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☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Costco, Apple, Snowflake, Meta, Nike, Disney, Airbnb & more
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Goldman Sachs reiterates Alphabet as buy Goldman said it's sticking with its buy rating following the company's Google Cloud Next event. "We are initiating coverage of Airbnb (ABNB) with a BUY rating and a $190 per share price target." "Following a period of restriction, we are moving to an Overweight rating and a December 2024 price target of $140." "Given the increase in stock price, we believe valuation levels have disconnected from the fundamental outlook." Piper Sandler reiterates Meta as overweight Piper raised its price target on the stock to $600 per share from $525. "

Persons: Evercore, it's bullish, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, Berenberg, TD Cowen, Visa, Oppenheimer, it's, Snowflake, Raymond James, Simona Jankowski, Wells, Morgan Stanley, Moffett, We've, Marsh, Bernstein, Kenvue, underperform Bernstein, Johnson, Needham, Airbnb, CVX, TTE, Piper Sandler, Meta, Piper, Wells Fargo Organizations: JPMorgan, Apple, Mastercard, Barclays, Nasdaq, Nvidia, UBS, Gartner, IT, Deutsche Bank, ATI, Deutsche, Disney, Microsoft, TEAM, " Bank of America, Nike, of America, Citi, Robinhood, MMC, Qualcomm, Johnson, Consumer, Scotiabank, Hamilton Insurance, Costco, ~$ Locations: Albemarle, Chevron

A pedestrian carrying an umbrella walks along the River Thames in view of City of London skyline in London, Britain, July 31, 2023. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSYDNEY, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Australia's second-largest pension fund plans to open its first overseas office by mid-2024, its chief investment officer said on Friday, the latest retirement manager to look overseas as the country's pension sector outgrows the home market. The team will "almost certainly" be based in London and only be small because ART relies mostly on external managers, Patrick said, adding the office would likely open between now and mid-2024. A decision on a second overseas office would be made 12 to 24 months after the first opens. ART invests roughly two-thirds of all new money funds overseas.

Persons: Hollie Adams, Ian Patrick, Patrick, HarbourVest, Neuberger Berman, Lewis Jackson, Praveen Menon, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Stepstone, AustralianSuper, Nikkei, Thomson Locations: City, London, Britain, New York, China

☆ Industry Ventures just raised $1.4 billion for one of the largest venture capital secondary funds ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Industry Ventures is one of the largest players in the VC secondary market, where shares of startups are bought and sold. Industry Ventures, a pioneer in the venture capital secondary market where shares of startups are bought and sold, has raised $1.4 billion for its latest flagship secondary fund, according to an SEC filing. The last time the industry saw a fund of this size was when StepStone Group closed its $2.3 billion secondary fund in 2021. "Everyone is gonna have to have a secondary strategy," said Ken Sawyer, co-founder of Saints Capital, another major player in the VC secondary market. This latest fundraise by Industry, which is backed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management among others, could be a sign of increased interest in the VC secondary market.

Persons: Industry Venture's, Ken Sawyer, Sawyer Organizations: Industry Ventures, Industry, SEC, StepStone Group, titans, Insight Partners, Tiger Global, Saints Capital, Goldman Sachs, Management

☆ After jobs warning, Germany's Axel Springer says AI can liberate journalists
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"For newsrooms, AI opens up new paths and freedoms. While Springer did not comment on the number of jobs at risk, company sources told Reuters a low three-digit number of employees would ultimately have to leave. Fadlallah said his focus was on regulatory challenges and the opportunities the technology opens up for consumers. Axel Springer is active in more than 40 countries and employs more than 18,000 people worldwide. Alongside its German titles, the firm owns English-language news website Politico, U.S. media company Insider and classified portals StepStone and AVIV.

