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By Swissquote Analysts
Morning News

Netflix's underwhelming subscriber gains spark 'vigorous debate' about the future

Netflix (-7,5%) shares are skidding Wednesday after the company posted disappointing subscriber growth for the March quarter -- just 4 million net new subscribers, short of the company's projection of 6 million. Netflix shares have declined 12.2% over the past three months though they're up 17.3% over a 12-month span. The S&P 500 has risen 7.3% over three months and 51.6% over 12 months. Investors were eagerly awaiting Netflix's figures on its business performance in the first three months of 2021. In the first fiscal quarter, the streaming company earned 3.75 US dollars per share, after an EPS of 1.57 US dollars had been on the books in the same period of the previous year. This was more than analysts had anticipated; experts had previously expected earnings per share to be $2.97. Sales were also up year-on-year: Revenues climbed from $5.77 billion to $7.16 billion, after experts had previously seen revenues at $7.14 billion. After the boom at the beginning of the Corona crisis, which had brought Netflix record results last year, the rush of customers slowed down sharply.

By
Vincent MIVELAZ
Morning News

Apple Reveals Subscription Podcasts, Latest iPad Pro

Apple Inc. revealed a subscription podcast service and small wireless tags to track gadgets, two new products aimed at rivals that have complained the iPhone maker uses its strength to compete unfairly. The rollout, during Apple's first product event of the year, also featured a shelf of updated devices, including a further expansion of the company's in-house-designed processor chips to the iMac desktop computer. Apple also said it is bringing its new chips to the high-end iPad, making the tablet 75 times faster than its first iPad. The iPad Pro also comes with a brighter screen and speedy fifth-generation, or 5G, connectivity.

By
Vincent MIVELAZ
Morning News

Coca-Cola Posts Higher Quarterly Revenue

Coca-Cola said it earned $2.25 billion, or 52 cents a share, down from 64 cents a share in the year-ago period. On a comparable basis, which excludes items such as currency, earnings per share were 55 cents on revenue that grew 5% to $9.02 billion. Analysts were looking for earnings per share of 50 cents on revenue of $8.68 billion. Organic revenue grew 6%. However, the company said it lost value share in the overall nonalcoholic ready-to-drink category as gains in both at-home and away-from-home channels were offset by ongoing pressure on the latter because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Away-from-home consumption is a major market for Coke, more so than rival PepsiCo (PEP).

By
Vincent MIVELAZ
Morning News

LG Chem Venture Plans Second $2.3 Billion Battery-Cell Plant

General Motors Co. and joint-venture partner LG Chem Ltd. said they plan to invest $2.3 billion to build a second battery-cell plant in Tennessee to support the Detroit auto maker's efforts to expand its electric-vehicles portfolio. The GM/LG venture, Ultium Cells LLC, will build the plant in Spring Hill on land leased from GM, creating 1,300 new jobs. GM and LG said construction on the roughly 2.8-million-square-foot facility will begin immediately, with the plant slated to open in late 2023. The facility will supply battery cells to GM's Spring Hill assembly plant. GM and LG formed Ultium in 2019 to mass produce battery cells at a new facility in Lordstown, Ohio. The companies on Friday said construction of that $2.3 billion plant is well underway.

By
Vincent MIVELAZ
Themes Trading

420

Could this be the last illegal 4.20? Its been 50 years since a group of high school students used 420 as code for smoking cannabis. 420 refers to the highly punctual time of 4:20 pm when these students would meet up to smoke.

By
Peter Rosenstreich
Morning News

L'Oreal 1Q Sales Rose

L'Oreal SA said Thursday that sales rose in the first quarter of the year, with three divisions reporting double-digit growth despite the impact of the coronavirus. The French cosmetics and consumer-products company said quarterly sales came in at 7.61 billion euros ($9.11 billion), up from EUR7.23 billion in the previous year. On a like-for-like basis, sales increased 10.2%. L'Oreal's professional-products division reported a 21% organic sales rise, supported by new trends such as the digitalization of salons, independent stylists and the e-commerce boom. The active cosmetics business jumped 28.7% on a like-for-like basis, gaining market share across geographies, while the luxe division reported a sales increase of 14.6% like-for-like. L'Oreal said first-quarter results outperformed the market and it is confident it will be able to achieve growth in both sales and profits in the year.

By
Vincent MIVELAZ
Morning News

Goldman Profit Rises Sharply on Strong Trading, Deal Making

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reported record profit and revenue in the first quarter, benefiting from a turbocharged market and an economic recovery. Goldman posted a quarterly profit of $6.84 billion, or $18.60 a share, on revenue of $17.7 billion. Both measures were up significantly from a year ago -- when the bank posted profit of $1.2 billion on revenue of $8.7 billion -- and exceeded the expectations of analysts polled by FactSet, who forecast profit of $10.22 a share on revenue of $12.56 billion. Trading revenue rose 47% from a year ago to $7.6 billion, thanks to a 31% increase in fixed-income, currency and commodity trading revenue and a 68% increase in stock-trading revenue.

By
Vincent MIVELAZ
Morning News

LVMH Beats Consensus with Strong 1Q Sales

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE said Tuesday that sales returned to strong growth in its first quarter, boosted by its core soft-luxury division and by the integration of jeweler Tiffany. Sales at the French luxury-goods conglomerate grew by 30% organically on year to 13.96 billion euros ($16.63 billion). The figure represents an 8% rise compared with the same period in 2019. Analysts had forecast quarterly sales of EUR12.58 billion, according to a FactSet-compiled consensus of seven estimates. The core fashion & leather goods division booked the largest increase at 52%, while the watches & jewelry division, with Tiffany integrated for the first time, posted growth of 35%.

By
Vincent MIVELAZ
Morning News

Microsoft to Buy Nuance Communications for $19.7 Billion

Microsoft Corp. has agreed to acquire speech-recognition firm Nuance Communications Inc. for $16 billion, pushing further into health technology and adding to a series of big deals that have widened the range of software tools it offers customers. The two companies said Microsoft agreed to pay $56 per Nuance share in the all-cash deal, a 23% premium over Friday's closing price. The companies put the deal value, including debt, at $19.7 billion. Meanwhile, Microsoft intends to continue its share buyback program. Microsoft shares closed virtually unchanged, while Nuance soared by almost 16 percent. The acquisition is Microsoft's second largest under Chief Executive Satya Nadella after the company spent about $26 billion for professional network LinkedIn Corp. in 2016.

By
Vincent MIVELAZ
Morning News

Alibaba Hit With Record $2.8 Billion Antitrust Fine in China

China's antitrust regulator imposed a fine equivalent to $2.8 billion against Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. for abusing its dominant position over rivals and merchants on its e-commerce platforms, a record penalty in the country that comes amid a wave of scrutiny on the business empire of Alibaba founder Jack Ma. China's State Administration for Market Regulation said Saturday in Beijing that Alibaba punished certain merchants who sold goods both on Alibaba and on rival platforms, a practice that it dubbed "er xuan yi"--literally, "choose one out of two." As part of the penalty, regulators will require that Alibaba carry out a comprehensive revamp of its operations and submit a "self-examination compliance report" within the next three years, they said.

By
Vincent MIVELAZ