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☆ Robinhood climbs after reporting record earnings for first quarter
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of Robinhood rose in extended trading Wednesday afternoon after the retail brokerage announced stronger-than-expected first-quarter results. Robinhood reported net income of $157 million, or 18 cents per share, for the first quarter. Cryptocurrency transactions accounted for $126 million in revenue in the quarter, the company said. Robinhood said that its number of funded customers rose by 810,000 year over year to 23.9 million. Shares of Robinhood were up nearly 40% year to date before Wednesday's earnings announcement.

Persons: Robinhood, Dan Gallagher, Robinhood's Organizations: LSEG, Securities and Exchange Commission

☆ Robinhood says SEC could pursue enforcement actions over its crypto operations
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Securities and Exchange Commission could soon pursue enforcement action against Robinhood , according to the trading firm. Robinhood disclosed in a filing Monday that over the weekend the regulator sent it a warning that upon completion of an investigation the company could be charged. "We firmly believe that the assets listed on our platform are not securities and we look forward to engaging with the SEC to make clear just how weak any case against Robinhood Crypto would be on both the facts and the law," he said. Shares of the stock initially fell 2% but have reversed. They were recently trading up 1%.

Persons: Robinhood, Dan Gallagher, Robinhood's, Robinhood Crypto Organizations: Securities, Exchange Commission, Robinhood, SEC

☆ What to expect from Reddit as the social media company looks for investors pre-IPO
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWhat to expect from Reddit as the social media company looks for investors pre-IPODan Gallagher, Wall Street Journal, joins 'Fast Money' to talk Reddit looking for investors pre-IPO.

Persons: Dan Gallagher Organizations: Wall Street

☆ Why Big Tech Is Still Minding Its Bills
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Google began laying off hundreds of employees this week across several divisions. Photo: Gene Blevins/Zuma PressEven the deepest pockets have their limits. Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet sit on a combined $184 billion in cash and short-term investments. Those two, along with big tech peers Microsoft , Apple and Facebook -parent Meta Platforms, hold the highest such balances among nonbanking companies on the S&P 500, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Amazon and Alphabet are also currently generating just under $95 billion combined in annual free cash flow.

Persons: Gene Blevins Organizations: Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, P Global Market Intelligence

☆ Nvidia’s Rivals Prepare Their AI Assault
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

AMD CEO Lisa Su has told investors that the company expects $2 billion in revenue from its new AI chips next year. Photo: robyn beck/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesNvidia was never going to have the artificial intelligence market all to itself. The past year has certainly made it seem that way, though. Nvidia’s sales have more than doubled—and its market value more than tripled—as major tech companies snapped up the company’s chips to capitalize on the explosive interest in generative AI sparked by the launch of the ChatGPT online chatbot a year ago. Intel and Advanced Micro Devices , two of Nvidia’s largest competitors, have seen their data-center sales shrink lately as the tech giants operating those networks have redirected their spending toward Nvidia’s specialized chip platforms.

Persons: Lisa Su, robyn beck Organizations: Agence France, Nvidia, Intel, Devices

☆ Salesforce Keeps Growth Dreams Alive Enough
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff speaks during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in San Francisco on Nov. 16. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg NewsThere was a time—and not very long ago—that Salesforce would have scoffed at 11% growth. That was then. The cloud software giant’s fiscal third-quarter ended October was the third consecutive period showing revenue growing at that pace year over year. The company also used Wednesday’s report to affirm Wall Street’s projection for 10% growth in the current quarter ending in January—9.8% if not rounding.

Persons: Marc Benioff, David Paul Morris Organizations: Economic Cooperation, Bloomberg Locations: Asia, San Francisco, —

☆ Why Amazon and Nvidia Need Each Other
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, right, joined AWS CEO Adam Selipsky at the annual AWS re:Invent conference on Tuesday. Photo: AmazonAmazon needed to put on a good AI show this week. The e-commerce titan also happens to run the world’s largest cloud-computing business. In fact, Amazon’s AWS unit now generates significantly more annual revenue than IBM and Oracle and comes second only to Microsoft in the market for business-focused software and related services. But Amazon has also been perceived as lagging behind its largest cloud rival in the field of generative artificial intelligence, given Microsoft’s aggressive push into the technology since the public launch of ChatGPT almost exactly one year ago.

