‘Succession’ Series Finale Recap: The Dotted Line
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Noel Murray | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At the end of the series premiere, Logan suffered a debilitating stroke, setting in motion the plot that would go on to drive four “Succession” seasons. Heading into the series finale, most of the big questions raised by that first episode remained unsettled. We will have a full review of the final “Succession” episode soon. In the meantime, here is a quick summary of how some of those questions were answered by the finale. Instead, Matsson becomes convinced that the sycophantic Tom will do whatever dirty deed the new bosses need done after the takeover.

☆ Do You Have What It Takes to Be Kendall Roy’s Assistant?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Callie Holtermann | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ms. Nagel said she had enjoyed learning to solve the problems of the ultrarich. The dog spent a week at sea being doted on by Ms. Nagel and the ship’s crew while the family ignored him. A week later, Ms. Nagel said, she found a family ashore to adopt the Pomeranian. “She starts to want to speak her mind a little more this season, but she’s still an assistant,” Ms. Canfield said in an interview at the Season 4 premiere. Other onscreen assistants expose viewers to workplace sexism (Julia Garner in “The Assistant”) and racism (Rex Lee in “Entourage”).

☆ The mourning dress codes of ‘Succession’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Jacquelyn Palumbo | Jacqui Palumbo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“Succession” has treated us to both a wedding and a funeral as fate of the Roy siblings spin out towards its finale (which is produced by Warner Bros. Discovery, parent company of CNN), and its penultimate episode gave us mourning dress codes in a grand Catholic setting. “I can do anything — my dad just died,” Shiv responds when asked for a favor at the mass. By episode nine, with the company in a shaky post-Logan transition, the optics of how the Roy siblings perform at the funeral hold a lot of weight. Emotions must be stamped down, they maintain a fragile façade, and getting too close to the truth of Logan Roy is met with a wall of cognitive dissonance.

☆ Opinion | Why ‘Succession’ Is a Work of Fantasy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Between the Dominion Voting Systems settlement and the Tucker Carlson firing, we’ve had a lot of real-world Fox drama lately, and the contrast between reality and fiction tells us something interesting about how art depicts our politics — and how the nature of democratic politics can resist successful dramatization. In the world of “Succession,” the key election-night dilemma is somewhat similar — when to call a crucial state — but the dynamics are quite different. The show’s presidential election is disrupted by a fire (arson?) at a Milwaukee precinct that destroys thousands of ballots, leaving the right-wing candidate ahead pending litigation, and his campaign wants ATN (the show’s Fox News) to call Wisconsin for him immediately. With two episodes left, the dice seem loaded for the second outcome: Failsons and a faildaughter lose their company and, oops, bring down the American republic along the way.

☆ In ‘Succession,’ Democracy Goes Up in Smoke
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( James Poniewozik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Succession” is predictable in the best way. It simply sets up conditions, gives characters motivations, then lets them act in their interests. For America, it’s the choice between remaining a country where elections are won with ballots or becoming one where they’re won with torches. Roman, who has always vibed with Mencken’s edgelord energy, sees no reason not to get on the good side of a history-smashing win. This had to be a rough episode for Team Roman, the “Succession” fans who love his broken-toy impishness and “Clockwork Orange” banter.

☆ ‘Succession’ Season 4, Episode 8 Recap: The Will of Some People
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Noel Murray | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Here, he listens to Shiv’s argument that ATN could slow the Mencken momentum. The first is that Kendall really wants the next president to kill the GoJo deal, which Roman insists Mencken will do. So Kendall asks Shiv to take one more shot at persuading her ex-lover Nate to get Jimenez to make that same promise. This sets up the second impediment: when Kendall call Nate to iterate more clearly what Shiv claims to have said. ATN really is about to help elevate an authoritarian to America’s most powerful public office because one spoiled brother is in a snit.

☆ ‘Succession’ Season 4, Episode 6: Cool New Rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Noel Murray | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Roman’s initial response is to troll, by making a snide comment about the “incredibly evolved, ruthlessly segregated” community of Los Angeles. But Kendall is excited about them putting their own stamp on Waystar, and thinks these two firings may impress the markets. It’s a reasonable assumption too, because Kendall is in full Icarus mode throughout this episode. There are few things more entertaining in “Succession” than Kendall in a boss groove, tossing out big ideas and buzzy business jargon at a rapid clip. (“Numbers aren’t just numbers, they’re numbers,” Pete sputters.)

☆ ‘Succession’ Season 4, Episode 5 Recap: Bleed the Swede
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Noel Murray | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The trip is the first big test for Kendall and Roman, who spend the first part of this episode scrutinizing emails and complaining about keeping the numbers straight across five Waystar divisions. Gerri though, on the plane ride over, encourages her people not to be so worried about these smug Swedes. Matsson pledged to buy Waystar Royco (minus ATN) for $144 a share. In a private meeting with Matsson, Kendall casts a steely eye on him and remains unfazed even when the flighty tech billionaire makes a snide comment about Waystar’s sliding stock price. So ends Round 1 of this negotiation, with Matsson slightly ahead, if only because he asked for something Kendall and Roman were not prepared to give.

☆ Rupert Murdoch's divorce settlement with Jerry Hall banned her from sharing story ideas with 'Succession' writers, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch abruptly divorced his fourth wife, Jerry Hall, last summer. As part of the settlement, he banned Hall from giving story ideas to the "Succession" writing team, according to Vanity Fair. The HBO show was largely inspired by the Murdoch family and turmoil around electing a successor. The report comes amid ongoing turmoil within the Murdoch family in selecting a successor to News Corporation, the multi-billion dollar media company created and led by Murdoch, now 91. The Murdoch family largely served as inspiration for the HBO hit show "Succession."

☆ Logan Roy's fiery speech atop printer-paper boxes on 'Succession' evokes a real-life Rupert Murdoch moment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"Succession" patriarch Logan Roy rallied his fictional newsroom with a speech atop printer-paper boxes. In his speech, Murdoch told the reporters present that "We have to entertain, inform, enrich all our readers in their lives and in their businesses," according to Ellison's book. Representatives for Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal did not respond to Insider's request for comment. "Then we all kind of stood around as people were literally dispatched to drag the printer boxes over to where Rupert planned to stand," she added. "The printer boxes, especially since we literally saw them dragged to their place, were key to the mood of menace and worry that day."

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