Posts by Daniel Roberts

Facebook beats earnings for 14th straight quarter—it's all about mobile ads

Facebook reported its 2016 third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, with revenue at $7.1 billion compared to analyst expectations for $6.92 billion, and earnings of $1.09 per share against expectations of 97 cents.

It was the 14th straight quarter in which the social media giant beat expectations. Facebook has only missed earnings one time since it went public in 2012. The stock (FB) is up 22% this year and 17% in the past 12 months.

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Yes, Facebook is a media company

Hulu bundle is latest sign of Disney, Fox adjusting to cord-cutting

Hulu announced on Tuesday new “affiliate agreements” with 21st Century Fox and Disney to add certain channels, including Fox Sports and ESPN, to Hulu’s planned over-the-top subscription service. While it was already widely known that a Hulu streaming package was coming, the addition of live sports is another big step in the ongoing explosion of options for cord-cutters, and the ongoing fragmentation of live sports television.

The news is exciting for consumers, but part of a troubling trend for traditional cable networks.

A so-called ‘skinny bundle’ from Hulu will pose another major challenge to cable, though there are fair questions over how many different streaming services the average consumer is willing to pay for. A monthly diet of Netflix, HBO, and Amazon Prime already totals at least $33 per month.

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ESPN must evolve beyond TV, and has time to do it

Why pro golfers might soon make less money

The landscape for the golf equipment business looks grim at the moment. Adidas announced in May it is looking to sell off TaylorMade, its golf club brand that was once the category leader; Nike announced in August it’s halting its own golf club business completely.

Those announcements have already prompted change. Jason Day, the world’s No. 1 golfer, has an existing deal with TaylorMade for clubs but has signed a new deal with Nike just for apparel, which he is able to do because Nike is no longer a competitor as a club-maker. Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, who are both signed to Nike Golf, are both suddenly left without club deals, so other club-makers have aggressively wooed them.

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Even the NFL doesn't know why NFL ratings are tanking

By now you’ve surely heard that the National Football League’s television ratings are down this season by double digits compared to last year. Ratings are down more than 10% on average through Week 7 of the season, and some nights have been down by more than 20%.

What’s causing the slide? It isn’t one single factor, but many. And no one knows for sure which single factor is having the biggest effect—including the NFL.

“We really don’t know,” says a source who works at the league and commented on condition of anonymity.

Roger Goodell, the league’s commissioner, said this month at the NFL owners’ meeting, “I don’t think there is a single reason for it,” but then appeared to point primarily to the election cycle, adding, “the two primetime games that saw our most dramatic decrease went straight up against two very significant debates.”

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MasterCard, Bank of America want you to let chat bots handle your finances

If your credit score has fallen, or if you’ve overdrafted on your debit card, or if you want to see a list of your last few transactions, Bank of America (BAC) wants you to let Erica help fix the situation. But MasterCard (MA) is hoping you’ll ask Kai.

Erica and Kai are chat bots, coming soon to your smartphone, both announced in the same week by BofA and MasterCard, respectively. The financial firms are just two of the large companies suddenly betting big on bots. The only problem: for now, there’s scant evidence that consumers see their usefulness.

Enter Bank of America and MasterCard. Neither company has a bot on Facebook Messenger yet, but neither is ignoring Facebook. BofA’s Erica is not for Messenger; it will live inside BofA’s own mobile app and can operate by text or voice command. But BofA has already announced it is developing a separate bot for Messenger. MasterCard’s Kai will go on Messenger.

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These 3 very different mobile apps help me save money

Vine founder regrets selling company to Twitter

On Thursday, Twitter abruptly announced it would shut down Vine, the 6-second looping video app it acquired in 2012.

The announcement, posted on Medium (the blogging platform founded by Twitter cofounder Ev Williams) by “Team Vine & Twitter,” came just hours after Twitter reported its Q3 earnings.

The Medium post simply says, “In the coming months we’ll be discontinuing the mobile app.” But in a separate earnings press release, Twitter said it is “ de-prioritizing certain initiatives and simplifying how we operate in other areas.”

This “restructuring,” Twitter says, “which focuses primarily on reorganizing the company’s sales, partnerships, and marketing efforts, is intended to create greater focus and efficiency to enable Twitter’s goal of driving toward GAAP profitability in 2017.”

CEO Jack Dorsey said in a statement, “We have a clear plan, and we’re making the necessary changes to ensure Twitter is positioned for long-term growth.”

— John Herrman (@jwherrman) October 27, 2016

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Yes, Facebook is a media company

Facebook (FB) doesn’t want to call itself a media company. That’s despite the fact that most of the company’s major initiatives in the past two years are around digital media—live video, fast-loading articles from media outlets, and a curated news feed.

COO Sheryl Sandberg was asked on Tuesday at the WSJD Live conference, “Is Facebook acknowledging that it is a media company, and not just a technology platform?”

Surprise, surprise: it is not. Sandberg gave this non-answer: “Facebook’s a platform for all ideas and it’s really core to our mission that people can share what they care about on Facebook. And that includes everything from ‘it’s my friend’s birthday’ to ‘here I am at this conference with my friend Chris’ to things that matter to them in the news.”

It’s classic misdirection from Facebook executives about what Facebook is. But make no mistake: though they may not want to say it, Facebook is absolutely a media company. It is also a technology platform; these descriptors are not mutually exclusive.

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The war between DraftKings and FanDuel and the NY Attorney General is over

Eleven months after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sent daily fantasy sports companies DraftKings and FanDuel cease-and-desist letters demanding they stop doing business in the state, the war between the official and the two companies is over.

It ended in a $12 million settlement.

The two private tech startups have each agreed to pay the state $6 million over the next three years to settle Schneiderman’s claims of “repeated false advertising.” Conceding such a thing is a hit to their reputations, and a financial setback. (FanDuel reportedly laid off 60 staffers this month.)

Nine months passed from the time of the cease-and-desists to the DFS bill passing, and those nine months cost DraftKings and FanDuel dearly in legal fees, negative headlines, and potentially lost customers. DraftKings and FanDuel reportedly took in a combined $3 billion in entry fees last year.

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AT&T is not buying Time Warner Cable

AT&T (T) has made an $85.4 billion offer to buy Time Warner Inc. (TWX), whose many properties include HBO, CNN, Turner Sports (TBS, TNT, TruTV) and Warner Bros.

But AT&T is not buying Time Warner Cable. Time Warner Inc. and Time Warner Cable are not the same company.

You might think that’s obvious, but it has often been confusing to consumers, and it has even confused the press this week. Many television and digital news outlets have erroneously shown the Time Warner Cable logo on screen in segments about the mega-deal.

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Under Armour CEO: 'It's not about athleisure'

Under Armour (UA) reported its 26th consecutive quarter of more than 20% revenue growth on Tuesday.

The sports apparel company beat third-quarter earnings expectations, with earnings of 29 cents per share and revenue that jumped 22% to $1.47 billion. Management also reiterated full-year revenue guidance, implying 20% growth in the fourth quarter.

But investors and traders were hoping for more. Thanks to its past success, Under Armour is under pressure now more than ever; 20% revenue growth is no longer good enough. Under Armour shares fell 13% in early trading on Tuesday.

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