Machine data analytics specialist Splunk shares jumped more than 21% in pre-market trading Thursday, after Cisco Systems Inc. agreed to buy Splunk Inc. for $157 a share in cash in a deal valued at about $28 billion. The price is a 31% premium to Splunk’s previous closing price on Wednesday. The deal value represents around 10% of Cisco’s market value. The deal is CSCO’s biggest acquisition ever and a massive push into software and artificial intelligence-powered data analysis. The SPLK … Continue reading “Cisco Buys Machine Learning Data Specialist Splunk for $28 Billion”
Amazon Stock Surges 8% After Blow Out Earnings and Raised Guidance
Retail monster Amazon.com reported much stronger June quarter revenue Thursday and raised guidance for Q3 sending the shares sharply higher. It was Amazon’s biggest earnings beat since Q4 2020 with the ongoing cost-cutting improving margins. Amazon was the last of the mega-cap tech companies to report, following Netflix, Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Meta and Alphabet. AMZN reported net income of $6.7 billion, or 65 cents a share, after recording a loss of $2 billion, or 20 cents a share, a year earlier. The year-ago loss was … Continue reading “Amazon Stock Surges 8% After Blow Out Earnings and Raised Guidance”
Apple Stock Trades 7% Lower from Record High After Earnings with Disappointing iPhone Sales
Consumer electronics giant Apple stock slumped 4.8% Friday after earnings, down 7.1% for the week (largest since November) after $AAPL closed Monday traded at an all-time high $198.23, at that point with a year-to-date return of 51.6%. The company Thursday reported fiscal Q3 Net Income of $19.881 billion, up 2% vs. Q3 2022. Revenues were down slightly year on year. The stock closed the week with a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.59. AAPL reported better than expected EPS and revenue for … Continue reading “Apple Stock Trades 7% Lower from Record High After Earnings with Disappointing iPhone Sales”
DoubleVerify Stock 14% Lower After Second Quarter Earnings and Scibids Acquistion Deal
Ad verification company DoubleVerify (NYSE: DV) announced Tuesday after the market close better than expected second quarter earnings and that it has entered into an agreement to acquire French AI-powered adtech firm Scibids Technology sas in a cash and stock deal valued at $125 million. Scibids builds AI that automates and optimizes an advertiser’s programmatic buying of digital ad campaigns. DV second quarterly earnings were $0.07 per share, which beat the consensus of $0.06. DV reported quarterly sales of $133.74 … Continue reading “DoubleVerify Stock 14% Lower After Second Quarter Earnings and Scibids Acquistion Deal”
Ad Verification Specialist DoubleVerify to Acquire French AI Firm Scibids
Ad verification company DoubleVerify announced along with it’s second quarter earnings it has entered into an agreement to acquire French AI-powered adtech firm Scibids Technology sas in a cash and stock deal valued at $125 million. The move follows the partnership formed in June this year to launch the “DoubleVerify Algorithmic Optimizer.” Scibids’ AI algorithm were matched with DoubleVerify’s media quality and ad performance data to optimize advertising campaigns. The deal is a natural progression from the partnership. DoubleVerify enables … Continue reading “Ad Verification Specialist DoubleVerify to Acquire French AI Firm Scibids”
Microsoft Lower on Artificial Intelligence Growth Not Until Next Year
Software giant Microsoft reported weaker than expected June 2022 (Q4F23) quarterly earnings Tuesday, MSFT also issued worse-than-expected quarterly revenue guidance. The company made $56.2 billion in revenue and a net income of $20.1 billion during Q4. Microsoft’s cloud businesses are really driving the company’s revenue. Windows and devices revenue have been hit hard again this quarter, but Xbox has rebounded on the content side. Microsoft’s cloud, office, and server businesses continue to make up for a weaker PC market. Investors … Continue reading “Microsoft Lower on Artificial Intelligence Growth Not Until Next Year”
Netflix New Subscribers, Operating Margin and Free Cash Flow All Beat, But Revenue Misses
Streaming giant Netflix reported mixed second quarter earnings after the market close Wednesday. NFLX reported revenues rose 2.7% compared to the year-ago period but missed estimates. This report included the affect of the crackdown on password sharing, which rolled out in the US in late May, along with the recently launched ad-supported tier. Netflix also guided third-quarter revenue of $8.52 billion, below expectations of $8.67 billion. On the positive side adjusted EPS of $3.29 beat $2.90 expected and subscribers net … Continue reading “Netflix New Subscribers, Operating Margin and Free Cash Flow All Beat, But Revenue Misses”
Tesla Earnings Excel but Margin Eroding Price Cuts Fuels Investor Profit Taking
Tesla reported Q2 earnings after the market close Wednesday beat EPS and revenue expectations with record vehicle deliveries and moderating raw materials prices. However declining margins, aggressive investment plans, and price cuts saw some profit taking after the big run up in the TSLA stock by over 140% this year. TSLA closed $262.90 -28.36 (-9.74%) today. Guidance that more margin eroding price cuts maybe on the horizon as the EV price war rages on, we saw Ford cut its F-150 … Continue reading “Tesla Earnings Excel but Margin Eroding Price Cuts Fuels Investor Profit Taking”
NASDAQ 100 Special Rebalancing to Address Magnificent Seven Weighting Rule Trigger
The NASDAQ will announce rebalancing changes on July 14 for the Nasdaq 100 index, and they will take effect before the market opens on July 24. The rebalance is to address the outside dominance and risk to the index from just seven stocks dominating price. The seven stocks that have become known as the “Magnificent Seven” have dominated the NASDAQ 100 and the S&P 500 for that matter in 2023. The price moves higher in Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon … Continue reading “NASDAQ 100 Special Rebalancing to Address Magnificent Seven Weighting Rule Trigger”
Nvidia Crushes Earnings and Guidance Acceleration with AI and Data Center Growth
NVidia trounced analysts with spectacular earnings and guidance for the April fiscal quarter of 2023 establishing itself as the leader in the emergence of AI technology. Nvidia fulfills the insatiable market needs of generative AI and accelerated computing. NVDA shares have been running hot with the generative artificial intelligence boom that started with the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT back in November. Even with that NVDA projected $11 billion in sales for the quarter ending in July, shocking analysts who had … Continue reading “Nvidia Crushes Earnings and Guidance Acceleration with AI and Data Center Growth”