Persons: Axel Springer, Samir Fadlallah, Springer, Fadlallah, Klaus Lauer, Anna Mackenzie Organizations: Reuters, Bild, Politico, Thomson Locations: BERLIN, Berlin, AVIV

A younger member of the Tisch family spent nearly $20 million in recent days buying up more shares of Loews Corp ., according to securities filings and VerityData. Benjamin Tisch, the son of Loews CEO James Tisch, bought about $18.8 million worth of stock over three days. Loews — The conglomerate's senior vice president Benjamin Tisch scooped up about $18.8 million worth of stock from May 31 to June 2. It is first buy on record for Benjamin Tisch. StepStone Group — Head of strategy Michael McCabe bought $2.2 million worth of the asset management firm's stock in the first five days of June.

Persons: Tisch, Benjamin Tisch, James Tisch, Michael McCabe, Daryl Bible, Bible, Christopher Rondeau, Jan De Witte, Eric Schwartz Organizations: Loews Corp, Loews, CNA Financial, CNA, Fortress Investment Group, VerityData, StepStone, —, T Bank, Truist, Integra LifeSciences

☆ German media group Axel Springer eyes AI acquisitions
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, June 9 (Reuters) - German media giant Axel Springer will establish a dedicated mergers-and-acquisitions team to look at firms specialising in artificial intelligence, CEO Matthias Doepfner said in an internal podcast to employees obtained by Reuters. The M&A competence centre "needs to entirely focus on acquisitions - early-stage acquisitions or later-stage acquisitions in AI companies - that can be, for various reasons, important or attractive for Axel Springer," Doepfner said. But the strategy could also turn up Axel Springer's next StepStone, he added. If the market environment improves, Axel Springer aims to go public with StepStone, a popular online jobs portal, this year. Doepfner said he is particularly interested in AI technology that seeks to disrupt Axel Springer's business models of advertising, e-commerce and journalism.

Persons: Axel Springer, Matthias Doepfner, Doepfner, Axel Springer's, Klaus Lauer, Rachel More, Miranda Murray Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: BERLIN

☆ Some startups are selling at 80% discounts as investors finally come to terms with the collapse in valuations across the tech industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

As valuations drop, investors are increasingly looking to the secondary market to sell their startup shares. This scramble to cash out has led to a steep drop in prices for secondary transactions. With secondary transactions, investors can sell all or part of their stake in a VC fund in order to realize gains earlier than they otherwise would. In some cases, he says, StepStone has even acquired startup shares on the secondary market at prices 80% below their most recent funding rounds. Secondary investors came into 2023 sitting on $131 billion in dry powder, according to a survey from investment advisory firm Evercore.

China's population is shrinking. This shocking statistic is only the start of China's population decline. This year India is set to surpass China's population, and in a few years it will surpass China's working-age population — people 20 to 69. Because of its manufacturing prowess and importance to supply chains, China's shrinking working-age population has enormous, direct effects on the global economy. Among today's largest economies, only the US has a projection of positive population growth, though at very low levels.

☆ The Great People Shortage is coming — and it's going to cause global economic chaos
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Sebastian Dettmers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The great labor shortage caused by the declining population will cripple our global economy unless we find innovative ways to keep things running. The German working population will have declined by a third, based on the average scenario from the researchers, and in Italy, Spain, and Greece it will have declined by more than half. We are already experiencing the beginning of this great labor shortage in industries ranging from airlines to day cares. In the US, the increase in the number of retirees compared with the working population is already straining the system. To combat the coming population bust, the world will need nothing less than a revolution of our minds.

☆ Read the pitch deck customer management startup Catalyst used to turn some of its top customers into investors in a $20 million round
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-24 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Customer management startup Catalyst raised a $20 million round, partially from its own customers. Here's the pitch deck Catalyst used for this $20 million strategic funding round. Customer management startup Catalyst wasn't looking to raise funding. The result was a $20 million non-traditional round with participation from 20 execs or leaders from companies in their customer base. Here is the pitch deck Chiu used to convince customers and key investors to invest.

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