
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Shares for Netflix rose by over 15% on Thursday, the largest single-day gain for the firm in nearly three years, after the streaming service reported growth that exceeded analyst expectations, and price increases.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Netflix shares rose by 15.92% to $401.30 as of Thursday morning, following a more than&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2023/10/18/netflix-earnings-subscribers-swell-to-record-247-million-as-stock-soars/?sh=5f4a761f64df">10% jump</a>&nbsp;to over $390 after the company released its third-quarter earnings report on Wednesday.</p>



<p>This is the largest single-day gain for Netflix since January 20, 2021, when shares rose by 16.86% to $586.34 after the company&nbsp;<a href="https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_financials/2020/q4/FINAL-Q420-Shareholder-Letter.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>&nbsp;it had eclipsed the 200 million subscriber mark and announced it was considered stock buybacks.</p>



<p>Netflix added $8.54 billion in revenue and nine million net paid subscribers through a three-month period ending September 30, matching and exceeding estimates of $8.54 billion and 6.08 million, respectively.</p>



<p>A letter to shareholders on Wednesday also indicated Netflix was raising the price of its basic and premium plans to $11.99 and $22.99, up $3 and $2, respectively, as part of an effort to be competitive with other streaming services, including Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Paramount+.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>247.2 million. That’s how many global paid subscribers Netflix has, according to its latest earnings report.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



<p>Prior to the nearly 17% single-day gain for Netflix in 2021, the previous high for the streaming firm was a gain of 16.8% on October 18, 2016. The increase followed an announcement from Wells Fargo, which upgraded its price target for Netflix shares to $700 per share, up from $510, adding to similar announcements from other analysts, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/20/netflix-stock-soars-13percent-on-subscriber-growth-and-possible-buybacks.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CNBC</a>.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Netflix reported earnings up to $3.73 a share on Wednesday, as chief executive Greg Peters said the firm was “incredibly pleased” with its recent growth, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-18/netflix-will-raise-prices-after-best-subscriber-growth-in-years?utm_content=business&amp;utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&amp;cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bloomberg</a>. Shares for the company have jumped by nearly 36% this year, and by just over 47% since October 2022. The stock crashed about 75% in the first half of 2022, after Netflix&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2022/04/19/netflix-shares-plunge-over-20-after-company-says-it-lost-subscribers-for-the-first-time-in-10-years/?sh=77df0caa1650">reported</a>&nbsp;its first loss of subscribers in a decade. Netflix has continued to report subscriber growth, after announcing a crackdown on password sharing and a cheaper subscription tier that includes ads. The company also added a paid sharing option—requiring users to pay extra for accounts they share with others—that was called a “primary revenue accelerator in the year” by chief financial officer Spencer Neumann.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/10/18/netflix-hikes-prices-for-some-plans-as-subscriber-numbers-surge/?sh=73f2ded756e0">Netflix Hikes Prices For Some Plans As Subscriber Numbers Surge</a>&nbsp;(<em>Forbes</em>)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2023/10/18/netflix-earnings-subscribers-swell-to-record-247-million-as-stock-soars/?sh=5f4a761f64df">Netflix Earnings: Subscribers Swell To Record 247 Million As Stock Soars</a> (<em>Forbes</em>)</p>


In this photo illustration the Netflix logo seen displayed

Netflix Shares Surge 15% After Subscriber Growth—Largest Single-Day Gain Since 2021


<p id="h-topline"><strong>TOPLINE</strong> Facebook, the world&#8217;s largest social media company, posted its strongest first-quarter earnings yet Wednesday afternoon, shattering Wall Street expectations thanks to surging advertising revenues despite heightened competition from the likes of Google and threats on the regulatory front.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h3>



<ul><li>Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook <a href="https://investor.fb.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2021/Facebook-Reports-First-Quarter-2021-Results/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a> revenue of $26.1 billion in the first quarter, 48% more than the $17.7 billion it pulled in the first quarter of last year and nearly $3 billion more than analysts expected.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Net income also smashed expectations, hitting $9.5 billion, or $3.30 per share—well above average analyst expectations of $2.33 per share and nearly double income of $4.9 billion in the first quarter of last year.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Facebook’s monthly active users jumped about 50 million, meaning a record-breaking 2.85 billion people used the social network in the last month of the quarter. </li></ul>



<ul><li>A slew of analysts upped their Facebook price targets this week in anticipation of the better-than-expected earnings report, with Credit Suisse&#8217;s Stephen Ju on Monday saying improving ad trends should bode well for Facebook and Instagram&#8217;s bottom lines.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Facebook stock futures jumped 7% within minutes of the announcement; shares closed up 1.2% on Wednesday and have climbed about 14% for the year—better than the tech-heavy Nasdaq’s 11% increase.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h3>



