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☆ Adobe's Figma deal faces EU competition investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationBRUSSELS, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Adobe's (ADBE.O) $20 billion bid for cloud-based designer platform Figma could reduce competition in global markets for interactive product design tools and also shut out rivals, EU antitrust regulators said on Monday. The European Commission said it opened a full-scale investigation into the deal after a preliminary review triggered concerns, confirming a Reuters story last month. The deal would remove an important rival and could allow Photoshop maker Adobe to restrict competition in the global markets for supply of interactive product design tools, the EU antitrust watchdog said. It said the acquisition could also affect Figma's potential for growth into an effective competitor to Adobe's asset creation tools and effectively reduce competition in interactive product design tools by bundling Figma with Adobe's Creative Cloud suite. The EU competition enforcer said it would decide by Dec. 14 whether to clear or block the deal.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Competition Margrethe Vestager, Adobe, Foo Yun, Sharon Singleton, David Goodman Organizations: REUTERS, European Commission, Reuters, Tech, Zoom Video Communications, Adobe, Competition, EU, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS

☆ Adobe's Figma deal faces full-scale EU antitrust probe, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 24 (Reuters) - Adobe's (ADBE.O) $20 billion bid for cloud-based designer platform Figma will face a full-scale EU antitrust investigation following EU regulators' preliminary review, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The move underscores antitrust watchdogs' wariness of tech deals where bigger companies may acquire rival start-ups to shut them down. The European Commission earlier this year warned of the threat the deal poses to competition in the market for interactive product design and whiteboarding software. The EU competition enforcer, which is scheduled to finish its initial scrutiny by Aug. 7, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Figma's Web-based collaborative platform for designs and brainstorming is hugely popular among tech firms including Zoom Video Communications (ZM.O), Airbnb (ABNB.O) and Coinbase (COIN.O).

Persons: Foo Yun Chee, Matthew Lewis Organizations: European, EU, Adobe, Zoom Video Communications, Thomson Locations: Brussels

☆ UK announces in-depth probe of Adobe's $20 billion Figma deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 13 (Reuters) - Britain's antitrust regulator on Thursday announced an in-depth probe of Adobe's (ADBE.O) $20 billion bid for cloud-based designer platform Figma, after the Photoshop owner said it would not offer any remedies to ease the regulator's concerns. But on July 7, the U.S. company told the CMA it would not offer any remedies, the CMA said on Thursday. Figma and Adobe both directed Reuters to the companies' response in June, when the regulator had flagged these concerns. An in-depth, or phase two, probe by the CMA is conducted by an inquiry group selected from independent experts. It has said it expects to close the deal by end of this year, as U.S. and EU regulators also probe the deal.

Persons: Yadarisa, Chavi Mehta, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Mark Potter Organizations: Markets Authority, U.S ., CMA, Adobe, Reuters, Zoom Video Communications, Figma, Thomson Locations: U.S, EU, Bengaluru

☆ Shopify to launch AI assistant for merchants
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 12 (Reuters) - Canadian ecommerce firm Shopify said on Wednesday it would soon launch an artificial intelligence assistant for merchants on its platform, the latest technology company to roll out such a feature. The assistant called "Sidekick" would be embedded as a button on Shopify and answer merchant queries, including details about sales trends, CEO Tobi Lutke illustrated in a video posted on Twitter. Companies such as Alibaba Group Holding , Zoom Video Communications (ZM.O) and Databricks have all launched AI assistants in the last few months following the massive jump in the use of OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT. The assistant can also help entrepreneurs update their stores on Shopify. The feature is "coming soon", the video showed, without specifying the date when it would be rolled out.

Persons: Shopify, Tobi Lutke, Chavi Mehta, Shilpi Majumdar Organizations: Twitter, Companies, Alibaba, Video Communications, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ EU antitrust regulators set Aug. 7 deadline for Adobe, Figma deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, July 3 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators will decide by Aug. 7 whether to clear Adobe's (ADBE.O) $20 billion bid for cloud-based designer platform Figma after a preliminary review, according to a European Commission filing on Monday. Photoshop maker Adobe sought EU approval last Friday. A request made a month before the summer holidays suggests the company expects the EU competition enforcer to open a full-scale investigation following its initial scrutiny. The Commission earlier this year warned the deal threatens to significantly affect competition in the market for interactive product design and whiteboarding software. Britain's competition watchdog on Friday gave Adobe a week to offer remedies to address its concerns or face a deeper investigation.

