Displaying items by tag: Amazon

Friday, 09 August 2019 13:51

The Fedex Amazon Breakup is a Big Opportunity

(Seattle)

Fedex and Amazon are in the middle of an ugly spot. Anyone paying attention over the last few years will be aware of the “frenemy” relationship between Amazon and logistics providers, as the company offers a lot of business but hammers margins and is stealing away business with its own shipping network. Well, Fedex finally said enough is enough and decided against renewing its ground shipping contract with Amazon. Therein lies opportunity, however, as it should offer UPS a lot more business.


FINSUM: This is a bold move by Fedex. We expect it will hit revenue slightly, but probably not wound profits too badly. It could give UPS and USPS a boost.

Published in Eq: Large Cap
Wednesday, 24 July 2019 11:01

Big Tech in Trouble as DOJ Opens Probe

(San Francisco)

There have been a lot of worries about the tech sector this year. Besides valuation, the big fear has been the threat of regulation. Well, those anxieties are proving to be correct as the Department of Justice has just officially announced that it has opened a probe to figure out whether the tech sector is smothering competition. The broad antitrust investigation did not name companies in particular, but said it would focus on “search, social media and some retail services online”.


FINSUM: This is quite a worrying development, but it is hard to say how exactly it may play out. There does seem to be popular momentum behind further regulating big tech, which means lawmakers may be more emboldened.

Published in Eq: Tech
Wednesday, 12 June 2019 09:31

DOJ Warns Tech on Antitrust Probe

(Washington)

Consider it a warning shot across the bow of Silicon Valley, the opening salvo in a potentially brutal antitrust war. The head of the Department of Justice said in a public speech yesterday that low prices and free services would not shield “monopolists” from scrutiny. “There are only one or two significant players in important digital spaces, including internet search, social networks, mobile and desktop operating systems, and electronic book sales … This is true in certain input markets as well. For example, just two firms take in the lion’s share of online ad spending”, said the head of the DOJ, Makan Delrahim. He continued “Like today’s tech giants, Standard Oil was pioneering and generated a number of important patents. Scholars have noted, however, that Standard Oil’s innovation slowed as it became an entrenched monopolist”. Delrahim also listed specific behaviors which would spark investigation, including bundling products together.


FINSUM: The government is poised to launch a large and multi-fronted war on big tech. How long this will take, or how it will play out in markets is anyone’s guess, but it is hard to find any positives as far as big tech company share prices are concerned.

Published in Eq: Tech

(New York)

Markets sold off in a big way when new of the government’s antitrust push against the FANGS came out. The stocks lost $130 bn of value. However, the reaction may be overblown, with each stock needing to be assessed on its own merits, as the antitrust picture would look different for each of them. A managing partner at Andreesen Horowitz, one of Silicon Valley’s top venture capital firms, makes an interesting point, saying “The big challenge with these antitrust things is, it’s not obvious what the consumer harm is today”.


FINSUM: We think that point is very salient, as given the fact that it is hard to assert how consumers are being harmed, we expect the ultimate output of these investigations may be relatively light touch (such as a GDPR-like regulation).

Published in Eq: Tech
Tuesday, 04 June 2019 08:32

Tech Slides as Anti-trust Probe Starts

(San Francisco)

All of the last year’s fear of anti-trust regulation seem to be coming true. Tech shares dropped yesterday on news that top US regulators had divvied up jurisdiction of tech giants for a forthcoming probe. The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, the agencies in charge of anti-trust, have decided who will manage what as they prepare to launch an anti-trust probe into Facebook, Amazon, Google, and Apple. It is still unclear exactly what will be investigated, as well as the scope of the probe. After the market closed, the US House of Representatives also announced its own investigation. The tumble in shares sent Google into a bear market.


FINSUM: This has been looming for some time, but now looks like a reality. This could be the start of some very serious volatility and changes for the FANGs.

Published in Eq: Tech
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