Category: Mergers and Acquisitions

Disney’s New CFO Is an M&A Guy

Disney’s New CFO Is an M&A Guy

Disney (ticker: DIS) CEO Bob Iger will sell the company before he walks away. Iger will not appoint another successor after his 2020 appointment of Bob Chapek as CEO failed. Today, PepsiCo (ticker: PEP) CFO Hugh Johnston was named Disney CFO (read more HERE). View Mr. Johnston's experience HERE. My view is that Disney will … Continue reading Disney’s New CFO Is an M&A Guy

We Have Never Liked ZoomInfo (ZI)

We Have Never Liked ZoomInfo (ZI)

We told you that ZoomInfo (ticker: ZI) shares were overvalued in August (HERE) despite the 25% haircut the day we published. Today's 15% haircut gets ZI shares in a more rational valuation space. However, I have always questioned how ZI calculates "organic" revenue growth, particularly when it was regularly rolling in acquisitions. Now that it … Continue reading We Have Never Liked ZoomInfo (ZI)

Azure’s Revenue Growth and Generative AI

Azure’s Revenue Growth and Generative AI

Microsoft reported earnings results this evening. Despite MSFT's AI-related rhetoric, I don't see Generative AI as a significant near-to-intermediate-term Revenue driver. Azure's constant currency growth rate was essentially flat at 28%. I expect that Azure's growth rate will slow as we move through the December quarter into calendar 2024. Our chart below plots Azure's year-over-year … Continue reading Azure’s Revenue Growth and Generative AI

Microsoft’s Activision Deal Adds “Strategic Glue” To Its Xbox Platform

Microsoft’s Activision Deal Adds “Strategic Glue” To Its Xbox Platform

Microsoft closed its Activision acquisition. As we wrote on August 7th - Activision will add strategic glue to MSFT's Xbox platform by adding hit gaming content such as the Call of Duty franchise. We are fans of vertical acquisitions. The complementary pieces - once combined - have the ability to differentiate the acquiring company from … Continue reading Microsoft’s Activision Deal Adds “Strategic Glue” To Its Xbox Platform

The FTC Will Not Breakup Amazon Or Google

The FTC Will Not Breakup Amazon Or Google

To put it simply, the Biden Administration's FTC is anti-capitalist and anti-American. The primary problem with FTC Chair Lina Khan's organization is that it suffers from overreach as does the Biden Administration. Why Ms. Khan's FTC ever pushed back on Microsoft's pending acquisition of Activision is beyond me. Anti-competitive? How? One company (MSFT) is a … Continue reading The FTC Will Not Breakup Amazon Or Google

Microsoft Is Overvalued

Microsoft Is Overvalued

Sure, Microsoft (ticker: MSFT) is not wildly overvalued like a number of other names, yet the Redmond Software giant's stock is pricey at approximately 24x trailing Cash From Operations. That's a hefty multiple for a company that is not growing Cash From Operations and is primarily growing revenue because of price increases (MSFT will have … Continue reading Microsoft Is Overvalued

When Debt Payments Take Priority Over Investing In The Business

When Debt Payments Take Priority Over Investing In The Business

For some companies, debt repayments are taking priority over innovation and other operational initiatives. Aside from zombie companies going bankrupt as a result of the Fed holding rates higher for longer, there is an entire class of Technology companies that will continue to suffer as a result of higher interest rates for longer. Take SS&C … Continue reading When Debt Payments Take Priority Over Investing In The Business

TEK2day: All Things Technology & Capital Markets-Related

TEK2day: All Things Technology & Capital Markets-Related

We have folded our CEORater-related content under our TEK2day brand. TEK2day will publish more content to YouTube in the coming weeks. Our YouTube content won't necessarily be published as a TEK2day podcast. We occasionally publish our content to LinkedIn, but not all of our content. The best way to find our content is here at … Continue reading TEK2day: All Things Technology & Capital Markets-Related

Apple’s VisionPro Provides A Defensible Edge In The Content Space

Apple’s VisionPro Provides A Defensible Edge In The Content Space

Amazon, Apple, Disney, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Netflix have an advantage over other content companies given their size. By size I am primarily referring to market cap and size of balance sheet. Apple (AAPL, $2.94 Trillion market cap) and Microsoft (MSFT, $2.43 Trillion market cap) are in a league of their own with their nose … Continue reading Apple’s VisionPro Provides A Defensible Edge In The Content Space