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Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley downgraded PepsiCo to equal weight. 7 a.m.: FedEx could slide more than 30% as 'structural challenges' are here to stay, Morgan Stanley says Morgan Stanley analyst Ravi Shanker downgraded FedEx to underweight from equal weight after the shipping company's earnings came in below expectations. — Pia Singh 6:33 a.m.: E-commerce stock MercadoLibre has more than 18% upside, according to Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is bullish on Argentine e-commerce firm MercadoLibre . — Pia Singh 5:49 a.m.: Evercore ISI hikes Amazon price target Evercore ISI is betting big on Amazon's streaming service. — Pia Singh 5:49 a.m.: Morgan Stanley downgrades PepsiCo Don't expect PepsiCo shares to make much headway going forward, according to Morgan Stanley.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Ravi Shanker, Shanker, — Pia Singh, Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley, Andrew Ruben, Ruben, Morgan Stanley downgrades ASML, ASML, Lee Simpson, Simpson, Mark Mahaney, Mahaney, Andy Jassy, Dara Mohsenian, OSG, Mohsenian, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, ISI, PepsiCo, FedEx, Semiconductor, Intel, NBA, Amazon Prime, Amazon, Pepsi Locations: FedEx's, Argentine, Argentina, Netherlands, China, Thursday's

☆ Amazon is getting an impressive number of people to watch Prime Video, new data reveals
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-26 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Amazon's Prime Video engagement is at 80%, boosting its standing against Netflix. Evercore ISI data suggests Prime Video's user satisfaction and viewership are on the rise. AdvertisementAmazon has been trying to break into TV for close to three decades, starting with the launch of Prime Video in 2006 and Amazon Studios, now Amazon MGM Studios, in 2010. A new Evercore ISI survey of 1,100 Amazon users showed that the share of users who watch Prime Video is a "consistently high" 80%. This year, 50% of Prime Video watchers surveyed said they're watching more than before, an uptick from 38% in 2023.

Persons: — Organizations: Netflix, Amazon, Service, Amazon Studios, Amazon MGM Studios, ISI, Business

☆ Amazon is hunting for more brand collaborations with a slew of new exec appointments. Read the full memo.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Read previewFresh off bringing ads to Prime Video, Amazon is looking for more ways to get brands involved in its original TV shows and films. The company also made several other appointments to develop projects that are funded by or focused on brands and work on integrating ads into Prime Video entertainment. AdvertisementHer future role at Freevee had been the subject of internal speculation after Amazon added advertising to Prime Video. With this in mind, I am pleased to share that Lauren Anderson's remit is expanding to support those efforts for Amazon MGM Studios. Finally, Lauren will continue her oversight of Amazon MGM Studios 1P FAST Programming delivered to Prime Video and Freevee.

Persons: —, execs, Lauren Anderson, Anderson, Freevee, James Marsden, hasn't, Vernon Sanders, Lauren Anderson's, Lauren, Christel Miller, Jenny Falkoff, Alysia Russo, Benoit Landry, Benoit's, Justin Holt, Justin, Claudine Atout, Traci Blackwell, Kara Smith, Vernon Organizations: Service, Amazon MGM, Business, Prime, Amazon MGM Studios, Brands, Hulu, Marriott, MGM Studios, Studios, Amazon, Film, Ad, MGM, FAST

☆ Longtime tech investor Dan Niles is fundraising. He explains why he believes now is the time for his Satori Fund.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Bradley Saacks | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewTwenty years after Dan Niles started running his tech-focused portfolio at Lehman Brothers, he's looking to grow. Niles, a longtime money manager running the Satori Fund and a frequent market commentator, has only recently taken over the fund entirely. After the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which the fund was a part of, Niles spun the fund out. Now, under a new brand — Niles Investment Management — and with the current market environment, Niles is eyeing hundreds of millions in new capital for the fund. "Since 2007, it's been the right product at the wrong time," Niles said about his strategy in an interview with Business Insider.

