DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Instacart clarifies its Snowflake payments in updated IPO prospectus after clash with Databricks
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Instacart filed an updated IPO prospectus Monday and clarified how its contract works with data storage and analytics company Snowflake , after the initial filing appeared to show a dramatic decline in spending on Snowflake's technology. The apparent slippage led to confusion and spurred employees at rival Databricks to suggest online that it was picking up that business. "These cash payments, including the payments we made in 2022, generally represent prepayments for future services which, in many cases, span multiple fiscal periods," Instacart wrote. For both 2021 and 2022, Instacart said it incurred operating expenses tied to the cloud technology of $28 million. Instacart isn't required to disclose its relationship with Databricks, but both companies published recent posts about the implementation on their websites.

Persons: Instacart, Snowflake, Frank Slootman, Databricks, it's Locations: Databricks

☆ WeWork CEO says company is 'here to stay' as it renegotiates 'nearly all our leases'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

WeWork CEO David Tolley, who took over the office-sharing company in an interim role in May, wrote in a public letter Wednesday that the embattled business is "here to stay" and that it's immediately undergoing an effort to rework its leases worldwide. "Today, we are kicking off a process of global engagement with our landlords to renegotiate nearly all our leases," Tolley wrote. The latest chapter in the extended WeWork saga involves the company trying to stay solvent. But the combination of Covid-19 shutdowns and the sputtering economy that followed have left WeWork with massive leases in buildings that are underoccupied and worth far less than what the company paid. "Let me finish by making one thing clear: WeWork is here to stay," Tolley wrote.

Persons: David Tolley, it's, Tolley, SoftBank, WeWork, Marcelo Claure Organizations: New York Stock Exchange

☆ Instacart's IPO filing sparked an online spat between cloud rivals Snowflake and Databricks
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

One of Instacart's board members is Frank Slootman, the CEO of Snowflake , a publicly traded company that helps businesses store and manage hefty workloads in the cloud. Slootman joined Instacart's board in 2021 and, because of that relationship, the company has to disclose its business ties to Snowflake. In May, the company published a blog post titled "How Instacart Ads Modularized Data Pipelines With Lakehouse Architecture and Spark." The post, which described software underpinning Instacart's ads infrastructure, included discussion of a migration to Databricks' Lakehouse technology and the cost savings that followed. Representatives from Instacart, Snowflake and Databricks declined to to comment.

Persons: Frank Slootman, Slootman, Instacart, Snowflake, Databricks pounced, Databricks, You've Organizations: Inc, New York Stock Exchange, Employees, Twitter Locations: Snowflake, Instacart

☆ Tech IPOs are coming back — now they have to perform
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

It's been 20 months since a notable venture-backed tech company went public in the U.S., and the chatter in Silicon Valley has centered around who will break the ice. The three companies have very little in common, but collectively they represent a test of the excitement level among public market investors for new opportunities. Depending on how they perform out of the gate, their offerings could propel others to follow in the fourth quarter. By "yesteryear," Buyer is referring to the kinds of valuations tech companies were achieving in 2020 and 2021, which were record years for tech IPOs. DoorDash, which is probably Instacart's closest public market comparison, currently trades at 3.8 times revenue.

Persons: It's, Japan's SoftBank, Lise Buyer, yesteryear, DoorDash, Andreessen Horowitz Organizations: Nasdaq, V, Software, Sequoia Locations: U.S, yesteryear

☆ Palo Alto shares rise on earnings beat, surprising investors who worried about a Friday report
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Arora Nikesh, Palo Alto Networks CEO & Chairman at the WEF in Davos, Switzerland on May 23rd, 2022. Palo Alto Networks shares jumped as much as 9% in extended trading on Friday after the security software vendor reported earnings that exceeded analysts' estimates. Revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter increased 26% from $1.6 billion a year earlier, Palo Alto said. Palo Alto announced its earnings date on Aug. 2. WATCH: Jim Cramer interviews Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora

Persons: Arora, Palo, Nikesh Arora, Jim Cramer Organizations: Palo Alto Networks, Refinitiv, Refinitiv ., Refinitiv . Revenue, Palo, Palo Alto Locations: Palo, Davos, Switzerland, Refinitiv ., Palo Alto, West

☆ WeWork plunges another 11% after announcing reverse stock split to try and keep NYSE listing
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

WeWork , the office-sharing company once valued at $47 billion, said Friday it will undergo a 1-for-40 reverse stock split to try and keep its stock from being delisted. "The Reverse Stock Split is being effected to regain compliance with the $1.00 per share minimum closing price required to maintain continued listing on the New York Stock Exchange," WeWork said in a filing with the SEC. The reverse split will take effect after the close of trading on Sept. 1, the company said. The move will do nothing to improve the company's financials or valuation but, based on Friday's close, it would lift the stock price to $5.60. With or without a higher stock price, WeWork is in dire straits.

