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☆ The revived craze for GameStop is confusing Wall Street. It's 'not in a position to be profitable'
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The return of "Roaring Kitty" sparked a jaw-dropping advance in GameStop shares Monday, but such a speculative rally in an unprofitable company will likely end badly once again. Roaring Kitty, the man who inspired the meme stock mania of 2021, resurfaced online with a cryptic image showing a man in a chair leaning forward. GME 5D mountain GameStop Pachter has a underperform rating on GameStop and a $5.60 price target. At Monday's peak, GameStop hit $38.20. During 2021's mania, GameStop shares hit an all-time high of $120.75 intraday, adjusted for a subsequent 4-for-1 stock split in the summer of 2022.

Persons: Kitty, Michael Pachter, Pachter, Jeff deGraaf, he's, deGraaf, Jerome Powell, Bernstein, Mark Schilsky Organizations: GameStop, CNBC, Federal Reserve, Macro

☆ In cloud, there's AI (which is hot) and everything else (which is not)
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

There's an "AI Cloud" future that excites investors. So far, Microsoft is winning the "AI Cloud" future. There's the "AI Cloud" future, where Nvidia GPUs and large language models form the foundation of new generative AI services delivered and rented over the internet. Then there's the existing "Cloud 1.0" business, where CPUs and more traditional servers support apps, websites and other software services. Microsoft's Azure cloud business saw revenue grow 28% in its latest quarter (fiscal Q2, calendar Q4).

Persons: —, Mark Schilsky, Schilsky, Goldman Sachs, Bernstein Organizations: AWS, Microsoft, Service, Nvidia, Amazon, Services, Bernstein Research Locations: OpenAI

☆ Amazon's cloud sees growth rates slow from 'optimization' as customers keep cutting costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-11 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Either way, one thing is certain: Companies are getting serious about cloud spend. And while Wall Street analysts hope the excitement over generative AI will drive customers to spend more money on cloud services next year, it's clear that optimization won't go away. "Cloud spend got big enough at most of the Fortune 500s that it's actually material now," Storment said. Cloud cost-cutting servicesTo save money on cloud services, customers often must first spend money. Customers aren't spending much on generative AI yetEven though "generative AI is the new sexy thing that everyone is exploring," the technology didn't come up in many conversations about budget, Lowell said.

Persons: Adam Selipsky, Werner Vogels, Sid Nag, Gartner, Nag, wasn't, Dave Linthicum, —, Storment, Craig Lowell, Lowell, Linthicum, they're, Bernstein, Mark Schilsky, Ellen Thomas Organizations: Amazon Web, Business, AWS, Wall, Microsoft, Google, Deloitte, FinOps Foundation, Fortune, Venetian Convention, Expo, Companies Locations: Las Vegas, DoiT, ethomas@insider.com

☆ Netflix just announced it's raising prices — again
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Netflix is raising prices on certain subscription plans. The price hike comes after a password crackdown and successful third quarter at Netflix. Netflix's lowest tier ad-free plan — available only to existing members — will go from $9.99 per month to $11.99. The $6.99 subscription that includes ads and the $15.49 ad-free standard plan will maintain their costs. Netflix announced the change in its on the heels of its its biggest quarter of subscriber growth since 2020 — largely due to its crackdown on password-sharing.

Persons: —, Mark Schilsky Organizations: Netflix, Service, Bernstein Research Locations: France, USA

☆ Snap shares jump as leaked 2024 user target exceed Wall St expectations
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A woman stands in front of the logo of Snap Inc. on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) while waiting for Snap Inc. to post their IPO, in New York City, New York, U.S. on March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 16 (Reuters) - Snap (SNAP.N) shares jumped 11% on Monday after a media report said the social media company is expected to have more than 475 million daily active users (DAUs) in 2024, above Wall Street expectations. Snap also expects advertising revenue to grow more than 20% in 2024 as part of its "stretch goals", the report said, putting it above Wall Street estimates of 14% growth. Snap was the first ad-reliant social media firm to flag a demand downturn last year as brands cut budgets amid red-hot inflation and high interest rates. Macroeconomic woes coupled with rising competition from social media platforms like Tiktok, saw Snap lose 80% of its valuation last year.

Persons: Lucas Jackson, Evan Speigel, Bernstein, Mark Schilsky, Chavi Mehta, Tasim Zahid Organizations: Inc, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: New York City , New York, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Snap rises nearly 12% after CEO shares strong 2024 goals with employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Snap shares rose nearly 12% on Monday following reports of an internal CEO memo indicating that the social messaging company could post better-than-expected results for 2024. Snap confirmed the numbers cited in the memo with CNBC but characterized them as "stretch, internal goals only." "I know this was an internal memo, but management must have known it was going to leak." Snap shares sank more than 17% in July after it gave guidance for its current quarter that missed analysts' expectations. Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the nature of the numbers cited in the memo — they were goals, not projections.