Persons: Foo Yun Chee, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Adobe, Zoom Video Communications, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS

☆ Adobe tops quarterly results and forecast estimates driven by AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Samrhitha A | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 15 (Reuters) - Adobe Inc (ADBE.O) surpassed Wall Street estimates for quarterly results and forecast on Thursday as the Photoshop maker's efforts to drive up demand with generative artificial intelligence (AI) integrations paid off. Adobe's spree to boost AI innovation has been evident by AI features being introduced into Acrobat, Express, Photoshop and Premiere Pro. Analysts see generative AI as both a near- and long-term benefit to both the creative and experience businesses, which could be a catalyst to 2024 revenue growth. Focus continues to remain on the impact of generative AI and the pending close of the Figma deal. Adobe has been waiting to finalize its $20 billion buyout deal for the cloud-based designer platform, with management expecting an initial ruling this month.

Persons: integrations, Dan Durn, Samrhitha, Pooja Desai Organizations: Adobe Inc, Acrobat, Adobe, Users, Reuters, Analysts, Zoom Video Communications, Airbnb Inc, Revenue, Thomson Locations: San Jose , California, Bengaluru

☆ Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund just reshaped professional golf with the PGA Tour-LIV merger. That's just the start
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The Saudi Public Investment Fund is a government-controlled fund that has $650 billion in assets under management, according to its most recent filing. A state-owned investment fund like the PIF is not unique. Critics of LIV Golf accused the Saudis of backing the new tour as a form of “sportswashing” its reputation. For example it’s not clear exactly how much it invested to start up LIV Golf. CNN has not been able to confirm that report, but what is known is that LIV Golf tournaments have been held on Trump Organization properties.

Persons: petro, LIV Golf, LIV, Yasir Al, Rumayyan, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, ”, Elon Musk, Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s, Kushner, Mohammed bin Salman, Bin Salman, Jamal Khashoggi, – CNN’s Coy Wire, Jack Bantock, Steve Almasy Organizations: New, New York CNN, Saudi, Saudi Public Investment Fund, Sovereign Wealth Fund, PGA, Soccer, Saudi Aramco, Newcastle United, Saudi Pro League, CNBC, Electronic Arts, EA, Activision Blizzard, Ticketmaster, Carnival Corp, Twitter, Washington Post, CNN, Trump Organization, US State Department, Congress Locations: New York, Europe, Saudi, English, Al, Saudi Arabia, al Qaeda

NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Sequoia is blazing another new trail in venture capital. As one of Silicon Valley’s pioneers, Sequoia Capital has backed everything from Apple (AAPL.O) to Zoom Video Communications (ZM.O) over the past half-century, and many others in between, including Instagram, 23andMe (ME.O) and DoorDash (DASH.N). The world has changed, however – and changed yet again – since Sequoia opened its doors. Valentine named Sequoia after a tree that lives thousands of years, signifying a plan to survive and grow through any sort of climate. Follow @thereallsl on TwitterFollow @anshumandaga on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSVenture capital firm Sequoia Capital said on June 6 that it would separate its China, India and Southeast Asia, and U.S. and European arms into three businesses.

Persons: Don Valentine, – Roelof Botha, Neil Shen, Shailendra Singh –, Valentine, Sequoia, ByteDance, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Sequoia Capital, Apple, Video Communications, Investments, HK, Sequoia, Venture, Thomson Locations: China, India, U.S, Sequoia, Southeast Asia, United States, Mumbai, Shanghai

With the end of another earnings season in sight, Wall Street's attention has turned to Washington and the debt ceiling deadline. Republican negotiators on Friday walked out of talks on raising the debt limit , abruptly ending a positive week of discussions that appeared to be leading toward a deal. Democrats and the White House have been pushing for a "clean" hike to the debt limit that would push the next deadline past the 2024 presidential election, while Republicans are pressing for spending cuts. Many investors believe this ongoing game of chicken over the debt limit is largely for show, since the U.S. has never defaulted on its debt obligations. U.S. President Joe Biden hosts debt limit talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and other congressional leaders in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 9, 2023.

☆ These are the top 10 stocks held by 'Big Short' investor Michael Burry
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Michael Burry invested a lot of money into the stock market last quarter, according to 13F filings. The "Big Short" investor who has held a bearish tilt towards stocks initiated 17 new positions last quarter. These are the top 10 stocks held by Burry's Scion Asset Management as of March 31. Burry posted on Twitter on multiple occasions over the last few months that he had a bearish view on stocks. These are the top 10 stocks held by Burry's Scion Asset Management as of March 31.

