The spectacular rise of the stock markets through 2024 and early 2025 have been powered by a speculative AI mania. There can be little doubt that valuations have got somewhat ahead of themselves by any measure. Yet, as always in manias we hear, this time it is different, but is it? One just has to look at the market reaction to Chinese start-up DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence (AI) models being listed as a free open-source app. They were listed for free … Continue reading “DeepSeek The AI Speculative Bubble Top?”
Meta Platforms Stock Soars 20% After Initiates Dividend, Strong Engagement Trends
Social media beast Meta Platforms, owner of Facebook shares soared around 20% after earnings beats by $0.51, beats on revs and guiding Q1 revs above consensus. Meta Initiated a quarterly dividend of $0.50/share and also announced a $50 billion increase to share repurchase program. The company said it is experiencing strong engagement trends across apps and capex growth will be driven by investments in servers and data centers as it invests in AI. All the bad was forgiven at the … Continue reading “Meta Platforms Stock Soars 20% After Initiates Dividend, Strong Engagement Trends”
New China Draft Rules for Online Gaming Send Chinese Stocks Sharply Lower
Chinese gaming stocks are sharply lower Friday after the Chinese government announced new draft rules for online gaming industry. Tencent’s stock fell -12.35% to HK$274, NetEase dumped -24.60% to HK$122, and Bilibili (BILI) fell around 10% on the Hong Kong Stock exchange. The stocks continued to slide heading into the US opening. Netease fell to 81.69 -22.72 (-21.76%) Pre-Market. BILI 10.32 -1.25 (-10.80%) Pre-Market. The new rules are aimed curbing the amount of money and time players spend playing the … Continue reading “New China Draft Rules for Online Gaming Send Chinese Stocks Sharply Lower”
Cisco Buys Machine Learning Data Specialist Splunk for $28 Billion
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”
How to Value SoftBank’s Semiconductor Arm IPO Among the NVidia and AI Frenzy
The much-anticipated IPO for SoftBank Group Corp. semiconductor unit Arm was filed Monday. With the AI frenzy Softbank is looking to time the listing to perfection. In what has been a rather dour few years for IPOs with high interest rates and a bear market for much of that period this is expected to be the year’s largest US initial public offering. Arm Holdings Ltd. didn’t disclose proposed terms in its filing Monday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. … Continue reading “How to Value SoftBank’s Semiconductor Arm IPO Among the NVidia and AI Frenzy”
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”
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”