Persons: Evan Spiegel, Porte, Bernstein, Mark Schilsky, Schilsky Organizations: Snap Inc, Viva Technology, Porte de, Tech Specialists, CNBC, Meta, SNAP Locations: Paris, France, Russia, Ukraine

☆ Amazon Prime will now have ads — unless you fork over an extra $2.99 a month
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Will Gendron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon announced that ads will be introduced to Prime Video in early 2024. Of course, with the introduction of ads, comes the introduction of a new ad-free subscription — Prime Video users can opt to pay $2.99 more per month for an ad-free membership, the company said in a statement. Currently a standalone Prime Video subscription costs $8.99 per month. Both Peacock and and Paramount+ raised their ad-free subscription prices by $2, from $9.99 to $11.99, this past July. Of course, as Insider's Nathan McAlone puts it — the end of cheap streaming is not here yet, but rather the end of cheap, ad-free streaming.

Persons: Amazon, Gunnar Wiedenfels, Mark Schilsky, Max, Peacock, Insider's Nathan McAlone Organizations: Amazon, Service, Warner Bros, Paramount, Bernstein Research, Disney, Hulu, Netflix, Apple Locations: Wall, Silicon, UK, Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Australia

☆ You haven't been paying a fair price for your streaming services. Warner Bros. Discovery CFO says: 'I think that's in the process of being corrected'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Will Gendron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A change may be coming to your streaming services, Warner Bros. The services have been undervalued, Gunnar Wiedenfels said, and "quality content has been given away"That could spell price hikes. AdvertisementAdvertisementAs Insider's Matt Turner summed up: "Streaming services have been underpriced in the name of attracting critical mass." In January, Warner Bros Discovery increased the price of an ad-free subscription to HBO Max for the first time since its launch in 2020. Aside from boosting prices, services are also cracking down on password sharing.

Persons: Gunnar Wiedenfels, Wiedenfels, Max —, Matt Turner, Comcast's Peacock, Max, Peacock, Mark Schilsky, HBO Max, we're, Bob Iger, Schilsky Organizations: Warner Bros, Discovery, Service, Bank of America Securities Media, Communications, Entertainment Conference, Netflix, Hulu, Disney, Paramount, Apple, Bernstein Research, Warner Bros Discovery, HBO, HBO Max, Wall Street Journal Locations: Wall, Silicon, Hollywood

☆ Companies are making bank off you forgetting you signed up for that subscription, researchers found
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Sebastian Cahill | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A new study found forgotten subscriptions can raise sellers' revenue by over 200% in some cases. Rising costs of subscription services mean inattentive consumers could lose a lot of money. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. AdvertisementAdvertisementWhen that happened, according to their resulting paper, and consumers had to re-subscribe with a different card, there was a sharp drop in subscription renewal. "And there are some people who are busy and have other things going on in their life and they're more prone to making mistakes."

Persons: Neale Mahoney, Mahoney, Mark Schilsky Organizations: Service, NPR, Stanford University, Texas, M University, Bernstein Research Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Sorry, you're going to pay even more for streaming TV soon. Here are the services most likely to raise prices again.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Netflix, Disney, and other video streaming providers have raised prices a lot in the past year. The analysis predicts which streaming subscription services are likely to raise prices again soon. The Bernstein sales specialist also fired up an interesting analysis, using Nielsen data and other industry stats, that shows which streaming services are mostly likely to raise prices again. In other words, you're probably going to pay more for Netflix, Hulu, and Peacock before too long. However, over a longer period, it usually takes a consistent supply of solid hits to drive repeat viewing habits that support higher prices, Schilsky explained.

Persons: they're, Jerome Powell shudder, We'll, Mark Schilsky, Max, Peacock, Schilsky, haven't, Bob Iger, Bernstein, Mark Organizations: Netflix, Disney, Bernstein Research, Wall, Hulu, Paramount, Apple, Nielsen, Bernstein Locations: That's

☆ 'AI' is trending in Google searches — but it's not yet to the peak reached by Bitcoin in 2017
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

"AI" is trending in Google searches, but it hasn't yet hit the peak seen by Bitcoin in 2017. An Alliance Bernstein analyst crunched the numbers using Google Trends data. Schilsky's report shows a line chart comparing three search terms: "AI," "metaverse," and "Bitcoin." A screen grab from Google Trends shows what Alliance Bernstein analyst Mark Schilsky pointed out to clients: The peak of search volume for "Bitcoin" is higher than the peak of search volume for "AI" so far. With the trendline for "AI" searches — and its apparent inevitable march to be an ever-more important part of our lives — it's likely only a matter of time before it surpasses "Bitcoin" for search volume.