☆ NYSE to bust erroneous CDW Corp trades as shares briefly dive 96%
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Medha Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 18 (Reuters) - NYSE Arca Equities is looking into likely erroneous trades in the shares of IT solutions provider CDW Corp (CDW.O) after they briefly plunged as much as 96% to $7 in premarket trading on Thursday. The exchange operator, owned by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE.N), said it would bust all trades in the stock between 04:00 a.m. CDW Corp shares quickly recouped most of their losses and were last down 0.7% at $172.09 before the bell. ET, closed at $173.25 with a market value of $23.35 billion on Wednesday. CDW Corp and CaliberCos did not immediately respond to a Reuters requests for a comment.

☆ US exchanges to bust erroneous CDW Corp trades after shares briefly dive 96%
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Medha Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

They would bust all trades in the stock between 04:00 a.m. CDW Corp shares quickly recouped most of their losses and were last up 0.2% at $173.50. ET, closed at $173.25 with a market value of $23.35 billion on Wednesday. Scottsdale, Arizona-based CaliberCos jumped 44.8% to $8.65, a day after it jumped in its Nasdaq debut to notch a market value of $123.7 million. CDW Corp and CaliberCos did not immediately respond to a Reuters requests for a comment.

☆ Zoom invests in AI startup Anthropic in latest effort to spruce up offerings
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 16 (Reuters) - Zoom Video Communications Inc (ZM.O) said on Tuesday it has invested an undisclosed sum in Anthropic and will integrate the artificial intelligence start-up's technology into its video-conferencing platform. The move marks the latest effort by Zoom to spruce up its offerings with AI as it competes against Microsoft Teams, the dominant video-conferencing tool for enterprises. Under the collaboration, Anthropic's Claude - a large language model that competes directly with offerings from Microsoft-backed OpenAI - will be integrated with Zoom's platform. In March, Zoom had announced a partnership with OpenAI to add AI-driven capabilities such as conversation summaries and message drafts to its Zoom IQ assistant. Reporting by Akshita Toshniwal in Bengaluru and Krystal Hu; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ PDD, Shein, Binance: These hugely successful companies were born in China. They don't want you to know that
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Hong Kong CNN —Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, doesn’t want to be called a Chinese company. “Our opposition in the West bends over backward to paint us as a ‘Chinese company,’” he wrote in a blog post last September. Zhao has been vocal about how he feels his firm is misrepresented as a "Chinese company." The same concern could, in theory, apply to any Chinese company. TikTok CEO Shou Chew testifying before US Congress in March.

☆ 2023 layoff tracker: The latest on which companies have announced job cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

New York CNN —BuzzFeed, Lyft, Whole Foods and Deloitte all recently announced layoffs affecting thousands of US workers. With 11,000 job cuts announced in November and the 10,000 announced in March, Meta’s headcount will fall to around 66,000 — a total reduction of about 25%. The company announced in January that it was eliminating some 18,000 positions as part of a major cost-cutting bid at the e-commerce giant. IndeedJob listing website Indeed.com announced cuts of approximately 2,200 employees, representing almost 15% of its total workforce, the company said in March. The cuts come after the company announced several rounds of job cuts throughout the pandemic due to falling demand, followed by rapid hiring last year.

☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Tesla, Netflix, Zoom, Biogen, Okta, Amazon, HP Inc. & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

JPMorgan upgrades HP Inc. to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said in its upgrade of HP Inc . that it sees "resilient revenue and margins." JPMorgan upgrades Ollie's to neutral from underweight JPMorgan said it has more confidence in management's same-store sales guide. JPMorgan downgrades Dell to neutral from overweight JPMorgan said in its downgrade of Dell that HP Inc. is better positioned right now. JPMorgan reiterates Amazon as overweight JPMorgan said it came away "incrementally positive" from Amazon's investor letter last week. JMP downgrades Penn to market perform from market outperform JMP downgraded the stock mainly on valuation.

March 2 (Reuters) - A virtual event with Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller was canceled on Thursday after the Zoom video conference was "hijacked" by a participant who displayed pornographic images. It is an incident we deeply regret," said Brent Tjarks, executive director of the Mid-Size Bank Coalition of America (MBCA), which hosted the event via a Zoom link. "We have been deeply upset to hear about these types of incidents, and Zoom strongly condemns such behavior," Zoom spokesman Matt Nagel said in a statement. The service has come under fire over privacy and security issues, including incidents of "Zoom bombing" in which uninvited users entered and disrupted meetings. The Fed said the event, which was to feature a speech by Waller as well as a question-and-answer session, was canceled due to "technical difficulties."

Data showed the U.S. trade deficit in goods increased moderately in January, with both imports and exports rising solidly. FEDWATCHBofA Global Research warned the Fed could even hike interest rates to nearly 6%. "We're talking about stickier inflation in the economy and higher interest rates for longer. ET, Dow e-minis were up 43 points, or 0.13%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 3.5 points, or 0.09%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 2.25 points, or 0.02%. The three main indexes are headed for monthly declines, with the blue-chip Dow (.DJI) in the red for the year.

