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☆ Disney shares pop 7% in premarket trade after earnings beat and Epic Games, Eras Tour news
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Disney said the partnership will see it work together with Epic to create new games using its intellectual property, including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and Avatar. Taylor Swift performs onstage during "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour" at Allianz Parque on November 24, 2023 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Disney lost customers on streaming platform Disney+, but revenue was higher due to a hike in subscription costs. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Walt Disney Company share price. The Epic Games partnership could prove fruitful but is likely to be a "slow burn," he said in a note.

Persons: Bob Iger, Disney, Taylor, Taylor Swift, Buda Mendes, Ben Barringer, Quilter Cheviot, Nelson Peltz Organizations: Disney, Epic Games, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, ESPN, Allianz Parque, Getty, Walt Disney Company, Parks, CNBC Locations: Sao Paulo, Brazil, Buda

☆ Meta shares surge 17% in premarket trade after announcing first-ever dividend
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during Meta Connect event at Meta headquarters in Menlo Park, California on September 27, 2023. Josh Edelson | AFP | Getty ImagesShares of Facebook parent company Meta jumped Friday, after the firm reported a threefold jump in fourth-quarter profit and issued its first-ever dividend. First-ever dividendMeta said it would pay investors a dividend of 50 cents a share on March 26, in the company's first-ever cash dividend. Meta also announced a $50 billion share buyback. Ben Barringer, technology analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said this represented a "symbolic moment and indicates what a turnaround story Meta has been on since its struggles in 2022."

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Josh Edelson, Meta, Ben Barringer, Cheviot, Barringer Organizations: Meta, AFP, Getty, Facebook, Revenue, Investors, Microsoft Locations: Menlo Park , California, U.S

☆ Tech's longtime highfliers are growing up by getting smaller
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

They're still out hunting for the best technical talent, particularly in areas like artificial intelligence, but headcount growth is measured. Last year, tech companies were responding to dramatically changing market conditions — soaring inflation, rising interest rates, rotation out of risk — after an extended bull market. Meta slashed over 20,000 jobs in 2023, Amazon laid off more than 27,000 people, And Alphabet cut over 12,000 positions. Other than Nvidia , which had a banner 2023 due to soaring demand for its AI chips, none of the other mega-cap tech companies have been growing at their historic averages. By late this year, analysts are projecting growth at Meta will be back down to the low teens at best.

Persons: Tayfun, There's, Daniel Flax, Neuberger Berman, CNBC's, Morgan Stanley, Brian Nowak, Brian Olsavsky, They're, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Olsavsky, Phil Spencer, Justin Sullivan, Okta, Zuora, Evan Sohn, Recruiter.com, " Sohn, Susan Li, Ben Barringer, Cheviot, Barringer, —, Annie Palmer Organizations: Anadolu Agency, Getty Images Technology, Amazon, Meta, hasn't, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, SAN FRANCISCO, Activision, FTC, Getty, Federal, Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, Tech, Nvidia, Finance, CNBC Locations: Menlo Park , California, Silicon Valley, CALIFORNIA, San Francisco , California

☆ Tesla shares plunge to wipe out $71 billion in market value, after dour earnings call
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —Shares in Tesla plunged as much as 11% after the market opened Thursday, wiping $73 billion off the company’s market value hours after it warned of slowing growth in electric car sales and an existential threat from Chinese rivals. While it reported a sizeable 38% increase in deliveries last year compared with 2022, Tesla had previously targeted a 50% annual growth rate averaged over several years. At the time, investors were worried about the outlook for Tesla’s sales and profitability, as well as the health of the US economy. Dan Ives, an analyst with market research firm Wedbush, said Tesla’s earnings call provided investors with “minimal answers” to the company’s shrinking margins. China’s BYD beat Tesla in the final three months of last year, selling more cars than Elon Musk’s carmaker for the first time.

Persons: Tesla, Thursday’s, Qilai Shen, Dan Ives, Musk, ”, China Tesla, China’s, Elon Musk’s carmaker, ” Garrett Nelson, Ben Barringer, Chris Isidore Organizations: London CNN —, Bloomberg, Getty, Elon, CFRA Research Locations: Shanghai, China, Cheviot

The deal was the biggest test of the CMA's global power to take on the tech giants since Britain left the European Union. "The new deal will stop Microsoft from locking up competition in cloud gaming as this market takes off, preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers," it said in a statement. Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard's games characters in this illustration taken January 18, 2022. Activision Blizzard said: "The CMA's official approval is great news for our future with Microsoft, and we look forward to becoming part of the Xbox Team." The European Commission said the new commitments given by Microsoft to the CMA did not interfere with its EU commitments.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Jeremy Hunt, Sarah Cardell, Ben Barringer, Brad Smith, Activision Blizzard, Paul Sandle, Yadarisa Shabong, Aditya Soni, Foo Yun Chee, Varun H, Kate Holton, Sonali Paul, Jane Merriman, Sherry Jacob, Phillips Organizations: CMA, Microsoft, LONDON, Activision Blizzard, Sony, Activision, Competition, Markets Authority, Ubisoft Entertainment, Britain, European Union, PlayStation, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, FTC, REUTERS, British, Finance, Xbox, European Commission, Thomson Locations: Britain, Cheviot, London, Bengaluru, Foo

Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard's games characters in this illustration taken January 18, 2022. The deal was blocked in April by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which said it could give the U.S. computing giant a stranglehold over the nascent cloud gaming market. The deal was the biggest test of the CMA's global power to take on the tech giants since Britain left the European Union. "The new deal will stop Microsoft from locking up competition in cloud gaming as this market takes off, preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers," it said in a statement. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission opposed the deal but after failing to stop it, the CMA was left standing alone.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Jeremy Hunt, Sarah Cardell, Ben Barringer, Brad Smith, Activision Blizzard, Paul Sandle, Yadarisa, Foo Yun Chee, Varun H, Kate Holton, Sonali Paul, Jane Merriman Organizations: Microsoft, Activision, REUTERS, CMA, LONDON, Activision Blizzard, Competition, Markets Authority, Ubisoft Entertainment, Britain, European Union, PlayStation, Sony, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, FTC, British, Finance, Xbox, European Commission, Thomson Locations: Britain, Cheviot, London, Bengaluru, Foo

☆ Arm jumps 6% on its second trading day with valuation topping $72 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Arm shares were even higher earlier but pared some of those gains. It comes after Arm shares rallied nearly 25% on the company's first day of trade on Thursday. With the rally ongoing, Arm continues to trade at a premium to chip giant Nvidia, even as its faces headwinds to its growth. SoftBank has faced criticism about its investment strategy with its massive Vision Fund tech investment arm posting a significant loss in its last fiscal year. This has been enough to put off some investors from the Arm IPO.

Persons: Ben Barringer, Cheviot, CNBC's, SoftBank Organizations: Arm Holdings, Nasdaq, Nvidia, Vision Fund

☆ Cloud, not consoles, blocks Microsoft's Activision view in UK
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - For all the thunder about Xbox versus PlayStation, it was the nascent cloud market that led to Britain's surprise decision to block Microsoft's record Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) takeover. That only answered the CMA's console concerns, leaving cloud gaming as the only remaining - and apparently lower - hurdle. Defining cloud gaming is not simple. The CMA disagreed, saying that cloud was the most rapidly growing sector in gaming, while consoles were a mature market. It said Microsoft already accounted for 60-70% of global cloud gaming services and had other trump cards: Xbox, the leading PC operating system Windows and cloud provider Azure.

The tussle with Disney could be Peltz's biggest proxy battle since an acrimonious fight to bag a seat on the board of Tide detergent-maker P&G (PG.N). During his more than three-year tenure on P&G's board, the firm's stock price rose nearly 80%. Peltz's Trian Fund Management on Thursday filed documents with the U.S. securities regulator for his election as a director after Disney denied him a board seat. "Iger is a well-liked CEO, not only within Disney and its employees but also in Hollywood and the stock market. Investors will vote later this year on whether Peltz should sit on the company's board, unless it's settled before.

☆ Amazon slumps as tech selloff worsens
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The dour outlook worsened this week's tech selloff amid fears of a looming recession, weighing on shares of Meta Platforms Inc (META.O), Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O). Amazon's shares, which were down 12.8% at $96.77, were trading at their lowest since March 2020. "Despite accelerating revenues, Amazon has been cut down to size by the market after missing expectations. While the cloud services segment has been one of high and sustained growth for tech companies, indications for Amazon, Microsoft and Intel Corp (INTC.O) this week point to lower investments as costs rise. Reporting by Akash Sriram and Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Amazon shares slump, Big Tech peers stay afloat
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc's (AMZN.O) shares fell about 8% on Friday after forecasting holiday-quarter sales below Wall Street estimates, while its Big Tech peers recovered from a bruising selloff this week. The online retailer, whose market cap briefly fell below $1 trillion, was last down 8.4% at $101.66, after hitting its lowest since April 2020. Apple Inc (AAPL.O), however, shone bright amid a crowd of dimming lights in the Big Tech space, as the iPhone maker reported revenue and profit that topped analysts' estimates. Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta gained between 1.2% and 3.1% after their shares were battered this week following gloomy outlook from the companies. The Big Tech stocks are on track to lose more than $400 billion this week.

[1/3] Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is seen on smartphone in this illustration picture taken October 28, 2021. Executives announced plans to consolidate offices and said Meta would keep headcount flat through the end of 2023. Meta also forecast that its full-year 2023 total expenses would be $96 billion to $101 billion, significantly higher than a revised estimate for 2022 total expenses of $85 billion to $87 billion. It also forecast that operating losses associated with the Reality Labs unit responsible for its metaverse investments would grow in 2023 and pledged to "pace" investments after that. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has said he expects the metaverse investments to take about a decade to bear fruit.

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationOct 26 (Reuters) - Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) on Wednesday forecast a weak holiday quarter and significantly more losses from Metaverse investments next year, sending shares down 14%. Meta expects in 2023 to employ about the same number of employees as it did at the end of September. It also posted user growth figures roughly in line with expectations, including a year-over-year increase of monthly active users on flagship app Facebook. Total costs for the third quarter came in above estimates at $22.1 billion, compared with $18.6 billion the year prior. "Given revenues were down at a time when costs have grown significantly, modest user growth and impressions simply isn't going to bail you out."

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