Persons: Jensen Huang, Adam Selipsky Organizations: Nvidia, AWS, IBM, Oracle, Microsoft

☆ Microsoft Needs a Better Seat at OpenAI’s Table
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

OpenAI said late Tuesday that Sam Altman will return to the artificial-intelligence company as CEO, with a new initial board. WSJ reporter Tom Dotan analyzes the latest developments. Photo: John G Mabanglo/ShutterstockMicrosoft played a weak hand rather well in the drama that engulfed OpenAI last week. But the tech giant now has a complicated task ahead: It needs to solidify its relationship with the high-profile startup while also showing it can chart its own course in the vital field of artificial intelligence. In the interim, Microsoft announced plans to hire Altman directly, along with any other OpenAI employees who cared to join.

Persons: OpenAI, Sam Altman, Tom Dotan, John G Mabanglo, Satya Nadella’s, Altman Organizations: Microsoft, OpenAI Locations: OpenAI

☆ Next Year’s Holiday Gift May Be AI in Your Pocket
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Smartphones and personal computers are about to get a lot smarter. Will that be a good enough reason to buy new ones? A growing number of major technology companies are betting that it will. Generative artificial intelligence has taken the tech world by storm ever since the public launch of the online chatbot called ChatGPT almost exactly a year ago. Major companies like Microsoft , Google, Amazon and Facebook -parent Meta Platforms have already rolled out services enabled by the technology, which can draft emails, create spreadsheets and even allow non-programmers to produce workable computer code.

Organizations: Microsoft, Google, Facebook

☆ Nvidia’s AI Boom Almost Blows Past Politics
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Jensen Huang, co-founder and chief executive officer of Nvidia, last month in Taipei. Photo: i-hwa cheng/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesNvidia rules the artificial intelligence world, but that world is getting a little smaller—and more crowded. The chip maker now synonymous with AI reported another quarter of blowout sales and earnings growth late Tuesday. Nvidia’s strong lead in the chips necessary to power generative AI technologies such as ChatGPT is also evident in its surging bottom line. Adjusted operating margins hit a record high of 64% in the fiscal third quarter ended October, far above the company’s average of 38% for the same quarter over the past five years.

Persons: Jensen Huang, hwa cheng Organizations: Nvidia, Agence France, Revenue Locations: Taipei

☆ OpenAI Glitch Shows Weaknesses in Microsoft’s AI Armor
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Microsoft may have put out a five-alarm fire around its most important technology move in years. But fires leave scorch marks—and sometimes flare up again. A leadership crisis at Silicon Valley startup OpenAI over the weekend threatened to seriously singe the world’s second-largest company by market value. That is because OpenAI developed the key generative artificial-intelligence technology that has helped power Microsoft’s aggressive move into the field. Microsoft has invested a total of $13 billion into the company and already launched commercial products and services based on its technology, including a chatbot-enabled Bing search engine and a superpowered digital assistant called Copilot that can render emails, spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations.

Persons: OpenAI Organizations: Microsoft Locations: Silicon

☆ What You Need to Know About the OpenAI Drama
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

News of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's surprise ouster dominated tech news this past weekend, and it continues to swirl today. Altman and others have also pushed for a new board at OpenAI. Mira Murati, OpenAI's chief technology officer, had briefly held the position after Altman was removed. ... Those clients will need to know that Microsoft’s vital code can’t be scrambled by a Silicon Valley soap opera." Part of the backdrop: investor enthusiasm for the potential of AI technology, which has driven several stocks higher this year.

