Apple 2Q23 10-Q Takeaways, Apple's Share Buyback Update, More on Apple’s Stingy Dividend Increases
Happy Tuesday.
In today’s update, we will go over Apple’s 2Q23 10-Q. We will then discuss Apple’s buyback and cash dividend programs.
Let’s jump right in.
Apple 2Q23 10-Q Takeaways
Published at the end of FY1Q, 2Q, and 3Q, 10-Q filings provide additional commentary and disclosures regarding a company's business and financial results.
The following items from Apple's 2Q23 10-Q jumped out at me.
Product Details. Apple provided additional commentary behind sales trends for its major product categories.
iPhone. Net sales were flat in 2Q23. Based on that wording, it sounds like higher ASP was not a major factor in iPhone revenue growth. In the past, Apple has called out a different mix of iPhone models to hint at ASP changes. For reference, the last time Apple called out iPhone mix in the 10-Q, ASP likely was up 10%+ year-over-year. For 2Q23, we are looking at a much smaller increase in ASP given FX headwinds.
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Reading Between the Lines of Apple’s 2Q23 Earnings Q&A With Analysts (Daily Update)
Hello everyone. Welcome to a new week.
Last Friday, we went over the numbers from Apple’s 2Q23 earnings release. We also looked at two of the major themes from earnings: the impact from less device upgrading and Apple’s emerging markets strength.
In today’s update, we will focus on Apple’s earnings Q&A session with analysts. After recapping each question-and-answer exchange that occurred on the call between Apple and sell-side analysts, we will go over my thoughts / response to the exchange. Let’s go beyond what was talked about on the call.
NOTE: The following earnings call questions (“Q (Sell-Side Firm)”) and answers (“Cook” or “Luca”) have been cut, summarized, paraphrased, and rearranged for clarity. To read the full question and answer exchanges, MarkerBeat offers a written transcript here.
iPhone
Q (Morgan Stanley): Did Apple experience iPhone demand deferral or destruction arising from the COVID shutdowns in late 2022?
Cook: Our 2Q23 results reflected some iPhone demand carryover from 1Q23. iPhone production is back where we want it to be.
My response: Recall our discussion heading into earnings about two variables driving iPhone sales in 2Q23: Underlying customer demand and a sales carryover from 1Q23 related to COVID shutdowns. Cook’s answer implies that
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Apple 2Q23: By the Numbers, Apple Device Upgrading Slows, Apple's Emerging Markets Strength (Daily Update)
Today's special Friday edition of the Daily Update will be focused on reviewing Apple's earnings. The idea is to keep things broad and look at the big picture takeaways. We also examine how Apple’s results compared to Neil’s expectations.
Hello everyone. Welcome to a special edition Friday version of the daily update. We will begin going over Apple’s 2Q23 numbers and conference call.
For today, the focus will be on the key numbers and two big picture takeaways. The discussion will continue next week.
Let’s jump right in.
Apple 2Q23: By the Numbers
There were no major surprises found with Apple’s 2Q23 earnings. Device upgrading has slowed, although Apple continues to bring new users into the fold. While the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch look OK, AirPods continues to experience growth turbulence, while the Mac is trying to find sales stabilization. In an environment where gross margin integrity is being rewarded, Apple’s results will get attention.
Apple’s guidance for 3Q23 is close to what sell-side analysts were expecting, which likely will come as a disappointment to some. Looking under the hood, it looks like the U.S. macro environment is indeed sluggish, backing up conclusions from various Fortune 500 firms. Offsetting such disappointment, Apple continues to see strong momentum in emerging markets as the company takes share from Android.
Here are Apple’s reported 2Q23 results versus my expectations with brief commentary for each item.
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My Apple 2Q23 Estimates, Expectations for Apple's Capital Management Changes, My Revised Apple Earnings Model (Daily Update)
Apple reports FY2Q23 earnings on Thursday. Today’s update contains the second half of Neil’s earnings preview. The first half is available here. The update begins with Neil’s granular financial estimates. The discussion includes qualitative explanations for each of Apple’s product categories. We then look at Neil’s expectations for what Apple will announce regarding its cash dividend and share repurchase authorization. We conclude with Neil’s updated Apple earnings model and how the model has changed over the past three months. Access to Neil’s Apple earnings model is a benefit associated with Above Avalon membership at no additional cost.
Hello everyone. Similar to previous quarters, with Apple releasing earnings tomorrow, Thursday’s update will be pushed out a day so that there is a special edition Friday version of the daily update.
Let’s jump into the second half of my earnings preview.