Persons: —, Dan Niles, Lehman, Niles, it's, he's, Stanley Druckenmiller, George Soros, I've Organizations: Service, Lehman Brothers, Business, Niles Investment Management, Google, Microsoft, Amazon Locations: Niles, West Coast, South Florida, Seattle

☆ How Amazon won over skeptical advertisers to get Prime Video off to a strong start
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Lucia Moses | Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon is also staffing up for Prime Video sales teams, recently hiring ad veteran and former NBCUniversal sales exec Krishnan Bhatia as VP of global video advertising for Amazon Ads. Advertisers' initial reaction to Prime Video ads was mixedAdvertisers reacted with a mix of excitement and skepticism when Prime Video entered the TV ad market last year. Amazon estimated Prime Video ads would reach 115 million monthly viewers in the US. AdvertisementBut the skepticism was short-lived as Amazon set Prime Video up for success in several ways. Amazon will also have to start regularly sharing data showing advertisers how many people are actually watching Prime Video and for how long.

Persons: —, Krishnan Bhatia, Amazon, It's Organizations: Service, Business, YouTube, Hulu, Amazon, Comcast, Disney, Etihad, Best, Samsung's, Prime, Amazon Ads, Netflix, Street Journal

☆ Apple has nabbed a key ad exec from NBCUniversal, and it points to its growing TV ad ambitions
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Apple has been making a string of advertising hires, more signs of its ambitions to grow its TV ad business. Crawford helped lead Apple's Major League Soccer ad sales pitch with Todd Teresi, who leads Apple's ads division. Cady will also likely work closely with Lauren Fry, a TV and video ad sales veteran Apple hired in February 2023 as head of video ad sales. Jacqueline Bleazey, who joined video advertising sales in October, from senior director of sponsorships and ad sales at FanDuel and ad agency roles before that, according to her LinkedIn. For advertisers, Apple TV+ is a small but highly-rated player that would let them reach an affluent viewing audience that has been off-limits to them.

Persons: Joseph Cady, Cady, Krishan Bhatia, Winston Crawford, Crawford, Todd Teresi, Lauren Fry, Jason Brum, Chandler Taylor, Jacqueline Bleazey, Ted Lasso, It's, Apple Organizations: Apple, Amazon, Google, Business, Major League Soccer, MLS, MLB, DirecTV, NBCUniversal, Cannes, Netflix Locations: Peacock

☆ Not Your Grandpa’s Military Surplus
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Charles W. Mcfarlane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On a chilly afternoon in February, Logan McGrath and Mack Fritz were preparing to shoot a video advertising the green Austrian army fatigue shirts they were selling on Americana Pipedream Apparel, the online military surplus store Mr. McGrath started out of his parents’ basement in Appleton, Wis., three years ago. Tall laundry bins held hundreds of American military canteens and current-issue British camouflage uniforms and equipment. They collected Greek camouflage jackets, West German military patches and packages of vanilla poundcakes from American military rations, assembling them for orders. In the back of the warehouse, they sorted through pallets of surplus that had arrived from as far as Indonesia and Pakistan, including about 1,500 grayish-green Austrian KAZ-75 field shirts. Nearby Mr. McGrath and Mr. Fritz, both 21, worked on a video to market the shirts on their popular Instagram page.

Persons: Logan McGrath, Mack Fritz, McGrath, Post Malone, McGrath’s, Austrian KAZ, Fritz Organizations: Pipedream Apparel Locations: Appleton , Wis, German, Indonesia, Pakistan, Austrian

☆ Roku CEO Anthony Wood on Q4 results: I'm more confident than ever in our business
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailRoku CEO Anthony Wood on Q4 results: I'm more confident than ever in our businessCNBC’s Julia Boorstin and Roku CEO Anthony Wood join 'Squawk Box' to discuss the company's quarterly earnings results, the streaming service provider's steeper-than-expected first-quarter loss forecast, state of the video advertising market, and more.

