The Information

Paramount Pictures' studio lot in Hollywood. Photo by AP.

Why Studios Should Leave Hollywood

By Matt Pressberg · Mar 9, 2018 9:40am PST · 1 comment

Last fall, CBS put its Television City compound in West Los Angeles on the market, saying that it was worth a lot of money that could be “used better elsewhere.” Other film and TV companies that own vast studio lots in the same area, such as 21st Century Fox, Viacom and Sony, should follow suit. These properties, which date to... Last fall, CBS put its Television City compound in West Los Angeles on the market, saying that it...

Stitch Fix CEO Katrina Lake. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Could Hamper Stitch Fix’s Growth

By Priya Anand · Feb 27, 2018 7:01am PST

For clothing shoppers looking for some fresh ideas, Stitch Fix’s personalized e-commerce service is a great option. But for investors looking for fresh ideas in e-commerce, Stitch Fix may be one to avoid. New data on credit card transactions suggest the novelty of its service wears off quickly. Customers who stay for two years spend half... For clothing shoppers looking for some fresh ideas, Stitch Fix’s personalized e-commerce...

Photo by Bloomberg

The Four Companies That Should Be on Cisco’s Shopping List

By Kevin McLaughlin and Sarah Kuranda · Feb 5, 2018 7:00am PST · 2 comments

Now that the new tax law is freeing up big tech firms to bring back tens of billions of dollars stored overseas, a spate of new tech acquisitions may be on the horizon. And one of the most aggressive buyers is likely to be Cisco Systems.At a recent meeting with reseller partners, CEO Chuck Robbins hinted that Cisco would use some of the $68... Now that the new tax law is freeing up big tech firms to bring back tens of billions of dollars...

A Snapchat user putting a filter on Edmonton Oilers left wing Jujhar Khaira during a game earlier this month. Photo by AP.

Snap’s Focus on Stories Should Disappear

By Tom Dotan · Jan 30, 2018 1:02pm PST

A Snapchat user putting a filter on Edmonton Oilers left wing Jujhar Khaira during a game earlier this month. Photo by AP.

Snap’s Focus on Stories Should Disappear

By Tom Dotan · Jan 30, 2018 1:02pm PST

For all of Snap’s focus on being a broadcasting service for millennials who share content with larger groups, what’s become clear is the app’s main usage remains where it started: messaging. But that’s not where it is making money. Instead it makes much of its ad revenue from users’ Stories, where people post... For all of Snap’s focus on being a broadcasting service for millennials who share content...

Dropbox CEO Drew Houston during an event in San Francisco. Photo by Bloomberg

Why Dropbox IPO Could Fall Short of Private Pricing

By Alfred Lee · Jan 22, 2018 7:00am PST

As Dropbox readies for one of the year’s biggest IPOs, it hopes to avoid joining the growing list of Silicon Valley darlings that can’t match their private valuations when they meet public market scrutiny. To buck the trend, it needs to either be growing faster or show it is more profitable than other software firms.Right now, a... As Dropbox readies for one of the year’s biggest IPOs, it hopes to avoid joining the...

Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon, Netflix Should Consider Buying Movie Theaters

By Matt Pressberg · Jan 16, 2018 10:40am PST · 4 comments

The new action movie starring Will Smith, “Bright,” was watched by an estimated 11 million people in the three days after it premiered on Dec. 22 on Netflix. In theaters, that audience would translate to a nearly $100 million box office opening weekend. That’s better than all but six movie openings in the U.S. last year. But... The new action movie starring Will Smith, “Bright,” was watched by an estimated 11...

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Photo by Bloomberg. Charts by Mike Sullivan.

How Uber Can Get to Break Even

By Amir Efrati · Jan 11, 2018 7:00am PST · 5 comments

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has told Uber executives he would like the company to nearly break even by the end of this year. By next year, when he has said Uber may go public, he wants the company to be profitable. Those aspirations will be difficult to achieve. Uber likely lost at least $3 billion in 2017, based on its results for the first... Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has told Uber executives he would like the company to nearly break...