<p>$341.50. That&#8217;s how high analysts think Facebook shares can go over the next year, according to Bloomberg data, giving the stock about 11% upside to Wednesday’s closing price of $307.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h3>



<p>Facebook&#8217;s third-quarter&nbsp;<a href="https://investor.fb.com/investor-events/event-details/2021/Facebook-Q1-2021-Earnings-/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">earnings call</a>&nbsp;is at 5 p.m. EDT Wednesday.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE&nbsp;</h3>



<p>&#8220;We had a strong quarter as we helped people stay connected and businesses grow,&#8221; said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/mark-zuckerberg/">Mark Zuckerberg</a>, Facebook’s billionaire founder and CEO. &#8220;We will continue to invest aggressively to deliver new and meaningful experiences for years to come, including in newer areas like augmented and virtual reality, commerce, and the creator economy.&#8221;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h3>



<p>Founded in 2004 by a group of Harvard College classmates including Zuckerberg and fellow billionaire&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/dustin-moskovitz/">Dustin Moskovitz</a>, Facebook is now the fifth-largest U.S. company by market cap, worth a staggering $862 billion. More than 95% of the company&#8217;s revenue comes from advertising, with about 50% of sales saturated in the U.S. and Canada. Though Bank of America expects the stock could soar another 20% in the next three years, the biggest risks to watch for include declines in user activity, privacy issues, big-tech regulation and any adverse impact on advertising prices.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h3>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2021/04/27/facebooks-stock-to-grow-as-earnings-expected-to-beat-market-estimates/">Facebook&#8217;s Stock To Grow As Earnings Expected To Beat Market Estimates?</a>&nbsp;<em>(Forbes)</em></p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2021/04/28/why-mark-zuckerberg-wants-influencers-to-get-rich/">Why Mark Zuckerberg Wants Influencers To Get Rich</a>&nbsp;<em>(Forbes)</em></p>



<p><strong><em>By Jonathan Ponciano, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


In this photo illustration, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook Posts $26 Billion In Revenue, Shattering Wall Street Expectations As Income Nearly Doubles


<p id="h-topline"><strong>TOPLINE</strong> Google parent Alphabet posted first quarter earnings Tuesday of $26.29 per share (versus Wall Street expectations of $15.82 per share) on revenues of $55.31 billion (versus expectations of $51.7 billion), boosted by surge in ad revenues.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<ul><li>Alphabet’s reported fiscal first quarter net income of $17.93 billion, or $26.29 a share, almost tripled the net income of $6.84 billion, or $9.87 a share, in the year-ago period.</li></ul>



<ul><li>The first quarter revenues of $55.2 billion represented a 34% jump from the first quarter of 2020.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Google’s total advertising revenues soared by 32% year-over-year to $44.6 billion.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Revenues at Google’s Cloud unit amounted to $4.05 billion (a 46% surge over last year), but slightly below analyst estimates of $4.07 billion, according to financial date firm FactSet.</li></ul>



<ul><li>But ads generated by the YouTube unit totaled $6.01 billion, above expectations of $5.70 billion (according to FactSet unit StreetAccount) and a 49% surge over the prior year, </li></ul>



<ul><li>Traffic acquisition costs (which are payments made to affiliates and online companies for directing traffic to their websites) came in at $9.71 billion versus expectations of $9.25 billion, according to FactSet estimates.</li></ul>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h4>



<p>Total revenues in the first quarter “reflect elevated consumer activity online and broad-based growth in advertiser revenue. We’re very pleased with the ongoing momentum in Google Cloud, with revenues of $4 billion in the quarter reflecting strength and opportunity in both [Google Cloud Platform] and [Google Workspace computing software],” said Ruth Porat CFO of Google and Alphabet.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h4>



<p>Alphabet shares climbed about 4% in post-close trading. Google’s Cloud platform, which competes with rivals Microsoft’s Azure and Amazon’s AWS (Amazon Web Services), posted a $974 million operating loss for the quarter, but that compared to a $1.7 billion loss in the prior year. &#8220;In the FAANG [Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Alphabet] group Amazon is the only competitor against Alphabet on more than one front and whilst Amazon has a large cloud service in AWS, Google’s ad business dwarfs its rival,&#8221;<a href="https://news.yahoo.com/alphabet-google-youtube-reports-q1-earnings-results-150238095.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;Tom Johnson</a>, chief transformation officer at marketing agency WPP Mindshare, told Yahoo Finance. &#8220;As brands accelerate out of the pandemic, Alphabet’s combined offering… is likely to become even more attractive as more businesses move to direct-to-consumer or hybrid business models leveraging Alphabet’s advertising and cloud services.&#8221;</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h4>



<p>32%. That’s how much Alphabet shares have surged year-to-date, well above the S&amp;P 500&#8217;s return of 11.5%.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h3>



