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☆ Meta becomes cross-border tech mascot
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Meta Platforms (META.O) is acting as a Big Tech mascot in a cross-border decision about the transfer of data. The $1.3 billion fine is a drop in the bucket for Meta, which has over $40 billion in its cash coffers. The decision, handed down from the Irish Data Protection Commission, gives Meta until October to completely cease moving data from Europe to the United States. Rather, the tension between data and the cross-border watchdogs can become more troubling for U.S.-based Big Tech. The decision gives Meta five months to stop transferring users’ data to the United States.

☆ JPMorgan finds jewels in US banking ashes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - JPMorgan (JPM.N) boss Jamie Dimon didn’t buy First Republic Bank in a crisis-hewn weekend deal just for the fuzzy glow from helping to stabilize the U.S. banking system. The giant lender laid out some of the impact of acquiring First Republic out of receivership in its investor day on Monday. There’s the $3 billion of contribution to net interest income from the deal, boosting this year’s expected total to $84 billion. More enticing, perhaps, is the $200 billion in wealth-management money the bank has taken from its defunct rival, along with roughly 200 advisers. JPMorgan is so big, with nearly $4 trillion of assets, it’s hard to move the needle in regular banking.

☆ Supreme Court gifts Big Tech best kind of boring
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - American tech giants have two new things to celebrate, and one less thing to worry about. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously protected Twitter from being sued for militant-group content on its platform. Together, the rulings reinforce internet platforms’ legal shield and kick a regulatory crackdown further down the road. With the Supreme Court siding in their favor, Big Tech can breathe a sigh of relief. The Supreme Court ruling leaves that debate stuck in Congress, exactly where tech giants want it.

☆ Office landlords are in store for retail redux
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Office landlords are in store for pain, but there’s a light at the end of the hallway. Though vacancy rates in the United States recently hit a 30-year high, owners of retail space – shopping malls and grocery stores – have shown that a bounce back is possible. A reset is in store, but the best office landlords can make it, too. But retail real estate, which includes everything from malls to shopping centers, went through its own misery. It might be a slog, as retail shows, but office could be in store for a redux.

☆ Breakingviews: Disney can play Scrooge with Florida
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Walt Disney (DIS.N) isn’t mickey-mousing around. Disney’s threatened retreat from the state is meaningful, and it can get worse for the state’s leader, Governor Ron DeSantis. But overall, Disney is one of the largest employers in Florida, and a massive contributor to the tourism economy. Follow @thereallsl on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSWalt Disney is cancelling plans to build a nearly $1 billion corporate campus, according to an email to employees on Thursday. Disney parks chief Josh D'Amaro said "changing business conditions" prompted Disney to reconsider its 2021 plan to relocate employees.

☆ Disney can play Scrooge with Florida
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

☆ Debt-ceiling talks are more theater than substance
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with congressional leaders including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday to attempt to make progress on talks to raise the debt ceiling. The two efforts would raise $33 billion over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office estimated last month. Biden also signaled openness to a two-year limit on government spending, Roll Call reported last week, which would raise an estimated $331 billion. loadingComing to terms on these pieces likely means both sides agree to raise the debt limit and push a new budget through. Failure to raise the debt ceiling could leave the government unable to pay its bills and trigger a historic sovereign default.

☆ Gig work value is too great to rush a US overhaul
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Julie Su, the president’s choice for labor secretary, has a history of redefining gig work. And while health insurance and retirement savings are valuable perks, gig workers view flexibility in the same way. Half of surveyed gig workers, meanwhile, make less than a quarter of their income from freelancing. Gig work has also grown alongside traditional employment, not at its expense. With most gig workers happy as they are, a one-size-fits-all rethink threatens pointless harm to a growing corner of the economy.

☆ Mattress M&A is stuffed with sweet dreams
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Memory foam bedmaker Tempur Sealy International (TPX.N)agreed to buy rival Mattress Firm in a $4 billion cash-and-stock deal that combines manufacturing and retail. Mattress Firm filed for bankruptcy in 2018. Tempur’s superior 17% EBITDA margin, nearly double that of Mattress Firm, also helps make a deal stack up. Boosting Mattress Firm’s operating profitability from 10% to 13% could double those synergy projections. The buyer will retain slightly more than 83% of the combined company while Mattress Firm’s owners will hold the rest.

