Sales & Marketing news

• Dropbox is going public as a $9.2 billion company — better than expected, but still below its private valuation

  22-03-2018 22:17 via feedproxy.google.com
  Dropbox has set its public offering share price at $21, according to The Wall Street Journal.
  The price, which was above the company's previously forecast range, gives the company a valuation of $9.2 billion.Even with strong investor demand, the price wasn't enough to allow the company's valuation to match the $10 billion it was valued at in its last private funding round.
  The company raised an estimated $563 million and insiders another $193 million in the offering.
  Dropbox priced its initial p
  
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• A top SEC regulator just ripped crypto exchanges for being amateurish

  22-03-2018 22:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  Brett Redfearn, the new director of the Division of Trading and Markets at the SEC, says cryptocurrency exchanges are acting amateurish. 
  Not a single exchange appears to be anywhere close to being properly registered with the SEC, Redfearn said during a fintech conference in New York on Thursday. When Brett Redfearn joined the Securities and Exchange Commission six months ago, he had no idea how much time he was going to have to spend thinking about bitcoin, the JPMorgan alumnus told
  
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• Nike pops after crushing earnings and sales estimates (NKE)

  22-03-2018 21:20 via feedproxy.google.com
  Nike reported third-quarter earnings and sales that beat analysts' forecasts. 
  "As we close Q3, we now see a significant reversal of trend in North America ... ," said Mark Parker, Nike's CEO. Demand for the company's sneakers in North America has waned. 
  Gross margins fell for a ninth straight quarter, indicating Nike continued to compete with rivals on price. 
  Nike on Thursday reported third-quarter earnings that beat analysts' forecasts for earnings and revenue. 
  The footw
  
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• Activision is taking a page from Disney’s playbook to turn its video games into gold mines (ATVI)

  22-03-2018 20:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  Activision's stock was trading down the past week over fears that Epic's new mega-hit "Fortnite" may be taking away users and monetizing power from Activision's "Call of Duty" games.
  Jefferies analyst Timothy O'Shea says that's a short-term concern, and Activision has "vast opportunities" to monetize its audience in the long term.
  He says Activision is laying the groundwork to emulate Disney by finding a way to monetize its user base.
  Watch Activision's stock move in real time here.
  Activision'
  
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• Wall Street's getting heartburn trying to swallow Salesforce's rich $6.5 billion MuleSoft deal (CRM, MULE)

  22-03-2018 19:58 via feedproxy.google.com
  Salesforce plans to acquire MuleSoft for $6.5 billion but analysts aren't sure that it's worth it.
  Analysts are concerned that Salesforce won't be able to use MuleSoft's on-premise licensing product — a core part of its business — and that customers might not respond well to the acquisition.
  Others think the price comes down to other buyers, since MuleSoft is one of a kind in the market.
  Salesforce's shares have slid more than 5% since the deal was announced.Saleforce's planned acqui
  
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• Twitter is flirting with its lowest close in over a month (TWTR)

  22-03-2018 19:10 via feedproxy.google.com
  Twitter shares fell as much as 4.22% Thursday.
  Social media stocks have been getting whacked following news of a massive data breach at Facebook.
  The breach is prompting concerns about future data regulation, that could hurt social media stocks.
  Watch Twitter stock in real time here.
  Twitter shares are sliding Thursday, down 3.33%, as social media stocks remain in the cross hairs following news of a massive data breach at Facebook. A close below $31.32 would be the lowest since February 12.
  Twit
  
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• Wall Street is divided over whether stocks can storm back from their latest meltdown

  22-03-2018 19:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  US stocks reached new all-time highs in January before losing over 10% in just 9 trading days. Based on investor sentiment shifts over the past few months, Morgan Stanley says the equity market has probably already peaked for 2018. On the other hand, Fidelity sector strategist Denise Chisholm uses historical probability analysis to show that things often pick up after such a steep and fast correction. 
  Has the market already peaked for 2018?
  Morgan Stanley outlines two reasons it'll be
  
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• Bill Ackman reportedly cashes out of his Nike investment after making about $100 million

  22-03-2018 18:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman has cashed out his stake in Nike after making about $100 million, according to Dow Jones. 
  Ackman recently exited a years-long bet in Herbalife that reportedly cost him hundreds of millions of dollars. 
  The apparel maker is set to report earnings after the market close on Thursday.
  Bill Ackman has dumped his stake in Nike after making about $100 million, The Wall Street Journal's David Benoit reported on Thursday.
  Pershing Square, the hedge fund Ack
  
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• Forget trade — the Trump administration just crossed a far more dangerous 'red line' with China

