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Amazon is the latest $1 trillion tech company
Apple's status as the only public trillion-dollar company didn't last long. Amazon has been flirting with a $1 trillion market cap throughout trading on September 4th, passing the symbolic milestone in the morning. It reached the figure through a relatively recent surge, CNBC pointed out. While Apple reached $900 billion eight months earlier, Amazon's stock price has been climbing steadily throughout most of 2018 and has thrived since a record-setting Prime Day in July.
Apple is now a $1 trillion company
Apple's success hit a new milestone today: It's the first publicly traded trillion-dollar American company. Yesterday the firm announced an adjusted (higher) share count, and by this morning the stock price was rising with news that the company had almost hit the trillion-dollar mark. As spotted by 9to5Mac, the iOS Stocks app (pulling from Yahoo Finance) declared it had crossed the threshold this morning, but Google Finance didn't agree. The stock price was hovering around $205 per share earlier today and has steadily rose as the trading hours pass, with CNBC reporting that stock price temporarily hit the $207.05 per-share needed to hit the record-setting market cap before falling back.
E-cig startup Juul plans to go global by raising $1.2 billion
"Juuling" might be a thing around the world in the future, because the e-cig-maker has big plans to go global. According to Bloomberg, Juul is raising $1.2 billion in a financing round, which would put the startup's value at a whopping $15 or $16 billion. If you need something to compare that to, Lyft recently reached a $15 billion valuation after raising $600 million. The publication says the company is hoping to use the money it raises from investors to make its USB vape pens available outside the US and Israel. Currently, if you want to buy its trendy pens and nicotine pods outside those two countries, you'd have to find resellers.
Roku's IPO pushes its value to over $2 billion
When Roku announced it was chasing an IPO, its sights were to raise $100 million. The end result is more than double that, according to Bloomberg. As of press time, investors had bought some $219 million in stock and the company has been valued at $2.1 billion. What's the streaming outfit planning to do with all that cash? Probably wrangle together more ad-supported programming.
Snapchat's cavalier attitude draws the eye of Wall Street watchdogs
Snapchat's parent company has finally filed for its IPO, and Wall Street has questions. Beyond what Reuters reports is the "richest" initial public offering since Facebook, is news that an investor committee advising the Securities and Exchange Commission will review some of Snap's more, ahem, peculiar moves. Like if denying shareholders voting rights will extend into hiding executive pay and "other governance matters."
Fitbit's IPO is more evidence wearables have grown up
Wearable company Fitbit began trading on the New York Stock Exchange this morning, ending the device maker's quest to go public. According to Forbes, the IPO raised $732 million for the company that's trading with a market cap of $6 billion. What do those numbers mean exactly? Well, wearables, despite being niche devices that studies show are easily replaced by phones, are a big business capable of raking in billions. To put it simply, wearables have grown up.
Instagram is now worth 49 times what Facebook paid for it
Many baulked when Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg agreed to drop $1 billion on Instagram in April 2012. "That's $33 per user," said some; "there's no business model!" screamed others. Less than three years later and Citigroup now says Instagram is worth $35 billion. That's almost 49 times higher than the $715 million Facebook ended up paying after its stock price fell, and considerably higher than rivals Twitter and LinkedIn. How did things go so right?
Apple hits new record $700 billion market valuation
As of November 24, 2014, Apple Inc had the largest market valuation of any company in the world. This morning, November 25, the company's value hit $700 billion, retaining its title and setting a new record for market valuation. To put Apple's success into perspective, the second most valuable company at the moment is Exxon Mobil Corp, with a current market valuation of $405 billion. Apple has had an incredibly profitable year thanks to September's record-breaking sales of its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, which sold over 10 million units in just the first weekend of sales. The new product push continued in October with the release of two new models of the iPad. Finally, the company introduced the world to Apple Pay, which is already accounting for almost 1% of sales transactions at Whole Foods since it launched and is quickly being adopted by other retailers. Things are going well for Apple. According to Bloomberg analyst Brian White of Cantor Fitzgerald, Apple's recent growth wasn't just about its own products, but the competition's as well: Given Apple's significant portfolio refresh over the past three months, the lack of innovation from competitors and a constructive spending backdrop in the U.S. market, we believe Apple has opportunity to shine bright this holiday season. This marks Apple's sixth year in a row where the company has seen a gain in its market valuation. If you were wondering how rival Microsoft is doing this year, its current market valuation stands at $369.7 billion. Microsoft can keep insulting Apple all it wants, but it has some catching up to do.