Persons: Sam Altman's, doesn't, Altman —, Greg Brockman — aren't, Altman, Brockman, OpenAI, Emmett Shear, Mira Murati, Joanna Stern, Heard, Dan Gallagher's Organizations: Microsoft

☆ Marvel’s Bomb Won’t Blow Up Hollywood’s Formula
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Photo illustration: Ryan TrefesWanted by Hollywood: World-famous intellectual property that no one has yet thought to make into a movie. Disney ’s Marvel Cinematic Universe has been the most successful movie franchise in history, grossing nearly $30 billion globally over 33 films to date. But this past weekend provided the latest sign that the lucrative stable of superheroes is in need of some rescuing. “The Marvels” grossed a mere $47 million for its domestic box-office debut—a record low for the franchise and a major disappointment even against other recent Marvel movies that have been showing signs of strain. The nine other Marvel movies that have opened since the pandemic closed movie theaters in 2020 have averaged a domestic opening weekend of about $136 million, according to data from Box Office Mojo.

Persons: Ryan Trefes Organizations: Star, Hollywood, Marvel, Office Mojo

☆ NHL roundup: Blues blitz Avs behind 2 hat tricks
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Schenn, who also had an assist, now has four career hat tricks, while Buchnevich, who had two short-handed goals, has three career hat tricks. Torey Krug had a goal and an assist, Alexey Toropchenko also scored and Robert Thomas added four assists for the Blues. Guhle also added an assist as the Habs scored two goals in a rapid-fire span in the third period. Brad Marchand logged a goal and an assist to lead the Bruins, who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Cole Perfetti and Brenden Dillon scored goals for the Jets, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.

Persons: Louis, Robert Thomas, Ron Chenoy, Schenn, Pavel Buchnevich, Buchnevich, Torey Krug, Alexey Toropchenko, Jordan Binnington, Mikko Rantanen, Jack Johnson, Alexandar Georgiev, Ivan Prosvetov, Kaiden Guhle's, Nick Suzuki, Brendan Gallagher, Guhle, Sam Montembeault, Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman, Zach Hyman, Dylan Holloway, Stuart Skinner, Jaden Schwartz, Philipp Grubauer, Joey Daccord, Daniel Sprong, Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat, Robby Fabbri, Jake Walman, Ville Husso, Columbus, Patrik Laine, Alexandre Texier, Adam Fantilli, Sean Kuraly, Spencer Martin, Wyatt Johnston, Thomas Harley, Matt Duchene, Scott Wedgewood, Cole Perfetti, Brenden Dillon, Connor Hellebuyck, Drake Batherson, Mathieu Joseph, Rourke Chartier, Travis Hamonic, Tim Stutzle, Joonas Korpisalo, Blake Coleman, Calgary's, Dustin Wolf, Jacob Markstrom, Pyotr Kochetkov, Sebastian Aho, Brent Burns, Kochetkov, Jonas Johansson, Noah Gregor, Matthew Knies, William Nylander, Nicholas Robertson, David Kampf, Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi, Bobby McMann, J.T . Miller, Pius Suter, Nic Dowd, Aliaksei, Alex Ovechkin, Wayne Gretzky, Ovechkin, Gretzky, Dowd, hadn't, Protas, Alexander Romanov, Erik Karlsson, Tristan Jarry, Ukko, Pekka Luukkonen, Michael Carcone, Sean Durzi, Troy Stecher, Alex Kerfoot, Clayton Keller, Connor Ingram, Filip Forsberg, Kiefer Sherwood, Dante Fabbro, Ryan O'Reilly, Morgan Frost, Cal Petersen, Owen Tippett, Cam Atkinson, Sean Walker, Adrian Kempe, Carl Grundstrom, Cam Talbot Organizations: Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Ball, Blues, St, Avalanche, Canadiens, Bruins, Boston, NHL, Oilers, Seattle, San Jose, Wings, Blue Jackets, Detroit, Red Wings, Jets, Dallas, Winnipeg, Stars, Central Division, Senators, Flames, Ottawa, Calgary, AHL, Hurricanes, Tampa, Maple Leafs, Canucks, Toronto, Vancouver, Capitals, Islanders, New, Penguins, Sabres, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Coyotes, Predators, Nashville, Flyers, Philadelphia, Anaheim, Los, Thomson Locations: Denver , Colorado, USA, Denver, Montreal, Edmonton, Columbus, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Washington, New York, Elmont, Arizona, Los Angeles, Southern California, Philadelphia