Persons: WeWork, Masayoshi Son's SoftBank, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Adam Neumann Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, SEC, NYSE

☆ Elon Musk says users on X, formerly Twitter, will lose ability to block unwanted followers, eliminating key safety feature
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Users of X, formerly known as Twitter, will no longer be able to block comments from unwanted followers, according to a post by X owner Elon Musk on Friday, eliminating what's long been viewed as a key safety feature. "Block is going to be deleted as a 'feature', except for DMs," Musk wrote Friday. The mute feature just keeps the individual user from seeing the undesired responses, but doesn't eliminate them from others' feeds. Twitter users have also long employed the block feature in boycotts and to avoid seeing ads from specific brands or promoters on the platform. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, an investor in the new Twitter alongside Musk, said in a post that the company should focus its attention elsewhere.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Louis Jones, Jones, — CNBC's Lora Kolodny Organizations: Twitter, DMs, Tesla, Brand Safety, CNBC

☆ DeSantis says he would ban TikTok because of China threat
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ron DeSantis told CNBC that he would likely ban TikTok if given the opportunity because the social media app is owned by a Chinese company. DeSantis, who trails Donald Trump in the race to become the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, was broadly critical of U.S. policy toward China in the interview. "There's a reason why stuff has been outsourced to China, because it can be done cheaper and people can make more money," DeSantis said. More recently, Congress introduced new bills earlier this year that would allow the Biden administration to ban TikTok. DeSantis referred to the bills as "too heavy-handed," claiming they would "invade peoples' privacy," but he said he would still probably support a ban.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, DeSantis, CNBC's Brian Sullivan, Donald Trump, TikTok, Trump, Biden, They've Organizations: Florida Gov, CNBC, Republican Locations: Florida, China, U.S, Washington, United States

☆ Tech stocks close out best first half in 40 years, powered by Apple rally and Nvidia boom
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Apple CEO Tim Cook stands next to the new Apple Vision Pro headset is displayed during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on June 05, 2023 in Cupertino, California. The last time technology stocks had a better first half, Apple was touting its Lisa desktop computer, IBM was the most-valuable tech company in the U.S. and Mark Zuckerberg hadn't been born. It's a startling achievement, given what's happened in the tech industry over the past four decades. Meta and Tesla , which both got hammered last year, have more than doubled in value so far in 2023. Nvidia shares soared 190% in the first half, lifting the 30-year-old company's market cap past $1 trillion.

Persons: Tim Cook, Apple, Mark Zuckerberg hadn't, Zuckerberg, Tesla, OpenAI, Bryn Talkington, CNBC's Organizations: Apple, Apple Vision, Apple Worldwide, IBM, Nasdaq, Microsoft, Silicon Valley Bank, Federal Reserve, Meta, Facebook, Google, Nvidia, Capital Management Locations: Cupertino , California, U.S

☆ Tech IPO drought reaches 18 months despite Nasdaq's sharp rebound in first half of 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Despite a bloated pipeline of companies waiting to go public and a rebound in tech stocks that pushed the Nasdaq up 30% in the first half of 2023, the IPO drought continues. Last Friday, Israeli beauty and tech company Oddity, which runs the Il Makiage and Spoiled Child brands, filed to go public on the Nasdaq. "You can make 15%-20% in the stock market but lose 15%-20%." "I think that’s done some harm to the traditional IPO market." With the public market still pretty closed, they're asking for alternatives."

Persons: Karl, Josef Hildenbrand, Turo, Reddit, hasn't, aren't, Lise Buyer, Buyer, Goldman Sachs, May, Shannon Stapleton, Jake Dollarhide, Dollarhide, Airbnb, they've, Instacart, Byron Deeter, Deeter, Larry Aschebrook, Aschebrook Organizations: AFP, Getty, Nasdaq, V, New York Stock Exchange, Apple, Nvidia, Coinbase Global Inc, Reuters Bankers, CNBC, Federal Reserve, Longbow Asset Management, Facebook, Clover Health, Venture, Companies, Bessemer Venture Partners, doesn't, Employees, Spotify Locations: U.S, Portola Valley , California, Cava, New York, Pinterest

☆ Crypto tokens plunged this week after Gensler stepped up SEC crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

SEC Chair Gary Gensler stepped up his attack on the crypto industry this week, suing Coinbase and Binance for securities violations and casting doubt on the future of token trading. In alleging that Coinbase was acting as an unregistered broker and exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission said at least 13 crypto assets available to the company's customers were considered "crypto asset securities." They include Solana's SOL token, Cardano's ADA token, Polygon's MATIC coin and Protocol Labs' Filecoin token (FIL). Binance's BNB token, ranked fourth, fell 16%. "The investing public has the benefit of U.S. securities laws," Gensler said in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Tuesday.

