Snap survives TikTok. Snap reported good Q1 2022 results that were more impacted by Russia than they were by TikTok raising the possibility that TikTok’s incursion into Western markets may be slowing down. Q1 2022 revenues / EPS were $1.06bn / LOSS$0.22 which was slightly behind estimates of $1.05bn / LOSS$0.19 but the good news was to be found in...
Hubris mars credibility. Tesla reported great results but then marred its improving credibility by making unrealistic predictions about robotaxis that it has no real hope of fulfilling. Q1 2022 revenues / EPS were $18.8bn / $3.22 nicely ahead of forecasts of $17.9bn / $3.22. Profitability was driven by a shift in the sales mix towards more expensive vehicles and a...
Netflix pays the price for its high multiple. Netflix reported its first subscriber decline as the cost of living crisis is forcing users to tighten their belts which triggered a 25% decline in the shares once again highlighting the risks of high multiple stocks. Q1 2022 revenue / EPS were $7.87bn / $3.53 broadly in line with consensus at $7.94bn...
Poison pill is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Twitter’s board has adopted a poison pill in an attempt to block a take-over by Elon Musk in what could easily be argued is a breach of duty to the shareholders leading to one or more lawsuits. The board of Twitter has adopted a rights agreement that it says protects shareholders by...
It becomes clear why Mr Musk refused a board seat. Elon Musk’s bid for Twitter appears to be more about his definition of free speech than financial investment as at $43bn he is really going to struggle to make a decent financial return. Elon Musk has made a public bid to buy the 91% of Twitter that he does not...
Activism compounds a legion of problems. Peloton is now under assault by an activist investor who makes both fair and unfair criticisms of Peloton which make the task of turning the ship around even harder than it already is. Blackwells Capital owns less than 5% but updated its presentation (see here) which bemoans the lack of progress and calls for...
The Holy Grail of blood pressure is delayed. It looks as if Apple is delaying its plans to include blood pressure monitoring in the Apple Watch for two or three years, once again indicating how difficult this is to get right and how important it could be once it is finally ready for the market. When it comes to wellness,...
Epic games strengthens its Metaverse silo. Most of the $2bn being invested in Epic Games will be used to build a version of the Metaverse that will bring together at least 2 of the current players and may offer a challenge to Roblox and Minecraft. Epic Games has raised $2bn at a post-money valuation of $31.5bn with Sony and Lego...
Spare parts is not a fix. Google will make spare parts for its Pixel phones available for DIY repair and while this will be generally well-received, it does nothing to address the problem that it is not very good at making hardware. Google has been trying to be more like Apple for years, and despite spending billions of dollars on...
Richard is founder, owner of research company, Radio Free Mobile. He has 16 years of experience working in sell side equity research. During his 11 year tenure at Nomura Securities, he focused on the equity coverage of the Global Technology sector.
Twitter – The price of free speech pt. III
Musk gains the upper hand but at a price. Elon Musk is getting closer to acquiring Twitter but he still needs to deal with the poison pill and the level of risk that he is assuming (and putting onto Tesla shareholders) is not insignificant. Elon Musk has announced that he has secured a $46.5bn financing package which will enable him...