  22-03-2018 18:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  While everyone has been worrying about a trade war between the US and China, something far more dramatic has happened between the two countries.
  President Donald Trump last week signed legislation to allow high-level talks between the US and Taiwan.
  That crosses a "red line" for China, violating the "One China" policy the US has had with China since the Nixon administration.
  Earlier this month, a scathing editorial in Chinese state media warned the US Senate not to pass the Taiwan Travel Act, le
  
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• Marijuana stocks are getting hammered because of a do-or-die legalization vote in Canada

  22-03-2018 18:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  Canada's marijuana legalization bill is facing a crucial vote in the Senate Thursday afternoon.
  If the bill fails, it would push back the timeline for legalization and force the government to re-write the bill.
  Marijuana stocks are getting slammed ahead of the vote.
  Analysts don't think it's likely the bill will fail. 
  Canada's marijuana legalization bill is facing a do-or-die vote in the Senate Thursday afternoon, and related stocks are getting slammed.
  The bill is set to go into effe
  
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• Mozilla becomes first brand to pull ads from Facebook following Cambridge Analytica scandal

  22-03-2018 17:54
  Mozilla, the company best known for its Firefox web browse, is “pausing” advertising on Facebook following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
  In a blog post, Denelle Dixon, Mozilla’s chief business and legal officer, says the recent allegations have caused the company to “take a closer look” at Facebook’s default privacy settings, given its “support of the platform through ad dollars”. What it found, she adds, is those settings “leave acce
  
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• MORGAN STANLEY: Apple's era as an iPhone company is over — but there’s another business that’ll take its place (AAPL)

  22-03-2018 17:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  Apple's iPhone X may not be selling well, but its services platform has tremendous upside, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Katy L. Huberty.
  Service revenue has grown recently, but the number of users paying for services remains low, compared to the device services market, suggesting more upside exists.
  Morgan Stanley forecasts services revenue growth will contribute more than 50% of Apple's total revenue growth over the next five years. The iPhone, which has contributed 86% of Apple's revenu
  
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• The 'Fear Index' is soaring as fears of a trade war intensify (VIX)

  22-03-2018 17:32 via feedproxy.google.com
  The Volatility Index is spiking as investors fear a trade war with China. 
  The VIX is up more than 20% Thursday, at around 22.
  The CBOE Volatility Index is soaring Thursday, up more than 20% to a reading of 22. 
  The spike in volatility comes as investors fear a trade war with China, with President Trump expected to announce tariffs on Thursday. China's foreign ministry spokeswoman previously told reporters that President Trump's trade tariffs are "detrimental to both sides." The D
  
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• CRYPTO INSIDER: Bitcoin slides after reports of crackdown on the largest crypto exchange in the world

  22-03-2018 17:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.
  Bitcoin was trading lower Thursday amid fears that regulators in Japan might tell one cryptocurrency exchange to cease its operations in the country.
  The digital currency fell approximately $200 early Thursday morning around the time Bloomberg News and other publications reporte
  
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• Trump just slammed China with tariffs on $50 billion worth of goods in a move that 'could escalate into a global trade war'

  22-03-2018 17:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  President Donald Trump on Thursday announced tariffs on imports of Chinese goods.
  The Chinese government has threatened to retaliate.
  The move marks an escalation in the trade battle between the US and China.
  President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the US would soon impose tariffs on billions of dollars of imports from China, a move that could eventually trigger a trade war.
  The tariffs, which function as taxes on imports, come after an investigation by the Trump administration into Chine
  
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• Industrial stocks sink amid worries Trump's coming tariffs will start a trade war (BA, CAT, X)

  22-03-2018 17:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  The Trump administration plans to announce at least $30 billion in tariffs on China.
  The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank almost 500 points on fears of a trade war.
  Boeing led the spiral downward, shedding nearly 4%. 
  Major industrial stocks plummeted Thursday as markets anticipated an announcement that the Trump administration will impose at least $30 billion in tariffs on China, who has vowed to retaliate. 
  Near midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down almost 500 po
  
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• Citigroup will stop doing business with companies that allow certain gun sales — here's the memo (C)

  22-03-2018 17:18 via feedproxy.google.com
  Citigroup announced it would require its clients to adopt stricter standards for firearm sales.
  The new policy requires companies to restrict sales of guns to people over 21 years old who have passed a background check. It also prohibits selling bump stocks or high-capacity magazines.
  Citigroup said it would stop doing business with clients — from small companies to institutional giants — that don't adopt the policy.
  The US banking giant Citigroup is requiring its clients to impose s
  
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• Google parent Alphabet dives amid broader tech selloff (GOOGL)