☆ Microsoft’s Next Act: Bending the Videogame Business Without Breaking It
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Activision Blizzard’s ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’ went on sale Friday. Photo: bertrand guay/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesMicrosoft now owns some of the biggest videogames in the world. The biggest of those games is in the spotlight this week, as Activision Blizzard’s latest “Call of Duty” sequel went on sale Friday. Called “Modern Warfare III,” the new game is notable for a couple reasons. The first is that much of its development took place during a period in which Activision’s future structure was uncertain, as the $75 billion acquisition by Microsoft took nearly two years to close.

Persons: III ’, bertrand guay Organizations: Activision, Agence France, Getty, Microsoft, Warfare

☆ Disney Wears Its New Look Well
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The launch event for the second season of the Disney+ series ‘Loki,’ at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. That will likely make life a little harder for those trying to break into the Mouse House. The entertainment giant’s fiscal fourth-quarter results late Wednesday generally came in ahead of Wall Street’s expectations, especially in key areas such as streaming subscribers, theme park revenue and operating income. All soundly beat Wall Street’s targets—especially the 6.9 million net new subscribers added to the core Disney+ service during the September quarter, which was more than double the number analysts expected. Disney’s shares rose more than 3% in after-hours trading following the results.

Persons: ’ Organizations: Disney, El Capitan Theatre Locations: Hollywood

☆ Warner Gets Too Real About Advertising Meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Warner feels the need to invest in growth areas such as its videogame business. Warner Bros. Its studio revenue grew 4% year over year, which is its first such gain in more than a year. But that was offset by continued weakness in advertising, which fell 12% year over year to just under $1.8 billion—a record low for the combined company’s reported results that go back to the beginning of 2021. Warner also lost about 1.4 million domestic subscribers to its streaming services that included the recently rebranded Max; analysts had been expecting a drop of only about 200,000 subscribers.

Persons: Warner, claudia greco, Barbie ” Organizations: Warner Bros, Discovery

☆ Auto Chip Makers Try to Avoid a Pileup
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Semiconductor sales to the auto industry jumped 16% in 2022. The industry has been mired in a historic slump for more than a year now. The Semiconductor Industry Association, or SIA, reported last week that global chip sales in September fell 4.5% from the same period last year. That made for the 14th straight month of sales declines—a streak not seen in more than a decade. Much of the downturn has been due to weak sales of PCs, smartphones and other consumer and business electronics that saw a rise in demand earlier in the pandemic.

Persons: Justin Sullivan Organizations: Semiconductor Industry Association, SIA

☆ Dating Apps Need to Rekindle Romance With Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Lidiane Jones will take over as CEO of Bumble. Photo: josh edelson/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesInvestors are swiping left on Bumble ’s new chief. The owner of the female-driven online dating app of the same name saw its share price slide about 5% on Monday morning after the company said that founder Whitney Wolfe Herd is stepping down from the chief-executive officer role. She will remain as executive chair, while Lidiane Jones will take over as CEO on Jan 2. She currently heads up Slack Technologies, where she became CEO almost a year ago under the ownership of Salesforce.

Persons: Lidiane Jones, Bumble, josh edelson, Whitney Wolfe Organizations: Agence France, Getty, Slack Technologies

☆ Investors Aren’t Buying Apple’s New iPhone
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Apple’s stock has recently been underperforming its big tech peers. Photo: Brittany Peterson/Associated PressCompared with its big tech peers inflated by artificial-intelligence hype, Apple seemed to have the lowest bar to clear in the current earnings season. At the very least, Apple’s fiscal fourth-quarter results late Thursday indicate that its newest iPhones aren’t off to a raging start. The company launched the iPhone 15 family during its usual window about a week before the quarter’s end in late September. But that compares with a 10% gain in the previous year’s fourth quarter and a 47% surge in 2021, when the iPhone 13 family launched to surprisingly strong demand.