An Uber driver in Washington D.C. Photo by Bloomberg.

Investors Rethink Uber’s Long-Term Value

By Amir Efrati · Dec 7, 2017 7:01am PST · 9 comments

An Uber driver in Washington D.C. Photo by Bloomberg.

Investors Rethink Uber’s Long-Term Value

By Amir Efrati · Dec 7, 2017 7:01am PST · 9 comments

SoftBank’s tender offer for Uber has divided shareholders in the ride-hailing firm. Some say the offer of $33 a share, 30% below what investors paid in Uber’s last financing round in 2015, is way too low. They’ll wait to sell until the IPO expected in a couple of years, unless SoftBank raises the price.More surprising, though,... SoftBank’s tender offer for Uber has divided shareholders in the ride-hailing firm. Some...

A Comcast cable truck. Photo by AP.

Forget Cord-Cutting. Big Threat to Cable Is Disappearing TV Profits

By Martin Peers · Nov 16, 2017 7:02am PST · 3 comments

The threat that TV subscribers will cut the cord on their cable service has dominated discussion about TV’s future in recent years. But what isn’t widely appreciated is that rising programming costs could force cable operators out of the TV business within the next decade, well before cord-cutting does.Cable firms would be fine, as... The threat that TV subscribers will cut the cord on their cable service has dominated discussion...

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. Photo by Bloomberg.

SoftBank Takes the Lion’s Share of Vision Fund Gains

By Alfred Lee · Nov 8, 2017 7:00am PST

SoftBank stands to win or lose the most from its $97.7 billion Vision Fund, while outside investors face much less risk, but also stand to get far less of the upside. It’s a reminder that all investors aren’t created equal. As a result of the fund’s unusual structure, SoftBank could take more than half of the gains if the fund... SoftBank stands to win or lose the most from its $97.7 billion Vision Fund, while outside...

Snapchat app is seen on an iPhone. Photo by AP

Will Snap’s Bet on the Cloud Pay Off?

By Tom Dotan · Aug 23, 2017 7:00am PDT · 9 comments

When Snap disclosed earlier this month that its server bills, on a per user basis, rose in the second quarter, it reignited a longstanding question about whether the company can scale up its business while relying on public cloud services run by Google and Amazon Web Services.Snap revealed that the amount it paid out to these services jumped 10%... When Snap disclosed earlier this month that its server bills, on a per user basis, rose in the...

A scene from HBO's Game of Thrones. Photo by HBO.

Will AT&T Throttle HBO?

By Martin Peers and Tom Dotan · Jul 25, 2017 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

A scene from HBO's Game of Thrones. Photo by HBO.

Will AT&T Throttle HBO?

By Martin Peers and Tom Dotan · Jul 25, 2017 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

HBO has been flying high on the backs of dragons, but it has done little to face down the rising beast of Netflix over the past five years. With a widely recognized brand name and deep pockets, HBO could have tried to match Netflix as the streaming service quadrupled spending on films and TV shows. But that’s not what happened.HBO raised... HBO has been flying high on the backs of dragons, but it has done little to face down the rising...

Snap stock signs on the New York Stock Exchange at the time of its IPO in early March. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why Snap Stock May Have Further to Fall

By Martin Peers · Jun 29, 2017 7:00am PDT · 4 comments

Since Snap went public in early March, good news for the stock has proved as ephemeral as messages on the Snapchat app. The occasional positive development has given the stock a lift for a day or two, until it sinks back down.And it’s likely to sink even further in coming weeks. Most of the early shareholders in Snap will be freed from... Since Snap went public in early March, good news for the stock has proved as ephemeral as...

Blue Apron provides fresh ingredients for cooking. Photo by The Associated Press.