Persons: Anthony Wood, Julia Boorstin

☆ Super Bowl advertisers brace for the Taylor Swift effect
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewSuper Bowl advertisers have decades of datapoints telling them when it’s best to show up during the big game. But the presence of Taylor Swift is adding a strange new dimension to a lot of conventional beliefs about the optimal spot for an ad to appear. AdvertisementLike many other advertisers, Hellmann’s had no idea when they locked in their Super Bowl buys early last year that there’d be a media frenzy around the romance between Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Advertisers are already anticipating that Swift’s presence will drive more engagement for advertisers lucky enough to have booked the right spots, though it’s a bit of a crapshoot as there’s no guarantee when, or even if , Swift will make an appearance. There is also another spike in female viewership that happens during Super Bowl broadcasts.

Persons: —, it’s, Taylor Swift, I’d, ”, Chris Symmes, Kate McKinnon, Hellmann’s, there’d, Travis Kelce, Swift, they're, you’re, Jeff Gagne, “, haven’t, Taylor, Jake Marx Organizations: Service, Havas Media, Business, Unilever North America, Unilever, Super Bowl, Kansas City Chiefs, Chiefs, AFC, ”, Nielsen, Video Advertising, Super, Stagwell Media

☆ Sixty percent of major brands plan to increase their ad budgets in 2024, new research shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Marketers have expressed cautious optimism looking ahead to 2024, with 60% of respondents in a new survey saying they plan to increase their ad budgets next year. Just 29% of respondents last year said they were expecting to increase their media budgets in 2023. Of the remaining 40% of those surveyed, roughly one-third (33%) said they intended to maintain their 2023 budgets into 2024. Meanwhile, print, linear TV, and radio were all likely to decline in their share of most marketers' budgets in 2024, according to the report. Around a third of advertisers said they plan to conduct log-level analysis of the programmatic supply chains in 2024 and 2025, according to the report.

Persons: Stephan Loerke, it's, we'll Organizations: World Federation, Retailers, CTV

☆ Roku stock soars on third-quarter revenue beat, solid outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Drew Richardson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A video sign displays the logo for Roku, a video streaming firm, in Times Square after the company's initial public offering at the Nasdaq Market in New York on Sept. 28, 2017. Shares of Roku soared in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected revenue for the third quarter. Roku-branded smart TV's come pre-installed with the Roku interface users would experience on an external plug-in Roku Streaming Player. "We had a solid rebound in video ads in the third quarter," Roku Media President Charlie Collier said during the earnings call. For the fourth quarter, Roku expects revenue of roughly $955 million, topping the $952 million expected by Wall Street, according to LSEG.

Persons: Roku, Mustafa Ozgen, Charlie Collier Organizations: Nasdaq, Wall, CNBC, CNBC PRO Locations: New York, LSEG

The $15.50 per month price for Netflix's most popular streaming option in the U.S. will remain unchanged, as will a $7 monthly plan that includes intermittent commercials. The increase left Netflix with about 247 million worldwide subscribers, well above the 243.8 million projected by analysts surveyed by FactSet Research. Netflix has picked up more than 16 million subscribers through the first nine months of the year, already eclipsing the 8.9 million subscribers that it added all of last year. The crackdown also has boosted Netflix’s in another way – current subscribers can share their accounts with someone living outside their households by paying higher monthly fees. The higher prices for Netflix's premium plans also seems likely to divert more subscribers into the ad-supported option.

Persons: it’s, ’, Greg Peters, hasn’t, Harding, Uday Cheruvu, Peters, ” Cheruvu, “, ”, Scott Purdy Organizations: FRANCISCO, Netflix, FactSet Research, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, KPMG Locations: U.S, —, France, Los Gatos , California

☆ Leaked Amazon Prime Video pitch reveals new stats to entice advertisers and compete with Netflix and Disney
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Lauren Johnson | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon revealed new stats about its viewers to ad buyers to pitch Prime Video advertising, which will roll out early next year. Prime Video users can opt out of advertising by paying $2.99 more per month. The stats suggest that advertisers will be able to target younger viewers with Prime Video ads. Prime Video ads will appear in Originals content as well as licensed TV and movies, according to the document. And while Amazon hasn't shared pricing for Prime Video ads, advertisers expect them to be priced reasonably.

