The risks are demonstrably manageable. Herman Hauser has once again criticised the acquisition of Arm citing clear signs of unfair competition but what I think he has done is merely re-iterate the risks of this acquisition which everyone already knows are there. The promotion of the idea of a merger between Graphcore and Arm does not help the credibility of...
Darktrace makes the right choice. Instead of pulling the IPO, Darktrace dealt with the issues by cutting its valuation significantly and was rewarded with a first-day bounce that will go some way towards restoring the image of the LSE which was badly tarnished by the awful launch of Deliveroo. Darktrace is a cybersecurity company that uses pattern recognition (AI) to...
One good, one bad exemplifies how unbalanced risk is in big tech. Amazon – Permanent pandemic Amazon reported excellent results as the shift towards online shopping that was accelerated due to the pandemic appears to have changed people’s habits. Q1 2021 revenues / EPS were $102.5bn / $15.79 comfortably ahead of forecasts of $104.6bn / $9.61. The core retail e-commerce...
Both Apple and Facebook smash expectations. Apple FQ2 2021 – the last of the stay at home Apple reported FQ2 2021 results that blasted through estimates as the work and learn from home trend continued to underpin demand for its productivity products which was also supported by a solid performance from the iPhone. FQ2 2021 revenues / EPS were $89.6bn...
Good results but different reactions imply that valuation in big-cap tech is starting to matter again. Alphabet Q1 2021 – Approaching the range. Google reported good Q1 2021 results as it is still catching up from the dip that it suffered in H1 2020 as a result of the pandemic. Q1 2021 Revenues Ex-TAC / EPS were $45.6bn / $26.29...
Lyft sells its differentiation. Lyft may have sold a struggling asset but in a world of robotaxis, this asset was the one chance Lyft had at winning any differentiation highlighting just what a brutal commodity the robotaxi industry is going to be. This is where I think that both Elon Musk and Ark Invest have made a mistake as both...
Mapbox claims a navigation niche. Hot on the heels of announcing a new CEO and a new strategy (see here), Mapbox has announced a navigation product for automotive which is nicely timed with the possibility of a public listing via SPAC. The new product is called Mapbox Dash which is a navigation system designed for the infotainment system that is...
The US Administration launches its first EV. Despite three years of saying there is nowhere to run (see here), Huawei is seeking refuge in the automotive industry with an EV that is almost certainly a result of the actions by the USA. This week it’s the Shanghai Auto Show and as my colleague Michael Dunne sagely points out (see here),...
Netflix – Stuck in the doldrums Netflix has paid the price for its pandemic bump with a disappointing set of results that will keep the shares in the doldrums (like Amazon and others) until the valuation catches up. Q1 2021 subscribers / revenues / EPS were 208m / $7.2bn / $3.75 which was a miss on subscribers where the company...
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.
Yahoo – Another last hurrah?
Apollo bets $5bn on a fourth attempt. Apollo is paying $5bn to acquire 90% of Verizon’s media assets in yet another sure signal that the only good thing that Marissa Meyer did for Yahoo shareholders was to sell it to Verizon. Yahoo is a has-been Internet titan that has catastrophically failed to capitalise on the opportunities that were in front...