My Apple 2Q23 Estimates
Here are my granular estimates for Apple’s 2Q23:
Revenue: $95.7B (consensus: $93.0B)
Overall gross margin: 44.6% (guidance: 43.5% to 44.5%)
Gross margin (HW): 37.5%
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Setting the Stage for Apple Earnings, Revisiting My Apple Earnings Theory, U.S. Dollar Weakens (Daily Update)
Hello everyone. Apple reports FY2Q23 earnings (results from January to March) on Thursday. We kick off today’s update with Neil’s big picture thoughts and expectations heading into Apple’s earnings. The discussion includes a look at the U.S. dollar’s performance relative to other currencies and the impact a weaker dollar has on Apple. We will go over Neil’s granular Apple financial estimates tomorrow. Neil’s revised Apple earnings model will also be ready.
Setting the Stage for Apple Earnings
It’s been a while since Apple reported a clean quarter with revenue reflecting underlying customer demand. Supply shortages, COVID interruptions, inflation, and multi-year strength in the dollar have contributed to noisy results. Excluding the headwinds, normalized revenue growth was trending up 10% or so in the first half of 2022 with signs of things slowing to more like flat revenue growth at the end of 2022.
Heading into Thursday’s results, expectations are for
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NYC Bets on AirTag to Stop Car Thefts, Apple Planning to Launch Journaling App (Daily Update)
We kick off the update with AirTag news. Neil shares his views on NYC handing out 500 AirTags to deter car thefts. The development marks quite an interesting PR turn for the bluetooth tracker. The discussion then turns to the WSJ reporting on a new journaling app that Apple has been reportedly working on. We look at some possibilities for what Apple can do with a journaling app.
Hello everyone. Welcome to May.
Apple will report FY2Q23 earnings on Thursday. We will prepare for the earnings release on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Let's jump into today's update.
NYC Bets on AirTag to Stop Car Thefts
Here’s the NY Post:
“New York City will give out free Apple AirTags to residents as part of an effort to pump the brakes on rampant car thefts, Mayor Eric Adams announced Sunday.
Calling the GPS tracking devices a ‘really amazing piece of ingenuity,’ the mayor said 500 of the gadgets donated by a local nonprofit will be doled out to New Yorkers, including in the NYPD’s 43th Precinct in The Bronx — which has been hit particularly hard by the carjacking scourge.
‘The aggravated number of grand larceny autos continues to drive up crime in our city,’ said Adams, joined by police officials, at a press conference, while noting that other major crimes — such as shootings, homicides and robberies and larcenies — have been on the downturn.
‘This simple device, this simple AirTag, hidden in a car location that a person is not aware, of is an excellent tracking device,’ Adams said. ‘It’s easy to monitor. You can see in real-time where the vehicle is located.’
A video posted by the NYPD later in the day demonstrated how the devices would help cops track a stolen vehicle and encouraged motorists to go out and buy the AirTag units on their own.”
Talk about the difference a year makes. In December 2021, Apple was on the receiving end of an awful PR cycle related to AirTag. A police department in Canada said AirTags were being used to steal luxury cars.
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Meta Earnings, The Holes in Tech’s “Flattening” Job Cuts Theory (Daily Update)
Hello everyone. We wrap up the week with Meta’s 1Q23 earnings. Neil goes over the positives and negatives from the report. Meta continues to experience quite the rebound in expectations. With job cuts and expense reductions at the top of Meta’s considerations, Neil’s attention turned back to a recent article from the Financial Times trying to explain the significant number of job cuts in tech land. Neil has a few issues with the FT’s theory.
Let's jump right in.
Meta Earnings
This past Tuesday, Meta reported 1Q23 earnings.
Here is an earnings recap table highlighting some of Meta's key financial numbers:
(click / tap table to enlarge)
Note: Results reflect $1.1B of restructuring charges.
Key data points from the quarter included:
More than 3 billion people use at least one Meta property (app) daily.
Facebook has 200 million daily actives in the U.S. and Canada / 2 billion daily actives worldwide.
Reels (Meta's TikTok competitor) resharing hit 2B times every day, doubling over the last six months.
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U.S. Appeals Court Sides With App Store, App Store Curation Is Key, Apple's Anti-Steering Loss Isn’t Major (Daily Update)
Hello everyone. Today's update will be dedicating to discussing the latest chapter of the Epic Games vs. Apple legal battle in the U.S. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld all of the district court’s rulings that Epic had appealed. We go over Neil’s thoughts on the ruling, why App Store curation is playing such a big role with the App Store’s defense, and why Apple’s anti-steering provision loss isn’t a major blow to the company. Let's jump right in.
U.S. Appeals Court Sides With App Store
Back in September 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (the district court) issued its 185-page ruling in Epic Games vs. Apple. The district court's ruling was an unequivocal beating for Epic Games. We won’t go over all of the details of the case in this update. You can do so by reading the September 13th, 2021 daily update. Instead, there were four primary takeaways from that ruling:
iOS App Distribution. The district court ruled Apple can’t have a monopoly over iOS app distribution because that’s no different than saying a company has a monopoly over a service that only it can provide.