  22-03-2018 17:08 via feedproxy.google.com
  Google parent Alphabet's stock was down 3.23% following a broader selloff in tech stocks on Thursday.
  The stock has been trading lower following news that political research firm Cambridge Analytica, which has ties to President Donald Trump, has reportedly accessed 50 million Facebook user profiles without consent from the users.
  The Facebook scandal has weighed on other tech stocks, as well as the major indices, over concerns that lawmakers and regulators will clamp down on the use of user
  
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• Dow plummets more than 700 points as Trump's China tariffs ignite fears of trade war

  22-03-2018 16:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  US stocks saw deep losses Thursday amid escalating trade tensions as President Donald Trump planned to unveil roughly $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese exports.
  Industrial, financial, and technology stocks led major indexes lower.
  Follow the Dow Jones industrial average in real time.
  US stocks declined Thursday as President Donald Trump announced roughly $50 billion of annual tariffs on Chinese exports, stoking fears of retaliation and roiling markets worldwide.
  Industrial stocks led t
  
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• Japan preps high tech condoms for Olympics, Chinese consumers snub foreign brands: International round-up

  22-03-2018 16:07
  Japan to showcase high-tech condoms during Tokyo 2020
  Japan’s condom manufacturers are prepping early amid belief the nation’s high-tech condoms will be in high demand during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
  The host nation says it sees the Olympics as a “golden opportunity” to showcase its record-breaking ultra-thin product and encourage safe sex among athletes. Japan says its ultra-thin condom is just 0.01mm thick and made of polyurethane – a material that is suitabl
  
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• Adidas on the power of using micro-influencers in long-form video

  22-03-2018 13:42
  Creating video that is compelling in a six second burst, while also driving long-term engagement is the aim at sportswear giant Adidas.
  The brand’s latest video project, a long-form series following the exploits of the newly formed Tango Squad FC, has been designed to grow the popularity of Adidas’s Tango Squads influencer communities, first set up in 2016.
  Running between nine and 17 minutes long, each episode of the six-part series charts the development of the Tango Squad FC team,
  
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• LV on humanising the digital experience

  22-03-2018 08:45
  Making the digital brand experience as human as possible for its six million customers is the long-term goal for insurer LV, which last year embarked on a digital transformation project across its entire business.
  The project was led by former Aviva marketing director Heather Smith who joined LV in August 2016 as digital transformation director. A year into the role she took control of the transformation programme, which kicked off with an intense 16-week period mapping out every customer j
  
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• The next era of mobile: Marketing revolution or tech fetishism?

  22-03-2018 08:00
  When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone more than 140 years ago, he probably didn’t envision a world where he would be able to send self-destructing photos of himself with a flower garland in his hair. Or, indeed, a time when phones could measure blood pressure, scan fingerprints or alter the way we see realities entirely.
  Yet thanks to the development of smartphones these things are all possible.
  With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual re
  
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• US consumers spend $2.1bn a month on streaming

  22-03-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  NEW YORK: More than half (55%) of American households now subscribe to at least one video streaming service, collectively spending $2.1bn a month on services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, a new survey has found.Based on responses from 2,088...
  
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• Twitter is accused of not protecting women

  22-03-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  LONDON: Amnesty International, the human rights group, has accused Twitter of failing to prevent online violence and abuse against women, which is preventing many women from expressing themselves freely on the social platform.Released on the same...
  
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• Tourism Australia converts Super Bowl drive

  22-03-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  SYDNEY: Tourism Australia’s viral campaign ‘Dundee’ aired at the Super Bowl this year, but the ongoing benefits of the campaign have been through programmatic spend, customer journey-mapping and consumer data analysis. ...
  
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• Singtel plans to link mobile wallets across Asia

  22-03-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  SINGAPORE: As consumers in Asia increasingly opt for digital payments in place of cash, Singtel Group has announced plans to create a platform that connects mobile wallet users across the region.The company, one of the largest telcos in Southeast...
  
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• Personality crisis

  22-03-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  The nefarious activities of bad actors in the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica debacle may spark an unwarranted moral panic around the use of psychometric profiling in consumer research, argues Eaon Pritchard.Science is what it is.
  
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• Home Depot builds on power of data

  22-03-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  AUSTIN, TX: The Home Depot, the home-improvement retailer, is tapping customer data in increasingly powerful ways to better serve its target audiences.Melanie Babcock, senior director/agile marketing (audience), social media, adtech & display...
  
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• Google promises to fix problems with 'urgency'

  22-03-2018 01:00 via warc.com
  LONDON: At a moment when Facebook is under scrutiny for its approach to privacy and advertising, Google has stated its intention to engage more proactively with all stakeholders and “act with urgency” to fix any problems and to...
  
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