☆ Amazon applies therapy to retail
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Rising costs and customers battered by inflation are hampering Amazon’s efforts to get its retail division on a path to sustainable profitability. While the rate of sales growth has outstripped growth in costs of distribution, the retail business over the past 12 months has lost $8 billion. More important, investors haven’t loved the idea of subsidizing delivery costs at the expense of profit. Applying therapy to its retailing business won’t change its consumers’ co-dependency. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Buffett’s imprint on Berkshire reaches its limit
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, May 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Warren Buffett gives off a zen vibe about Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) after his time is up. They’ll have over a decade to wind down the inheritance, in effect insulating Berkshire’s new leaders while they leave their own imprint. The succession planning has been possible because of Buffett’s iron grip, and not everyone is happy about it. One shareholder, Peter Flaherty, proposed separating the chairman and CEO roles at Berkshire. Berkshire security may be able to shut down such dissent at its own shareholder meeting, but it can’t stifle the doubts about life after Buffett.

☆ Billionaire Peter Thiel says he's signed up to be frozen and preserved when he dies so people can revive him in the future — if the tech even works
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Peter Thiel says he's going to be cryogenically preserved, though he isn't sure if the tech works. Peter Thiel has confirmed that he's slated to be cryogenically preserved when he dies so he can be revived in the future. Weiss asked Thiel. When Weiss asked Thiel if he arranged for his loved ones to be frozen as well, he said he's "not convinced" the technology works as intended yet. Walt Disney is often erroneously cited as an example of a celebrity who was cryogenically preserved.

☆ Fuddy-duddy Meta has a kid problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

His company Meta Platforms (META.O) landed in hot water with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for the third time on Wednesday over its handling of younger users’ data. Monetizing them is difficult, as other social media platforms have shown. The other is Meta hasn’t been able to reinvent itself such that it can capture new and younger users anyway. Meantime Meta’s user growth has been slowing, which has eroded its market share in social media ads. Those concerns aren’t totally unique to Zuckerberg’s company, as several state lawmakers across the United States are debating legislation that would restrict kids’ social media use.

☆ Meta has a kid problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

☆ Eli Lilly’s golden ticket is a regrettable winner
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Eli Lilly’s (LLY.N) Mounjaro might turn out to be the biggest selling drug ever. The pharmaceutical giant is maximizing the diabetes treatment’s gain by using a golden ticket to speed its U.S. approval for use in a possibly bigger market, obesity. Lilly’s peak sales for treating obesity might be about 10 times as high, Jefferies analysts estimate. At the industry multiple of 5 times revenue, that would pad its $535 billion market value by $30 billion. Lilly may have secured a Willy Wonka-like golden ticket that allows its obesity drug to reach customers quicker.

☆ Airbnb swerves tech rout with constant change: podcast
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

NEW YORK, May 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The $77 bln travel company weathered the pandemic and is now navigating a tech valuation bloodbath. Its co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk told The Exchange podcast that lessons learned during Covid-19 about disruption and never sitting still are key to its future. Listen to the podcastFollow @thereallsl on TwitterSubscribe to Breakingviews’ podcasts, Viewsroom and The Exchange. Editing by Amanda Gomez and Oliver TaslicOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Ford and GM can afford to put on a brave face
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Automakers General Motors(GM.N) and Ford Motor(F.N) reported operating profit well above Wall Street’s expectations in the first quarter. Their battery-powered makeovers carry risks, but 3.6 million missing car sales thanks to Covid-era shortages means their gas-guzzler cash cows can put on a brave face, thanks to plenty of unfulfilled demand. Ford and GM reported total operating profit 43% and 20% above analyst expectations this quarter, respectively, according to Refinitiv. Reuters GraphicsThis price ratchet added billions to operating profit in recent years. GM increased its expectations for full-year operating profit by $500 million, to a range of $11 billion to $13 billion.