Persons: Gary Gensler, Coinbase, Crypto.com, Binance's, Joe Biden, Sam Bankman, Gensler, CNBC's Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Banking, Housing, Urban Affairs, SEC, CNBC, Securities and Exchange Commission, ADA, Labs, Polygon, Solana Locations: Cardano, Solana

☆ Crypto tokens plunged this week after Gensler stepped up SEC's industrywide crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

SEC Chair Gary Gensler stepped up his attack on the crypto industry this week, suing Coinbase and Binance for securities violations and casting doubt on the future of token trading. They include Solana's SOL token, Cardano's ADA token, Polygon's MATIC coin and Protocol Labs' Filecoin token (FIL). "No other coins are affected and your crypto is still safe on Robinhood," the company said in a post. Binance's BNB token, ranked fourth, fell 16%. "The investing public has the benefit of U.S. securities laws," Gensler said in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Tuesday.

Persons: Gary Gensler, Coinbase, Crypto.com, Binance's, Biden, Sam Bankman, Gensler, CNBC's Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Banking, Housing, Urban Affairs, SEC, CNBC, ADA, Labs, Polygon, Solana Locations: Cardano, Solana

☆ CNBC Daily Open: The Goldilocks effect
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Yeo Boon Ping | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Average hourly earnings were 10 basis points lower than forecast on an annual basis — but still higher than the historical average. "The so-called Goldilocks has entered the house," Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, said. That impressive showing doesn't bring the Russell to par with the S&P's gain year to date, but in the past week, the Russell rose 3.3% while the S&P added 1.8%.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, that's, Terry Sandven, CNBC's Ari Levy, Russell, it's Organizations: White, CNBC, Federal Reserve, U.S, Bank Wealth Management, Markets, Dow Jones, Nasdaq Locations: Washington , DC, U.S

☆ CNBC Daily Open: A Goldilocks jobs market?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Yeo Boon Ping | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. And yes, the astounding number of new jobs added in May suggests that the labor market is still robust, which might add to inflationary pressures. Average hourly earnings were 10 basis points lower than forecast on an annual basis — but still higher than the historical average. That impressive showing doesn't bring the Russell to par with the S&P's gain year to date, but in the past week, the Russell rose 3.3% while the S&P added 1.8%.

Persons: Biden, that's, Terry Sandven, CNBC's Ari Levy, Russell, it's Organizations: CNBC, Federal Reserve, U.S, Bank Wealth Management, Markets, Dow Jones, Nasdaq Locations: U.S

☆ Tech stocks close out first six-week rally since January 2020
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Tech stocks still haven't fully rebounded from a miserable 2022, but they're rewarding investors who saw the sell-off as too extreme. The Nasdaq Composite gained 2% this week, wrapping up the sixth-straight weekly rally for the tech-heavy index. Among the most-valuable Nasdaq companies, Tesla led the way, with an 11% increase for the week. In the cloud software corner of tech, some earnings reports are still providing a boost. The company on Thursday reported earnings and revenue that topped analysts' estimates and raised its guidance for fiscal 2024.

Persons: Joe Biden, Tesla, Danielle Shay, Dev Ittycheria, SentinelOne, David Bernhardt, PagerDuty, Howard Wilson Organizations: Nasdaq, U.S, Stocks, Nvidia, Dow Jones

☆ The tech trade is back, driven by A.I. craze and prospect of a less aggressive Fed
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Imageswatch nowTo start the year, the main theme in tech was layoffs and cost cuts. But investors have shifted their focus to AI now that companies are showcasing real-world applications of the long-hyped technology. Google, meanwhile, is touting its rival AI model at every opportunity, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg would much rather tell shareholders about his company's AI advancements than the company's money-bleeding metaverse efforts. The chipmaker, known best for its graphics processing units (GPUs) that power advanced video games, is riding the AI wave. The next three top gainers in the index are also tech companies: Meta, Advanced Micro Devices and Salesforce .

☆ Palantir dumps $50 million gold investment less than two years after buying precious metal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In August 2021, data analytics software vendor Palantir bought over $50 million worth of 100-ounce gold bars. Less than two years later, Palantir said goodbye to the precious metal. "During the three months ended March 31, 2023, the Company sold all of its gold bars for total proceeds of $51.1 million," Palantir said in its first-quarter financial filing Tuesday. At the time of Palantir's investment in gold, the market was in a much different spot. Palantir shares soared 23% on Tuesday after the company reported earnings and revenue that topped analysts' estimates.

