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You’ll Never See The World The Same Way Again
Add Google (GOOG,GOOGL) to the list of tech companies which won’t respond to information requests from Hong Kong authorities after China’s national security law.
Alphabet says it paused its responses last Wednesday when the law took effect.
The company will “continue to review the details of the new law.”
Earlier today, Twitter and Facebook revealed similar pauses in fulfilling data requests.
Internet retail stocks are outperformers again on some indications that the brick-and-mortar recovery will be uneven until a COVID vaccine is widely available. Positive economic data out of China is also a factor for some e-commerce companies today.
Notable gainers include MOGU (MOGU +31.4%), Overstock.com (OSTK +16.7%), Blue Apron (APRN +7.5%), Secoo (SECO +6.7%), Alibaba (BABA +6.6%), eBay (EBAY +2.8%), Etsy (ETSY +1.3%), Wayfair (W +3.3%) and Jumai Technologies (JMIA +5.1%).
The Amplify Online Retail ETF (NASDAQ:IBUY) is up 2.07% to outpace broad market averages.
According to The Information sources, Microsoft (MSFT +2.0%) is eyeing the Warner Bros. (T +0.8%) game division to build out the game-making capabilities of its Xbox group.
The game division is behind popular franchises based on Batman, Game of Thrones, and Harry Potter and has studios across the U.S., Canada, and U.K..
AT&T is considering the unit’s sale to help pay down $154B in debt, but the company hasn’t made a final decision.
Last month, CNBC sources said a Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment deal could bring up to $4B with Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Take-Two Interactive listed as interested parties.
As Amazon (AMZN +4.3%) shares passed $3,000 for the first time, Laffer Tengler Investments chief investment officer Nancy Tengler sees the “super-fast sales growth” supporting the price at these levels.
Tengler tells CNBC that Amazon’s key catalysts are margins, compressed since the growth comes from low-margin spaces, and AWS “redoubling their efforts in trying to acquire military contracts.
Piper Sandler analyst Craig Johnson thinks that “when the next earnings season starts, this is a stock where these analysts, which primarily are all bullish, are going to have to be raising their price objectives.”
Johnson says $3,400-3,500 “seems like a price objective of where the stock could ultimately go to.”
Amazon is expected to report earnings on July 25. Consensus estimates see $80.52B in revenue and $1.52 EPS.
AMZN has a Very Bullish average Wall St. Analysts rating and a $2,815.61 average price target.
Uber (NYSE:UBER) confirms acquiring Postmates (POSTM) for $2.65B in an all-stock transaction. The transaction is expected to close in Q1.
The company expects to issue 84M shares of common stock for 100% of the fully diluted equity of Postmates.
The deal offers a 10% premium to Postmates’ last valuation of $2.4B.
Uber says Postmates is “highly complementary to Uber Eats, with differentiated geographic focus areas and customer demographics, and Postmates’ strong relationships with small- and medium-sized restaurants, particularly local favorites that draw customers to the Postmates brand.”
The ride-hail giant also notes that Postmates is an “early pioneer” of delivery-as-a-service, complimenting “Uber’s growing efforts in the delivery of groceries, essentials, and other goods.”
Uber will host a conference call to discuss the deal at 8:30 AM with a webcast here.
Update: During the earnings call, CEO Daria Khosrowshahi sees the deal is expected to generate about $200M synergies within two years, and the transaction should prove profitable to Uber.
Uber shares are up 8.5% pre-market to $33.30.
Related: Postmates was reportedly ready to file for an initial public offering this week if the UBER talks fell through.
