April 19th, 2024 – Netflix reported better-than-expected revenue and earnings for the first quarter of 2024 thanks to subscribers growth of 16% YoY. The streaming company posted an EPS of $5.28 and a 14% revenue growth to $9.37 billion, and they both have beaten analysts’ expectations. The company struggled in premarket because of a poor revenue guidance for the full year, compared to what analysts’ were expecting.
Paramount is in talks with Skydance Media for a merger, but as the New York Times reported, there is a potential opportunity of a takeover by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management, which are in discussion for a potential joint all-cash bid to acquire the media and streaming company. Apollo already tried to acquire the company in the last months, but Paramount’s management were not satisfied with it for questions that arose about Apollo’s financing. Through this offer, Sony and Apollo aim to acquire all the outstanding shares and to do a joint venture in order to take the company private. The terms of the joint bid are still being worked out, but it seems from what the Times reports that Apollo will have a smaller stake in the joint venture with Sony having the majority of it, and that Apollo at some point could cash out, possibly by selling its stake back at Sony.
Shopify, Amazon’s main competitor, was upgraded by Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss to overweight, and gave the Canadian-based e-commerce company a target price of $85, meaning that in her opinion there might be a 20% upside from here.
Author: Filippo Ferrero