Persons: Bitcoin, Alliance Bernstein, crunched, Bernstein, Mark Schilsky's, Mark Schilsky, Mark Zuckerberg's, — it's, we're Organizations: Alliance, Google

☆ Meta's big job cuts aren't about the tricky economy or rising inflation. They're about Mark Zuckerberg's mistakes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said it was economic changes that led to over 21,000 in total being laid off. Investors have long said that Zuckerberg's own decisions and mistakes led to this point. Zuckerberg has bet his company's future on the metaverse, including its expensive bets on virtual reality goggles via its Reality Labs unit. Meta's stock has moved up after every layoff announcement, a sign that investors liked the announcements. Investors had a positive response on Wednesday as Meta's stock rose 6% again off the news of more layoffs.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk have been publicly criticizing each other for years — but now Meta is mirroring Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

With the launch of Meta Verified, Mark Zuckerberg is appearing more like Elon Musk by the day. Now, let's look at why people are starting to say that Zuckerberg "idolizes Elon Musk." With the announcement of Meta Verified, Meta's new verification subscription service for Facebook and Instagram, many have drawn comparisons between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Schilsky added: "I think it's clear that Mark Zuckerberg idolizes Elon Musk." Black VCs like Beta Boom's Kimmy Paluch are addressing long-standing diversity, equity, and inclusion issues in the industry head-on.

☆ 'It's clear that Mark Zuckerberg idolizes Elon Musk,' Wall Street analyst says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Mark Zuckerberg said Meta is adding a verification subscription service to Facebook and Instagram. Meta Verified "sounds awfully like Twitter Blue," Bernstein analyst Mark Schilsky said in a note to clients this week. "I think it's clear that Mark Zuckerberg idolizes Elon Musk." Other analysts on Wall Street more optimistically believe that Meta Verified could add $2 billion per year in revenue, as Insider recently reported. Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have been publicly criticizing each other for years — at least since a SpaceX rocket exploded on the launchpad in 2016, destroying a Facebook satellite.

☆ Workers at Facebook, Snap fear second round of layoffs is on the way
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Recent comments by CEOs at Meta and Snap have workers bracing for yet another round of cuts. For tech workers who in 2022 saw tens of thousands of colleagues lose their jobs amid a wave of layoffs, this year has brought little besides déjà vu. Fear is spreading among many tech employees that even more layoffs will happen in the coming weeks. Performance reviews are more severe. Snap is another company where employees are starting to suspect another round of layoffs is being considered, if not already on the way.

☆ Alphabet finally makes the tough call to lay off workers. Here's how its cut of 12,000 jobs compares to the rest of Silicon Valley.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Despite seemingly all of its internet peers announcing job cuts, Google likely hired another 6K employees in 4Q22," Schilsky wrote. The 12,000 figure shared by Pichai on Friday suggests Alphabet layoffs are roughly in line with most of its peers. Meta's layoffs of more than 11,000 employees — announced in November — work out to around 13% of the company's overall workforce. According to filings, 98% of Meta's revenue currently comes from ads, and 87% of Alphabet's revenue comes from advertising. This wouldn't be a problem, he suggests, if Meta's revenue per employee hadn't fallen over the last 12 months $1.6 million per employee to $1.4 million.

☆ Nio, BYD and other Chinese EV stocks fall sharply amid selloff
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( John Rosevear | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Nio began deliveries of its new ET7, an upscale electric sedan, on Monday, March 28, 2022. U.S.-traded shares of Chinese electric vehicle makers were among those hit by a dramatic selloff on Monday, as investors soured on non-state-run Chinese companies following a weekend of dramatic political developments in China. Other prominent Chinese companies including Alibaba and Tencent Music Entertainment suffered similarly dramatic declines. Under Xi's leadership, China's government has increased restrictions on speech and movement and tightened regulations on technology companies. Analysts see further restrictions ahead, with Bernstein's Mark Schilsky writing in a Monday morning note that Chinese stocks are now "uninvestable."

☆ U.S.-listed Chinese stocks drop 20% after Beijing's power reshuffle makes the market 'uninvestable'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Chinese internet giant Alibaba has said it will increase its share buyback program from $15 billion to $25 billion. The Invesco Golden Dragon China ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq Goldman Dragon China Index, plunged 20% to hit a new 52-week low. The index holds 65 companies whose common stocks are publicly traded in the U.S. and the majority of whose business is conducted within the People's Republic of China. Shares of Chinese companies listed in the U.S. dropped sharply Monday after Beijing tightened President Xi Jinping's grip on power, souring investor sentiment for non-state-driven companies. "Stocks based in the world's second largest economy are 'uninvestable' again," Bernstein sales trading desk's Mark Schilsky said in a note Monday.

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