Persons: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Smith, Amazon, Jon Morgenstern, OTT, We're, Netflix hasn't Organizations: Amazon, Intelligence, YouTube, Netflix, Disney Locations: Canada, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Australia, Amazon's, VaynerMedia

☆ Apple TV+ has grown to No. 3 among ad-free streamers, besting Hulu and Max in share — but it faces stiff competition if it launches an ad tier
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

New data shows Apple TV+ has more than tripled its share of streaming subscribers. More established streamers have had the most success growing their ad tiers. The findings come as Apple TV+ is rumored to be planning to join the other major streamers in chasing video advertising. Apple TV+ has more than tripled its share of ad-free subscribers in the past two years, jumping ahead of Paramount+, Disney's Hulu, and Warner Bros. But Apple TV+ has yet to move into ad-supported streaming, where competitors are seeing their biggest subscriber growth — not to mention new revenue opportunities.

Persons: Peacock, Lauren Fry, Hulu, Discovery's Max, Jonathan Carson Organizations: Apple, Hulu, Paramount, Warner Bros, Netflix, Disney Locations: Hulu

☆ Apple TV+ is growing faster than other streamers, but it'll have a lot of catchup to do when it launches its rumored ad tier
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

More established streamers have had the most success growing their ad tiers. The findings come as Apple TV+ is rumored to be planning to join the other major streamers in chasing video advertising. Apple hired ad exec Lauren Fry earlier this year to build out the business, The Information reported, stoking speculation about its ad plans. And the streamers that have had an ad-supported tier for a while may have a first-mover advantage, the Antenna data suggests. AntennaNetflix and Disney+, meanwhile, whose ad tiers are the newest — having launched late last year — have only 2% and 5% of their subscribers opting for ads, respectively.

Persons: Peacock, Lauren Fry, Hulu, Discovery's Max, Jonathan Carson Organizations: Hulu, Apple, Paramount, Warner Bros, Netflix, Disney Locations: Hulu

☆ How Amazon could use a Prime Video ad tier to rake in billions of dollars a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Nathan Mcalone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon is reportedly plotting an ad tier for Prime Video, per The Wall Street Journal. A new ad-supported tier for Prime Video could bring in nearly $5 billion in yearly revenue for Amazon, according to Morgan Stanley analysts. "We size US Prime subscribers at ~95 million in 2025, and ourAlphaWise surveys suggest ~77% of Prime subscribers use Prime Video, implying 73 million Prime Video viewers in 2025." "We size US Prime subscribers at ~95 million in 2025, and our AlphaWise surveys suggest ~77% of Prime subscribers use Prime Video, implying 73 million Prime Video viewers in 2025." But they estimated that a Prime Video ad tier outside the US could add a further $209 million to 2025 EBIT.

Persons: Morgan Stanley Organizations: Amazon, Prime, Street, Street Journal, Netflix, NFL, Disney, US, YouTube, NBA, CTV Locations: EBIT

☆ LinkedIn to test ad product for video streaming services
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 15 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp-owned (MSFT.O) LinkedIn said on Thursday it was working on a video advertising product that would allow marketers to target users of the professional networking site while they watch content on streaming services. This comes after LinkedIn introduced AI features to help advertisers write ad content, part of a strategy to expand its ads business at a time when economic uncertainties have hit advertising budgets. "In-stream video ads can change the way brands and buyers reach and engage their audiences," Penry Price, vice president of marketing solutions at LinkedIn, told Reuters. LinkedIn's revenue jumped 34% to $3.5 billion last year, helped by advertising demand and a strong job market. The company generates revenue from ad sales and subscriptions for recruiters, job seekers and sales professionals.

Persons: Price, Jaspreet Singh, Shilpi Majumdar Organizations: Microsoft Corp, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ A Prime Video ad tier could bring in $4.8 billion a year in revenue for Amazon, according to Morgan Stanley analysts. Here's how.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Nathan Mcalone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Persons: Morgan Stanley Organizations: Amazon, Prime, Street, Street Journal, Netflix, NFL, Disney, US, YouTube, NBA, CTV Locations: EBIT

Elon Musk made a surprise announcement that he'd found Twitter's next CEO. Twitter employees think they may know who Elon Musk has picked to replace himself as CEO of the social media company. Chatter from the media industry points to Linda Yaccarino, head of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal. Yaccarino has told friends in the past that she wanted to be CEO of Twitter, one person familiar with the situation said. The Wall Street Journal reported that Yaccarino is in talks to be Twitter CEO.