☆ Chegg shares rebound with 17% pop after losing almost half their value on ChatGPT concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Chegg's stock price recouped some of its gains on Wednesday after the online education company lost half its value a day earlier due to concerns about the potential impact of ChatGPT on its business. As of early afternoon New York time, Chegg shares were up 17% to $10.63. The shares had plummeted following Chegg's earnings report late Monday, when the company opted not to give annual guidance because of uncertainty surrounding OpenAI's ChatGPT, the popular artificial intelligence chatbot. "I think this is extraordinarily overblown, and I don't normally say that, I don't really talk about the stock price much," Rosensweig said. WATCH: Chegg CEO on earnings stock drop

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has a message for Coinbase and other crypto exchanges: The rules are clear, and they must be obeyed. In a video posted on Twitter on Thursday, Gensler said that crypto exchanges must treat cryptocurrencies like securities and stop acting as if the regulations are ambiguous. "If you're a securities exchange, clearinghouse, broker, or dealer, you must come into compliance, register with us, and deal with conflicts of interest and disclose important information. Since January, the SEC has taken action against crypto exchanges Bittrex & Gemini, crypto lender Genesis, and a number of individual actors accused of manipulating crypto assets, including crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun and disgraced Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon. "Intermediaries for investment contracts, whether they're exchanges, brokers, dealers, clearinghouses, they need to comply with the securities laws and register with the Securities and Exchange Commission."

☆ Four days of panic: How startup execs navigated SVB's meltdown and prepared for the worst
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

A Silicon Valley Bank worker talks with people lining up outside of the bank office on March 13, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. Refreshing GoogleOtter.ai founder and CEO Sam Liang spent Monday driving to SVB branches in Silicon Valley to try and retrieve millions of dollars of his company's money. "I checked Google like 20 times an hour, watched [Treasury Secretary Janet] Yellen talking about not bailing out Silicon Valley Bank." Silicon Valley Bank customers listen as FDIC representatives, left, speak with them before the opening of a branch SVBs headquarters in Santa Clara, California on March 13, 2023. "But at the moment, as long as Silicon Valley Bridge Bank is 100% federally guaranteed, there's no need to diversify.

☆ Investors implore the government to step in after Silicon Valley Bank failure
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Matt Rosoff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Big names in Silicon Valley and the finance sector are calling publicly for the federal government to push another bank to assume Silicon Valley Bank's assets and obligations after the financial institution failed on Friday. But the vast majority of SVB's customers were businesses that had more than that on deposit at the bank. As of December, more than 95% of the bank's deposits were uninsured, according to regulatory filings. Investors are concerned that these failures could reduce confidence in the banking sector, particularly mid-sized banks with under $250 billion in deposits. "This was a hysteria-induced bank run caused by VCs," Ryan Falvey, a fintech investor at Restive Ventures, told CNBC on Friday.

☆ Companies scramble to meet payroll, pay bills after SVB's swift failure
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

In this article SIVB Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTEmployees stand outside of the shuttered Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) headquarters on March 10, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. They'll receive a dividend within a week covering an undetermined amount of their money and a "receivership certificate for the remaining amount of their uninsured funds." Clients with uninsured funds — anything over $250,000 — don't know what to do. Gilbert said he's advising portfolio companies individually, instead of sending out a mass email, because every situation is different. "I got emails saying saying don't send money to SVB, and if you have let us know," Gilbert said.

☆ As Silicon Valley Bank comes under pressure, here's a list of the 15 most-shorted banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Investor anxiety over tech-focused SVB Financial 's fund-raising plans sent its shares tumbling Thursday , but short sellers have been targeting several other banks too, data shows. Crypto-focused bank Silvergate Capital was the most shorted stock among regional and national banks as of Feb. 28, according to the latest industry data compiled by FactSet. Earlier this week, shares in the bank fell 36% after the crypto industry lender said it is winding down operations and liquidating its bank. The following table shows the 15 stocks with the highest percentage of shares held short. More than 5% of Silicon Valley Bank's shares, worth $340 million were held short, FactSet data reveals.

Silicon Valley Bank has long been considered the lifeblood for tech startups, providing traditional banking services while funding projects and companies deemed too risky for traditional lenders. For the Silicon Valley region, the troubles land at a particularly difficult time. As a large regulated bank, SVB has been viewed as a stabilizing force. Orn called SVB a "crown jewel of Silicon Valley" and a "strong franchise" that he expects to survive this difficult period and even potentially get acquired by a bigger bank. S&P lowered its rating on SVB to BBB- from BBB, leaving it just one notch above its junk rating.

☆ Meta announces big price cuts for its VR headsets
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Meta will slash the prices of its Quest 2 and high-end Quest Pro headsets, the company announced Friday. The price of the Meta Quest 2 will drop from $499.99 to $429.99, while the price of the higher-end Meta Quest Pro will be slashed to $999.99 from $1,499.99. Meta lost $13.7 billion on its Reality Labs segment in 2022. The Meta Quest Pro 2 was announced in November, but its high price put it out of reach for most consumers. The price changes will begin rolling out on March 5 for the Meta Quest 2.

Search resuls for: "Ari Levy"

25 mentions found