Is Snapchat really worth $10 billion?
While competitors are busy cloning Snapchat in an attempt to replicate its success, Evan Spiegel and co. have continued to forge their own path. The company is already experimenting with new features in an attempt to generate revenue, but it's also apparently talking to some big hitters to ensure it can keep growing until those profits come. According to Bloomberg, Snapchat is currently in talks over a new round of funding with investors, which include Yahoo-backed Alibaba, that if confirmed could value the company at an incredible $10 billion. It's a significant figure, not only because it puts it on par with both Dropbox and Airbnb, but it's around three times the amount Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook is rumored to have offered to acquire the company last year. Not bad for a service that's known mostly for evaporating text and photo messages. Snapchat is understandably keeping quiet about its latest round of talks, and the figures could well change before the funding closes. Regardless of what happens, it appears Snapchat's decision to hold out and grow the service was the right one.
The Summoner's Guidebook: Teaching ourselves LoL matchups
I'm always looking for things to teach players in the Summoner's Guidebook. We have, however, covered a lot of the low hanging fruit in one way or another. In League of Legends, and virtually every other asymmetric competitive game, matchup knowledge comprises the huge bulk of information that is truly useful to read about. This week was originally going to be a counter-Ryze guide, but then I decided to cover a broader topic to help reach more people. I don't really like discussing specific character matchups largely because the character you're using matters almost as much as your opponent's. What does Ryze do against Kassadin in lane, for instance? The answer is not a whole lot if the Kassadin is decent. I could write a counter-Kassadin guide, but a lot of it wouldn't be usable by Ryze. Instead, this week we'll discuss how to think about the opponent's kit and develop a strategy to win on your own (or at least survive).
38 Studios liquidation valued in tens of millions by RI, gov. will get every penny he can for taxpayers
38 Studios declared bankruptcy earlier this afternoon and Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee held a press conference this afternoon to discuss the company's assets, which now belong in part to Rhode Island taxpayers. "We have had in recent days discussions with investors that were and, to my knowledge, are discussing substational numbers, which indicate that there could be significant value to the assets," said Jonathan Savage, council to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. "I can say that discussions we've had have been in the tens of millions of dollars." "We are going to do everything possible to maximize return on our investment," declared Governor Chafee. "Taxpayers in Rhode Island can have full confidence that if there's a penny that we can get, or a nickle or a dime, we'll get it." Earlier this year, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter told us that he expected 38 Studios' IP to be worth approximately $20 million.
Apple stock gains nearly $100 since Steve's passing
Apple 2.0 editor Philip Elmer-DeWitt is back today with another fascinating Apple statistic: "[Apple] has gained nearly one Facebook in value since Steve Jobs died." Elmer-DeWitt remarks that the share price of AAPL on October 4, 2011, the day before Jobs passed away, was US$372.50 and that the market capitalization of the company was about $347 billion. Now, just four short months later, the stock price is (as of this morning) $472.66, over $100 greater than before Jobs died. That puts the market capitalization of Apple, Inc. at about $440 billion -- over $90 billion of growth in just four months. Those numbers are staggering. $90 billion is about nine-tenths of the value that Facebook has been given in advance of its upcoming IPO. Elmer-DeWitt notes that it's hard to argue that Apple is overvalued. He quotes Erik Savitz of Forbes noting that even after backing out Apple's $100 billion cash horde, valuation of AAPL is just 2.6 times revenues and 10 times earnings. The Apple 2.0 post ends on a rather dour note, with Elmer-DeWitt noting that "two prominent Apple bulls" agree that Apple's shares are ready for a sell-off.