☆ Jamie Dimon bails out First Republic – and FDIC
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In the wee hours of Monday morning, however, he agreed to take mid-sized First Republic Bank (FRC.N) out of receivership from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The bank acquires nearly $229 billion of assets and absorbs some $173 billion in loans at a roughly 13% discount to book values. After taxes and paying the FDIC $10.6 billion, JPMorgan should get a $2.6 billion boost before integration costs. The agency will share losses of up to 80% on the large majority of First Republic’s loan book. There’s also a $50 billion loan from the FDIC at specific terms that have not been disclosed so far.

☆ Fed’s SVB review finds there’s no “I” in “blame”
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

So many, in fact, that the report makes it hard to point the blame anywhere in particular. The 114-page post-mortem of SVB, compiled in just over six weeks at the behest of supervisory chief Michael Barr, points out some obvious but undeniable truths. But this ailing dog of a bank also had a too-long leash, thanks to timid, consensus-seeking supervisors. Using pre-rollback rules, SVB would have fallen visibly short of its required liquidity levels by the end of 2022. But the report skirts over the extent to which the Fed’s top staff were aware of risks at SVB.

☆ Exxon burns brighter on Permian and Guyana
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, April 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) burned brighter in the first quarter, thanks to the Permian Basin and Guyana. The $485 billion oil giant earned $11.4 billion, or twice as much as it did the same period a year ago. The first gusher came from Texas, where Exxon pumped 615,000 barrels a day from the shale basin. Last quarter, Exxon took 375,000 barrels a day from offshore, and it has a target capacity of 1.2 million barrels by 2027, 20% more than the Permian. Shale wells quickly deplete, so the company may need to eventually top up in the Permian.

☆ Eli Lilly races rising obesity expectations
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, April 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The race is on between Mounjaro’s growth and investors’ burgeoning hopes. The drug made by Eli Lilly (LLY.N), which was approved in May to treat diabetes, reaped an astonishing $569 million of revenue in the first quarter less than a year after it was approved for sale. The results encouraged Lilly to raise its annual profit guidance by 3.5%. The pharmaceutical firm also unveiled alongside its earnings release on Thursday that the drug had its second successful large clinical trial against obesity. With another successful trial under Lilly’s belt, Mounjaro is likely to receive an official green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in obesity, and more insurers will subsidize the cost.

☆ TikTok ban is the least palatable of options
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Montana is following a movement around the United States to try to keep Americans from using TikTok. That has consequences: The United States has never pulled a platform used by so many people to communicate. China, which before TikTok had never cracked the U.S. market with a successful social media network, is unlikely to let ByteDance part with TikTok. More recently the company had been working with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to ease concerns. TikTok users in the United States could still binge on short videos, but the company – and its rivals – would face tougher constraints.

☆ Meta is younger dog learning newer new tricks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, April 26 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Meta Platforms (META.O) is a full generation younger than its Big Tech peers, and it’s looking pretty fresh, too. The company's first-quarter profit announced on Wednesday beat analysts’ expectations, sending shares of the $530 billion company up 12% in after-market trading. A 3% year-over-year boost in revenue, the first such increase the company has had in a while, was a pleasant surprise. In order to grow ads 26%, the company had to slice the average price per ad by 17%. Operating expenses jumped 10% from the same period last year, giving the company a 25% operating margin for the quarter.

☆ Bob Iger’s stalling may be stifling
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The $180 billion company run by Bob Iger is kicking off its second round of layoffs, according to Reuters, part of an effort to cut $5.5 billion in costs. That’s a solid effort to keep activist Nelson Peltz, who had griped about Disney’s margins, at bay for now. The tricky part is ensuring assets don’t lose even more value before Iger heads out the door. Iger said he would leave the company and is meant to be setting up a successor. The balance act is ensuring Iger doesn’t degrade value, leaving a mess for his successor, whenever that person comes along.

☆ J&J carves itself up at a discount
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) is paying a price to dismember itself. That’s nearly a 20% discount to rival Haleon (HLN.L), the consumer business spun off from GSK (GSK.L) last year. The drug and surgical businesses remaining with J&J are higher margin and potentially faster-growing, so perhaps the two firms will appeal to different sets of investors. Even the unknown at the former J&J company is better than the unknown elsewhere. Johnson & Johnson is in the midst of trying to settle tens of thousands of lawsuits that its talc-based products caused cancer.

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