The consequences could be serious indeed. If the FTC wins its case and forces Facebook to be broken up, the consequences for Facebook will be far more serious than the hit that was taken by Microsoft when it suffered similar treatment. This is because the valuation of the separate pieces will be way below the $791bn valuation that Facebook enjoys...
Deep Mind puts a branch of science out of business. Deep Mind has crossed a milestone with the demonstration that its ability to predict protein structure is as good as the painstaking, expensive and difficult current methods potentially offering a big boost to medical and biological research worldwide. In the latest protein structure competition (see here), Deep Mind’s algorithm both...
Uber’s autonomous driving technology finally goes in the bin. Aurora signals the end of the road for Uber’s woeful autonomous offering in a deal where I think ATG investors should be thankful they are only taking a 50% haircut on the valuation they paid as I estimate that the haircut should have been closer to 100%. Aurora is effectively acquiring...
And so the next big race begins. A group of Chinese scientists is claiming to have reached quantum supremacy which while it means very little in practical realities at the moment, fires the starting gun on the next big technology race. Quantum computing offers a great deal of potential as it is capable of computation speeds that are impossible for...
The UK hardens its stance still further. A new bill passing through the UK parliament that bans the installation of Huawei equipment from September 2021 has caused some consternation but makes sense given the long-term restrictions and Huawei’s inability to procure components. The UK has been taking an increasingly tough stance on Huawei firstly because there are genuine security questions...
Salesforce picks off a weaker player. Salesforce is paying $45.52 per share (at Salesforce’s December 1st close) to acquire Slack, in a move that values the company just 18% above its IPO price again underlining my view that the company was really struggling to make it on its own. Slack adds an interesting dimension to Salesforce and brings it more...
Great results but uncertain outlook. Zoom produced excellent Q3 2021 results but the burden of free users has finally hit profitability which together with an admission of slowing growth calls into question the extreme valuation. I think Zoom is a great company that provides the best video conferencing offering and has a management team that has executed exceptionally well through...
Libra has been neutered by its opponents. Libra is expected to finally launch early in 2021 but Facebook is having to make so many concessions to the forces that are arraigned against it that I think it will end up as just another digital currency that no one can be bothered to use. Libra launched as an ambitious new currency...
The smartphone market is the elephant in the room. India has continued to express its unhappiness with China in a dispute which could end up hurting Chinese companies a lot more if India continues to follow the US down this path. India has banned another 43 apps for what it calls “engaging in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and...
Richard is founder, owner of research company, Radio Free Mobile. He has 16 years of experience working in sell side equity research. During his 11 year tenure at Nomura Securities, he focused on the equity coverage of the Global Technology sector.
Tech Sector – The madness of crowds.
The sector’s “Semper Augustus” moment may not be far away. The current frenzy gripping the technology sector has nothing to do with the quality or fundamentals of the companies themselves but instead is being driven by sentiment and narratives which makes the technology sector both an inefficient and a dangerous place for value investors. (Semper Augustus was the rarest and...