Angry Birds' Rovio aiming for $1.2 billion valuation
Rovio, the development company behind the insanely popular iOS game property Angry Birds, is working on getting more funding. A deal is reportedly underway that would put the value of the studio at $1.2 billion. That's billion with a freakin' B, which is an astronomical number for a mobile game developer with really only one brand people are interested in. That's not to say that Rovio isn't worth that much -- certainly the Angry Birds property has long, long legs, and not just in mobile games, but in all of the other licensing deals available, from movies to merchandise and lots of other products and deals. But seriously, $1.2 billion? A deal like that would have to come from a huge company, which means you're talking about someone like Disney or Zynga, according to analyst Michael Pachter, buying out Rovio and trying to exploit the property on a worldwide level. That seems like an awfully big gamble, but whoever's investing that money would have to believe that there's at least that much left in the Angry Birds property. I don't mean to make the birds angry or anything, but Popcap just went for $750 million. I'll be surprised to say the least if Rovio can pick up this much. But then again, the birds have come this far already, right?
Spotify reported to have 175,000 paid-up Americans, valued at $1.1 beeellion
Seems like America's doors are still wide open to new musical immigrants, because Spotify's stateside foray has just boosted its overall valuation to $1.1 billion. That's based on its two most recent investment rounds, which racked up another $100 million from new and old investors who are clearly convinced that the streaming platform can carve out a niche between existing rivals like Rhapsody and new entrants like Google Music and iCloud. Meanwhile, AllThingsD are reporting figures from an unnamed source who says that the London-based company now has 1.4 million US subscribers, of which 175,000 are coughing up $10 per month for premium features like mobile access. If accurate, that equates to a conversion rate of 12.5-percent -- not quite as high as the 15-percent it achieved in Zamunda Europe, but still impressive.
Apple brand valued at $153 billion, scoots ahead of Google for first place
What is the world's most valuable consumer-facing brand? If you'd asked the guys behind the BrandZ survey at any point over the last four years, they'd have told you "Google," but in 2011 their answer has changed. Apple is now the hottest property in terms of consumer goodwill, earning an estimated valuation of $153.3 billion and leading a pack that includes the likes of Coca-Cola, BMW, HSBC, and Disney. The tech sector had a very strong year as a whole, with Facebook's brand improving in value by a staggering 246 percent (to $19.1b) and Amazon becoming the world's most valuable retailer (at $37.6b) in spite of having no actual stores. Sadly, there were some downers too, as Nintendo lost 37 percent of its brand worth over the past year, Nokia dropped by 28 percent, and the BlackBerry marque was considered 20 percent less awesome than before. Punch the source link to learn more. [Thanks, Bruce]
Report: Zynga worth $7-9 billion
The Wall Street Journal says that, with its $250 million in new funding, social gaming company Zynga could be worth as much as $7 to 9 billion -- that's "billion" with a B. An astounding number for the company behind the extraordinarily popular Facebook game Farmville. Zynga has a number of interests in the iOS space, including a Farmville app as well as the recent purchases of iPhone developers Newtoy and the studio behind Drop7. Of course, that number is only an estimate of the company's value, not actual money it's earned. But investors do expect the company to go public within the next few years, and given that Farmville has attracted an audience (and appears to have nailed down a way to make a significant amount of money from an all-new gaming audience), there's no question that Zynga is a huge relatively new force in the gaming space. Zynga is likely not done growing -- the company has picked up one developer per month over the past nine months, and I'll bet that we haven't heard of the last iPhone developer being acquired by them just yet. The iOS platform isn't the only reason for Zynga's huge valuation, but it certainly seems destined to play a part in its future. [via Mashable]
Zynga estimated to be worth more than EA
We can't help but be kept awake at night, a constant state of worry hanging over our heads, wondering whether Zynga is financially surpassing the EAs and Activisions of the world. According to a Business Week report, it seems that Zynga recently did just that -- finally -- with SharesPost Inc. reporting Zynga's stock value at $5.51 billion, a full $290 million above EA's NASDAQ valuation of $5.22 billion. ThinkEquity LLC analyst Atul Bagga told BW that Zynga's valuation "is not that crazy, given what's going on in the market," noting that growth prospects over the next three years help add value to the still nascent social game company. Bagga estimates Zynga's virtual goods profits will rise from approximately $1.6 billion this year to $3.6 billion by 2013, making Zynga a riskier, but potentially more lucrative investment. That is, of course, if people keep buying ... whatever it is they buy in Facebook games.