<p>While Alphabet jumped by 30.9% in pandemic-afflicted 2020, it underperformed some of its FAANG peers: Apple soared 85%, and Amazon surged about 76%.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h3>



<p>In March,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/18/google-to-spend-7-billion-in-data-centers-and-office-space-in-2021.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google said</a>&nbsp;it would spend $7 billion to expand offices and data centers across 19 states, creating at least 10,000 full-time jobs.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h4>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/01/13/google-parent-alphabet-set-to-hit-1-trillion-in-market-value/">Google Parent Alphabet Is No Longer A $1 Trillion Company After Latest Earnings Miss</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/02/04/google-parent-alphabet-is-no-longer-a-1-trillion-company-after-latest-earnings-miss/">Google Parent Alphabet Passes $1 Trillion In Market Value</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/01/13/google-parent-alphabet-set-to-hit-1-trillion-in-market-value/">Google Cofounders Are $14 Billion Richer After Stellar Earnings Report </a>(Forbes)</p>



<p><strong><em>By Palash Ghosh, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


In this photo illustration the American multinational

Google’s Quarterly Results Smash Expectations

<p>On February 9, Africa’s biggest mining gathering will kick off in Cape Town, South Africa. From Australians mining iron ore in West Africa to Chinese interested in our rare earth, more than 7,000 people will arrive at the Mining Indaba to talk about the future of the industry.</p>
<p>One of the topics likely to come up is why the riches of mining struggle to reach the poor. Government and mining companies make promises of empowering the poor through shares and wages; most are empty.</p>
<p>Before a word is said, the head of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is sceptical. Frans Baleni, the union’s general secretary, says the Mining Indaba means little to the people who live next door to mines.</p>
<p>“You will notice that these discussions are about issues of maximizing productivity, there’s nothing much about improving the lives of communities. In these deliberations we don’t get a platform to say what we want to say,” says Baleni.</p>
<p>As delegates gather, a do-it-yourself solution will be underway in another part of the country. Thousands of the country’s poorest people will be buying into its richest industry.</p>
<p>Baroka Tribal Mining (Pty) is a community-owned company in the Sekhukhune District in Limpopo, in northern South Africa. It represents 90,000 poor people of the Baroka Ba Nkwana tribe. This community is buying a 49% stake of Bokoni platinum mine, worth $385million, from Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), the world’s largest platinum producer. It tabled the offer early in January.</p>
<p>Baroka’s transaction is backed by the Public Investment Corporation, a state-owned pension fund and a bank loan.</p>
<p>It is a deal that is a sign of the times. Following South Africa’s crippling six-month platinum strike in 2014, Amplats CEO Chris Griffith announced that the world’s largest producer was selling under-performing mines. It wants to concentrate on the more profitable open-pit and mechanized mine.</p>
<p>It has taken time and perseverance for Baroka since they set up in 2009. Out of their own pocket, Baroka representatives have traveled the world trying to secure investment. They went to Russia, Thailand and the United States but returned empty handed. The question of mining strikes in South Africa was often raised.</p>
<p>“Everything about Baroka shows that if you believe in something, you can actually get it if you are determined. We have never received royalties from any company, yet we are buying a R4 billion ($347 million) mine. We are lucky because we have government backing. That made it easier for us. Where the mine is sitting, there is 600 million tons of iron ore. There’s a large chrome deposit. We are currently sitting with 51 percent exploration rights,” says Tshepo Phiri, Chief Executive of Baroka Tribal Mining.</p>
<p>“Except for Royal Bafokeng, I can’t think of any successful story regarding mining communities. The government’s role tends to be limited; government tends to rely on these companies to implement the mining charter. But our advice is that the government needs to do constant evaluation of these companies and raise the red flag quite early,” says Baleni.</p>
<p>Both parties have a long way to go. Amplats will get credits towards black ownership which is required by the Mining Charter. The next Mining Charter update will be out on March 31 when researchers will tell how much &#8211; or how little &#8211; has been transferred to black owners. Each company is required to show at least 26% black ownership.</p>
<p>Ngoako Ramatlhodi, Minister of Mineral Resources, has a broad administrative discretion to unilaterally amend the charter as and when the need arises. Non-compliance with the provisions of the amended charter will render a mining company in breach of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA). Under section 47 of the MPRDA, the minister has the prerogative to suspend or cancel rights, permissions where the holder is in breach.</p>
<p>At least the Baroka Ba Nkwana tribe has not let the grass grow under its feet in the effort to convince poor people that a share of mining riches can be theirs too. Surely, this is a route to long-term stability in mining.</p>


Tag: Shares

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

Netflix Shares Surge 15% After Subscriber Growth—Largest Single-Day Gain Since 2021

Facebook Posts $26 Billion In Revenue, Shattering Wall Street Expectations As Income Nearly Doubles

Google’s Quarterly Results Smash Expectations

Anything Is Possible If You Wish Hard Enough