Blue Apron Maintains Edge in Recipe for Growth, but Competition Looms

By Alfred Lee · Jun 6, 2017 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

Among the surprises in Blue Apron’s IPO filing last week was that at first blush, it looked worse off than its biggest competitor in meal delivery services, HelloFresh. But a closer look suggests that Blue Apron is positioned to be worth more than HelloFresh in the long run. In the first three months of this year, Blue Apron posted a... Among the surprises in Blue Apron’s IPO filing last week was that at first blush, it looked...

Employees work at Spotify's offices in Berlin. Photo: Bloomberg

Spotify’s Prospects Hinge on Echoing Netflix’s Success

By Alfred Lee · May 31, 2017 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

Spotify’s stock has leapt to a $13 billion valuation on the secondary market, up from around $8 billion at the end of last year. It reportedly wants to go public at that new price.Whether that price is justified depends on the answer to a question that investors are asking: How much is Spotify like Netflix? There are two ways it could be... Spotify’s stock has leapt to a $13 billion valuation on the secondary market, up from...

Why Snap May Want to Sell Soon

By Tom Dotan · Apr 17, 2017 12:12pm PDT · 7 comments

Why Snap May Want to Sell Soon

By Tom Dotan · Apr 17, 2017 12:12pm PDT · 7 comments

There’s no longer any doubt that Facebook is gunning for Snap, relentlessly copying many of its features. And while the evidence that Snap’s growth has been directly affected by Instagram is still anecdotal—even with internal studies—the threat to its current business model is real. Yet Snap CEO Evan Spiegel's mantra... There’s no longer any doubt that Facebook is gunning for Snap, relentlessly copying many of...

Mic co-founder Jake Horowitz. Photo by Flickr/Knight Center for Journalism

Digital Media Firms Raise More Money—and More Questions

By Tom Dotan · Mar 30, 2017 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

We’re already a few months into 2017 and if the recent spate of digital media investments are any indication, investors still have an appetite for them. But the fundraisings may only be delaying a consolidation that remains inevitable in the crowded media field.The Information has learned millennial news site Mic is quietly putting... We’re already a few months into 2017 and if the recent spate of digital media investments...

AT&T Randall Stephenson and Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Holds AT&T Back in Battle with Netflix and Amazon

By Martin Peers · Nov 10, 2016 10:01am PST · 3 comments

If Donald Trump follows through on his promise to block AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner, the telecom firm will escape a potentially disastrous combination with a company whose TV business faces long term declines. But in the near term, AT&T will miss out on the profit boost Time Warner would have given it.And that has implications... If Donald Trump follows through on his promise to block AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner,...

Merchants who use Etsy display their wares outside the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York the day Etsy went public last year. Photo by Bloomberg.

How Etsy is Becoming a Services Firm

By Alfred Lee · Oct 27, 2016 9:31am PDT · 1 comment

Online craft marketplace Etsy, considered one of last year’s IPO duds, has seen its stock rebound like the handmade bouncy ball cat toys it sells ($5 for two, with felted wool and organic catnip). It’s more than doubled to above $13 in recent months, closer to its $16 IPO price than it has been for a while.Yes, it’s fended off... Online craft marketplace Etsy, considered one of last year’s IPO duds, has seen its stock...

Oracle Executive Chairman Larry Ellison. Photo by Bloomberg.

As Oracle’s Offer Flounders, What’s Next for NetSuite?

By Steve Nellis · Oct 26, 2016 10:01am PDT

Oracle Executive Chairman Larry Ellison. Photo by Bloomberg.

As Oracle’s Offer Flounders, What’s Next for NetSuite?

By Steve Nellis · Oct 26, 2016 10:01am PDT

Oracle Corp. has set a hard deadline of Nov. 4 for shareholders in NetSuite to accept or reject its $9.3 billion offer to purchase the cloud financial software maker. That puts the pressure on T. Rowe Price, an 18% shareholder in the company, to accept a deal it has so far rejected. The mutual fund firm contends that Oracle founder Larry... Oracle Corp. has set a hard deadline of Nov. 4 for shareholders in NetSuite to accept or reject...