☆ 3 things that will propel Uber's ad offering to become a $1 billion business, according to advertisers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The company is justifying its steep ad prices by pitching advertisers its first-party data that shows where people are and where they're going. Advertisers laid out why Uber's ads are so valuable, and how the company has been able to pull in their budgets. Uber's data-driven ad offering however isn't as compelling as what's offered by retail media competitors, like Walmart and Target. Uber has a new strategy to go after video ad budgetsUber also wants to corner a piece of the lucrative video advertising market. The tablet ad format is squarely aimed at video ad budgets.

☆ YouTube CEO Wojcicki, one of the first Google employees, steps down
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The change of guard comes as YouTube's advertising revenue fell for the second straight quarter amid intense competition for viewing time with short-form video services such as TikTok and Facebook's Reels, and streaming services like Netflix. One of the most prominent women in tech, Wojcicki said she will focus on "family, health, and personal projects", and plans to take on an advisory role at Alphabet. She was previously senior vice president for ad products at Google and became the CEO of YouTube in 2014. Mohan, a Stanford graduate, joined Google in 2008 and is the chief product officer at YouTube where he been focusing on building YouTube Shorts and Music. He previously spent nearly six years at DoubleClick, a company Google acquired in 2007, and later served for about eight years as senior vice president of display and video advertising at Google.

☆ Everyone's watching Meta's earnings report for a hint at how online ads are doing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty ImagesWall Street's worst year since 2008 wreaked havoc on tech companies, particularly those reliant on digital advertising. Also on Thursday, investors will hear from Amazon and Apple , which both have growing digital ad businesses that have been taking market share of late from Google and Facebook. But revenue growth isn't expected to pick back up until the second half of the year. Revenue is expected to fall another 2.8% in the first quarter, before sub-1% growth returns in the second period. He has a hold rating on Meta, Snap, Amazon and Netflix, but recommends buying Alphabet and Apple, according to FactSet.

☆ Amazon bulked up its advertising behemoth in 2022 — and its becoming an even bigger threat to Meta
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Amazon's digital ad business is only behind Google's and Meta's — and it's already stolen budget from Meta. Today, that advertising business is no longer simply a way to drive product sales on Amazon. Amazon's ad business, which generated $9.5 billion during the third quarter of 2022, dwarfed Microsoft and Snap and ranked third behind Google and Facebook parent, Meta. There are now nearly 600 advertising partners in Amazon's advertising ecosystem, according to Amazon's directory of companies in the space. As part of its ambitions to grow advertising, Amazon also pitches a data clean room called Amazon Marketing Cloud.

☆ Michael Farr: These are 2023's top stock picks for what could be a rocky year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Michael K. Farr | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +17 min

Regarding the cloud, AMZN's Web Services business is the market leader in cloud infrastructure services. Moreover, the scale of AMZN's web services business provides many cost advantages as very few companies can compete with AMZN's investment spend and first-mover advantage. Over the long term, we would expect MDLZ to generate double-digit total returns, consisting of high-single digit EPS growth and the 2.3% dividend. There is a long runway remaining for cloud growth as companies slowly deal with legacy investments that still drive value but are not cloud-based. Management remains committed to its goal of high single-digit EPS growth in 2023, followed by sustained double-digit growth in 2024 and beyond.

☆ 6 predictions for Apple's growing ad business in 2023 — from ads on Apple TV+ to building and buying adtech
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Its App Store search ad business is growing at a clip and Apple has begun pitching advertisers Major League Soccer ad packages. Here's what experts think Apple might have in store for its advertising business next year, from TV ads to further privacy interventions. Prediction 2: Ads will be placed on Apple TV+Apple's 10-year, $250 million-a-season deal to broadcast Major League Soccer on Apple TV will air its first game in February 2023. It could become the key entry point for advertisers looking to reach Apple users across its portfolio of apps and services. "Apple is about to find out how difficult it is to serve TV ads," he added, referring to its MLS telecasts.

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