☆ Jim Cramer's top 10 things to watch in the stock market Tuesday: February to forget, 100 days of Iger
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Sign up for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the market email newsletter for free 2. RBC Capital calls General Electric (GE) a buy ahead of next week's analyst day; ahead of separation of energy and power businesses into GE Vernova. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade.

☆ Futures slip as yields rise on bets of higher rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The gains, however, were not enough to reverse monthly losses for the three main indexes, with the blue-chip Dow (.DJI) in the red for the year after strong economic data suggested the Federal Reserve could keep interest rates higher for longer. FEDWATCHThe yield on two-year Treasury notes , which track investors' expectations of the path of interest rates, rose to 4.8%, trading just below a near four-month high hit in the previous session. Yields are climbing higher in the U.S. and that's pushing down equity markets," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets. "We're talking about stickier inflation in the economy and higher interest rates for longer. ET, Dow e-minis were down 25 points, or 0.08%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 4 points, or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 18.25 points, or 0.15%.

☆ Zoom jumps on AI bandwagon, forecasts upbeat 2024 profit targets
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Tiyashi Datta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Analysts predict the AI tech will be a major driver for future growth for the tech industry, which has been grappling with slowing demand amid recessionary fears. San Jose, California-based Zoom forecast fiscal 2024 profit between $4.11 and $4.18 per share, compared with analysts' average estimate of $3.66 per share, according to Refinitiv data. On an adjusted basis, Zoom earned $1.22 per share for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31, compared with estimates of 81 cents per share. Revenue grew 4% to $1.12 billion, above analysts' average expectation of $1.10 billion. The company, however, expects 2024 revenue between $4.44 billion and $4.46 billion, below average Street estimate of $4.60 billion.

☆ Cisco works with Mercedes-Benz to create mobile office
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Supantha Mukherjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Cisco's Webex system is displayed on Mercedes-Benz E-Class dashboard, in this undated illustration picture obtained by Reuters. Cisco/Handout via REUTERS/IllustrationBARCELONA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Cisco (CSCO.O) is working with Mercedes Benz (MBGn.DE) to add its Webex conferencing tools to the dashboard of vehicles arriving in dealerships in the coming weeks, the company said on Monday, as it seeks to turn the car into a mobile office. Zoom has tied up with Tesla (TSLA.O) to equip its vehicles with conferencing tools and Cisco plans to announce other partnerships at the MWC telecoms conference in Barcelona this week. They include one with Samsung (005930.KS) for Webex integration in its flagship phones and another with Intel (INTC.O) for private 5G. Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Barcelona; editing by Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ It's 'hard to get excited' by Zoom Video even after earnings beat, 'Fast Money' traders say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Zoom Video has lost the momentum it had during the work-from-home boom, and a strong earnings report did little to change that, according to traders on CNBC's " Fast Money ." The company on Monday reported adjusted earnings of $1.22 per share and $1.12 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter. The stock soared above $500 per share in 2020 as the use of video conferencing soared, but Zoom has since given back all of those gains. Guy Adami of Private Advisor Group called Zoom a "fine company" but cautioned that its use of stock-based compensation could hurt shareholders. That metric, which Zoom Video excludes from its adjusted earnings number, was a roughly $520 million expense during the fourth quarter, and can cause dilution for shareholders.

☆ Zoom forecast annual profit above estimates, shares up
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Zoom Video Communications Inc (ZM.O) on Monday forecast annual profit above Wall Street estimates, benefiting from cost-cutting measures and steady demand for its video-conferencing service from the ongoing shift to hybrid work models. Shares of the San Jose, California-based company rose 6% in trading after the bell. Zoom forecast annual profit between $4.11 per share and $4.18 per share, compared with estimates of $3.66 per share, according to Refinitiv data. Revenue for the quarter ended Jan. 31 was $1.12 billion, compared with analysts' average expectation of $1.10 billion. However, the company expects fiscal 2024 revenue to be between $4.44 billion and $4.46 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $4.60 billion.

☆ Inflation takes a back seat to earnings next week as stocks look to bounce back
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Matthew J. Belvedere | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The latest Fed projection for the so-called terminal rate — the level where the rate hikes stop — was just over 5%. Before this past week, those intraday levels hadn't been seen since November 2022. ET: ISM Services Looking back January's hot reading on core PCE on Friday was the most influential economic number of the past week. In Club earnings this past week, Nvidia (NVDA) was certainly the highlight. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

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