Clown show
Game streaming plans, Ramdev aping Musk, and Airlines suffer.
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Let’s go ahead and get started:
What’s brewing hot? ☕
✅ Split it up—Nvidia, the semiconductor world’s darling stock, announced a 4 for 1 stock split—that is, every share of the company, which costs about ~$600 each, will be sliced into 4 units, so that the price per share becomes a fraction of what it is now. Companies do that so common investors get to buy in easily, but perhaps there’s another reason here—Nvidia may be preparing to join the Dow Jones index, which is price weighted, and a higher share price would mean NVDA has a disproportionate impact in swaying the index.
✅ Crypto takes a dump—this how we live now… the crypto markets got dragged down even further in the last 24 hours, with Bitcoin briefly trading below $32K—the lowest point in the flash crash that started last week. $1 trillion in market cap has been wiped from the markets already, and we may have officially closed the books on the boom and entered the land of the bears here on out. Party over.
Clown Show of tech land 🙄
The ongoing Epic Games vs. Apple tussle keeps giving.
After execs from both companies were grilled, it was finally time to put the king, Tim Cook, in the witness box.
It’s quite rare for a CEO that high up the corporate chain to be put on the stand, but we’re guessing this was Apple’s best shot at solidifying its stand...
Few nuggets from Tim’s arguments:
85% of the apps on App Store pay Apple nothing
Of the rest, the majority of developers pay a reduced 15% fee, because they don’t make over $1 million a year
Timmy even claimed the App Store is an “economic miracle”
Then came the Trump Card—just as the proceedings we going on, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel came out in support of Apple claiming the 30% fee is not an inconvenience at all, and that Snap wouldn't even exist if not for Apple… timing of which makes you wonder who held a gun to Spiegel’s head.
Nobody would’ve taken Evan seriously had Snap been just another messaging app, but that’s 500 million monthly active users, and given the company is launching an “app-store” of its own within the Snapchat ecosystem, and is doubling down on exciting high-tech features like AR and the metaverse, his commentary seriously undermines the position of Epic Games, which is arguing that Apple thwarts innovation.
Big picture—more than about being right or wrong, the trial is becoming all about who can tell a better story in justifying their stand, and when all cards are drawn, fact remains—there is no company better than Apple at narrative management.
Bottomline, pays well to be a shareholder!
Innovation is the name of the game 😎
What happened—Netflix is finally moving on what investors have been demanding for long—entering the video games business, as reports break the company is actively looking for executives to lead a fresh cloud-based game streaming franchise.
You entered our turf—media wars have been escalating in the recent days. Firstly, Disney with its 100 million subs on Disney+, acquired within 2 years, is making Netflix’s 2 decade long winding rise to prominence look like kiddie play in the eyes of investors.
Then, as users remain hungover from too much streaming during COVID, many have been reluctant to sign up for new services—which led to Netflix falling short of new subscribers at the beginning of this quarter.
Then came the Discovery + WarnerMedia $150 billion marriage. Then Bezos made a move on acquiring MGM Studios. Basically, old school guys + disruptive tech giants, everybody is arming up.
The future—Netflix had to act, and one way to win the argument is to change the conversation altogether. For years have investors drooled over Netflix’s potential to do more in media—sports, gaming, even live video commerce or events.
So Reed Hastings is finally making a move—and with an extensive book of self owned content, shouldn’t be too hard to get started in Gaming.
Big Picture—the $160 billion global gaming industry is counting on game streaming as the next big frontier of opportunities—where users can directly stream games in the living room, without the need of a console (like a PS or an Xbox) or fancy hardware.
GOOGL, AMZN, FB, MSFT—every tech giant is gunning for the space, and the opportunity could overnight multiply Netflix’s addressable market.
Some healthcare nautanki 💉
The Health Ministry just issued a warning and guideline to Patanjali founder Ramdev over ridiculous comments on the efficacy of allopathic medicine in curing diseases.
Ramdev’s comments:
“Allopathy ek aisi stupid and diwaliya science hai… Lakho logo ki maut allopathy ki dawai khane se hui hai”
Center, surprisingly out of character, was quick enough in rebutting the comments, demanding a withdrawal, and asking for an apology even.
Why ruin my Monday with this—Patanjali, which owns a bunch of diversified FMCG businesses, got a solid shot in the arm from COVID. The business’ revenues which were flatlining for the past 3 years or so, are easily set to grow ~15% this year.
Last we checked, Coronil, the immunity booster kit itself sold 2.5 million+ units, (even 5M+ by now probably). Some serious Musk level pump and dump from the Baba, which obviously needs some checkin’.
Closing out—SBI shows surprising enthusiasm 🏦
State Bank reported its quarterly numbers towards the end of last week, putting up a pretty solid show—with revenues recovering well, profits nearly doubling, and bad loans on SBI’s books, considerably contracting.
Here’s a quick look:
Interest income of ₹27K crores, up 19%
Profits up 80% to ₹6.5K crores, as loan recovery looks good, and provisions for losses can be cut back
Bad loans stood at 4.98%—an improvement of about 1%
Management hinted at some sluggishness in the corporate business, with credit lines not being utilized fully by large companies, a sign of corporate India slowing down a bit
Thunder of the event however was management’s bullish commentary—“economic activity will return with vengeance” said the company’s Chairman, quite a show of optimism amidst all this gloom, and anything that helps lift the spirits for corporate India as well as the markets right now is much welcome!
Going forward—if the western world is any barometer, revenge bounceback in economic activity seems inevitable, and its just a question of when, vs. if.
What else are we snackin’ 🍿
😓 Goddamn cable cars - 14 people lost their lives when a cable car plunged into a wooded area in Italy around the Lake Maggiore region. Last thing Italy needed as tourism had just started to recover.
✈️ Send help - India’s aviation sector, with its razor thin margins and heavy debt loads, reeling under COVID 2.0’s assault, is desperately calling for some government support for survival. Tough, but about time a special consideration was made.
Hit that 💚 if you liked today’s issue.
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