Persons: Brittany Peterson Organizations: Associated

☆ Chip Makers’ PC Boost Not Built to Last
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

PCs have proved to be the saving grace for Intel and Advanced Micro Devices this earnings season. Photo: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg NewsIt’s a testament to how odd the chip market is right now that personal-computer demand is actually a source of strength. PC sales have been in a downspin since early last year, following two years of pandemic-induced growth. The downturn has been such that the 7.6% year-over-year decline in unit sales that market-research firm IDC reported for the third quarter actually counted as a notable improvement, as sales had been falling by double digits for the previous five periods. IDC projects PC shipments will total 252 million units globally this year—down 14% from last year and the lowest annual sales number the firm has reported in more than a decade.

Persons: Alex Kraus, It’s Organizations: Intel, Bloomberg, IDC

☆ Apple’s Dark Cloud Might Linger
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Apple stopped giving actual financial forecasts early in the pandemic and has yet to resume, though it typically offers some qualitative comments about the ongoing quarter. Photo: Michael Kuenne/Zuma PressWinter has come early for Apple , and it might last a while. The world’s largest company by market value has become worth considerably less over the past three months. Apple’s share price has slid 11% since the company reported its fiscal third-quarter results on Aug. 3, erasing nearly $400 billion in market value. It is hardly a typical swing given the fact that the company has long used the fall season to launch its biggest products for every year, including new iPhones.

Persons: Apple, Michael Kuenne Organizations: Apple

☆ Amazon Beefs Up Bottom Line as AI Battle Shapes Up
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Results for Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud-computing division, were more closely watched than normal this quarter. Photo: Pau Barrena/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesAmazon might not yet be the clear winner in the race among tech giants over artificial intelligence. Total revenue of $143.1 billion was up 13% from the same period last year, which exceeded the 11% growth Wall Street was expecting. And operating income soared, hitting a record $11.2 billion compared with $2.5 billion in last year’s third quarter—exceeding analysts’ consensus target by nearly half. That was helped by sharp growth in advertising and third-party seller services—both of which offer superior profit margins compared with Amazon’s more typical retail sales.

Persons: Pau Organizations: Amazon Web Services, Pau Barrena, Agence France

☆ Meta’s New Year of Efficiency Won’t Look Like the Old One
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that artificial intelligence will be the company’s biggest investment area in 2024. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg NewsA social-network company serving nearly half the world’s population should be pretty efficient at giving everyone something they want. The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and new Twitter challenger Threads posted largely strong results for the period late Wednesday. Daily active users both for Facebook and the company’s broader Family of Apps also grew more than analysts had expected. Facebook even added 10 million daily active users in the U.S. and Canada compared with consensus forecasts calling for zero growth in what is still the company’s most important ad market.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, David Paul Morris, Wall Organizations: Bloomberg, Meta, Facebook, Apps Locations: U.S, Canada

☆ Microsoft Gets Another Leg Up on Google in AI Race
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Microsoft has aggressively adopted ChatGPT’s technology since the chatbot was launched late last year. But if their latest quarterly results are any indication, it may be Microsoft ’s game to lose. Microsoft and Google-parent Alphabet both saw improvements to their core businesses during the September quarter according to results posted by both companies late Tuesday. Google’s advertising revenue grew 9% year-over-year to $59.6 billion during the quarter, beating Wall Street’s expectations and up notably from the 3% growth reported for the June period. That was helped by a notable pickup in YouTube’s advertising revenue, which jumped 12% for its quickest pace in nearly two years.

Persons: justin Organizations: Microsoft, Google

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