Technology, Capital Markets, Corporate Governance, Leadership, Entrepreneurship
PE firms can’t cut their way to prosperity in perpetuity. Strategic Acquirers We applaud when strategic acquirers defeat PE buyers for coveted assets (for a list of strategic acquirers that do M&A well click here). Our rationale is that strategic acquirers are typically motivated to optimize acquired assets so as to maximize ROIC over the … Continue reading The PE Model Is Unsustainable
We are doing a bit of work around derivatives exposure. Overnight we reviewed U.S. personal savings rates as a percentage of personal disposable income for the January 1959 - May 2019 period on a monthly basis. The personal savings rate has bounced between 6-8% since January 2013. This is in-line with the mid-to-late 1990's period. … Continue reading U.S. Personal Savings Rates 1959-2019
While the iPhone is an over-priced commodity, it is a key strategic component of Apple’s growth strategy. Apple missed on its Content business strategy but Apple Pay/Card and Apple Health are long-term growth opportunities. Will Apple capitalize? Our overview of Apple’s business follows. Premium Article $9.99. Word count 805. Hardware Focusing on phones, the iPhone … Continue reading How We View ApplePremium
Facebook imagines a future in which consumers will pay for online and offline services with its cryptocurrency - Libra. Our view is that Libra will eventually enjoy broad adoption. The cryptocurrency floodgates are open, it’s primarily a question as to how Libra and others will be regulated. Regulation boils down to the size of the … Continue reading Facebook Calibra and Libra.
Companies mentioned: Accenture (ACN), Alibaba (BABA), AWS (AMZN), Azure (MSFT), Bottomline Technologies (EPAY), Broadridge (BR), DataRobot (Pvt.), GCP (GOOG), IHS Markit (INFO), Oracle (ORCL), Palantir (Pvt.), Qlik (Pvt.), Solera (Pvt.), SS&C (SSNC), Tibco (Pvt.), Verisk (VRSK). Accenture’s CEO of North America, Julie Sweet, will become CEO of Accenture effective September 1st 2019. Ms. Sweet is … Continue reading Accenture Is Preparing to Double-Down on M&A. We Share Our Ideas for Likely Target Areas.
FTC slaps Facebook on the wrist and levies $5B fine. Combining legacy Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. A grand product strategy or slick tactical move to avert regulators? Facebook only found religion as it relates to user privacy after the FTC threatened to break up the company into three separate entities - 1) legacy Facebook, 2) … Continue reading Checkmate. Facebook Wins.
Services that Blend Technology and People Are Optimal. Someday in the future complex processes will be able to operate without human intervention. Many complex autonomous processes won't occur in my lifetime. I don't consider warehouse robots nor autonomous vehicles to be terribly complex, it's more a question of repetitions (vehicle miles traveled). I do consider … Continue reading Technology + People = Best
We used Google to search for various terms related to Artificial Intelligence to gauge popularity. We ran queries using Google's trend analysis to gauge the popularity of various search terms related to Artificial Intelligence. You may access our results here. We executed Google searches on the following five search terms: "AI", "Machine Learning", "Deep Learning", … Continue reading AI, Machine Learning and More
It has leaked that semiconductor giant Broadcom (tkr: AVGO) is working to acquire CyberSecurity software company Symantec (tkr: SYMC). Semiconductor investors are not fans of the deal as AVGO shares have traded off 6% since the news leaked. Conversely, we like the prospective acquisition for a couple of reasons: First, Symantec’s recurring revenues will help … Continue reading We Applaud Creative M&A Strategies
Our experience is that it is best to take action during disruptive periods - or better yet - at the first signs of trouble. The "wait and see" approach often leads to irrelevance and ultimately death. Deutsche Bank plans to shed 18,000 jobs and exit the institutional trading business while simultaneously investing in technology. This … Continue reading “Wait and See” Does Not Constitute A Strategy