In-App Purchases. The district court found that IAP is not a separate product. Instead, it’s part of the iOS experience. That was a crucial determination as it played a role in the court declaring Apple’s requirement to have iOS developers use IAP (and Apple payment) as legal.
Switching Costs. The district court did not buy Epic’s arguments about the App Store increasing switching costs and customer lock-in. The court said Epic did not provide anything to show consumers actually faced switching costs moving from iOS to other gaming platforms.
App Store Curation. The district court upheld Apple’s App Store curation model involving human review.
On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
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Netflix Earnings, The Allure of Advertising in Video Streaming, HBO Max's Rebranding (Daily Update)
Hello everyone. We have a media / video streaming Tuesday on tap for today’s update. We will begin with Netflix earnings. The Netflix narrative is quickly shifting to advertising. That will lead to a few other streaming-related news items.
Netflix Earnings
Last week, Netflix reported 1Q23 earnings.
The good news for Netflix is that 1Q23 marks the third consecutive quarter of subscriber gains. Price cuts outside the U.S. and the launch of an ad-supported tier in a number of countries are offsetting higher churn from a still limited crackdown in password sharing. Netflix will start the password sharing crackdown in the U.S. soon.
The following exhibit looks at overall subscriber growth trends.
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Humane’s Worrying Reveal, Humane’s Miscalculation, Tesla Follow Up (Daily Update)
We kick things off with Humane’s co-CEO Imran Chaudhri unveiling what the company has been working on in a series of demos during a TED Talk. It’s the first time the buzzy HW startup with dozens of former Apple employees has shown off anything publicly. The discussion then turns to a misclaucation Humane has made. We conclude with some follow-up to our discussion regarding Tesla earnings.
Happy Monday. Welcome to a new week.
Earlier today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the district court’s decision in Epic Games vs. Apple. It’s (another) major legal win for Apple and the company’s App Store practices in the U.S., although the legal back-and-forth could continue. We will talk about the ruling this week.
Let’s jump into today’s update.
Humane’s Worrying Reveal
Last month, we talked about Humane, the buzzy hardware startup comprised of dozens of former Apple employees. Based on patents, hiring activity, and marketing materials, the company has been working on a wearable camera and accompanying projection system technology. More recently, the company has been talking up AI.
Last week, Humane’s co-CEO Imran Chaudhri unveiled what the company has been working on in a series of demos during a TED Talk. It’s the first time the company has shown off anything publicly. You can check out the demo clips below (the blue links).
Based on what was shown off, major questions need to be asked about Humane’s strategy and path forward.
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Tesla Earnings, Tesla Lessons for Apple (Daily Update)
Hello everyone. Earnings season is upon us.
The plan for this earnings cycle is to focus in particular on larger themes and base our discussions around any changes or developments to those themes. We will kick things off with Tesla and the auto space. After going over the main takeaways from Tesla’s earnings, we look at some lessons that Apple can learn from regarding how best to navigate the EV space.
Tesla Earnings
“Tesla Inc. felt the pain of a recent wave of price cuts, as a reduction in the average price of its cars contributed to a 24% decline in first-quarter profit.
Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle maker has lowered prices for models in the U.S. by between 14% and 25% this year as it contends with weaker demand, higher interest rates and burgeoning competition. The latest round of reductions came on the eve of earnings.
‘We’ve taken a view that pushing for higher volumes and a larger fleet is the right choice here versus a lower volume and higher margin,’ Mr. Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, said Wednesday on an earnings call, adding that he expects to be able to harvest additional software revenue down the line.
Teslas sold for an average of around $46,000 in the first quarter, less than the company had forecast and down from some $52,200 in the first three months of 2022.”
Tesla's core automative gross margins – excluding ZEV credits – declined to 16% from 26% the previous year. While those are good margins for an automaker, many have spent years saying Tesla wasn't a regular automaker. Vehicle deliveries were
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Apple’s Fintech Play Outside the U.S., Apple Ecosystem Strength by Country, Google to Unveil Foldable Pixel (Daily Update)
Hello everyone. We will continue the discussion found in yesterday’s update regarding Apple’s fintech strategy. There was a consistent theme to incoming member questions regarding Apple’s fintech strategy. After answering that topic, Neil looks at one way to measure Apple’s ecosystem strength by country. The update concludes with news of Google getting ready to unveil a foldable smartphone. Let’s jump right in.
Apple’s Fintech Play Outside the U.S.
There was one consistent theme to incoming member questions and comments regarding yesterday’s discussion about Apple’s fintech strategy: When will Apple bring these features to other countries?
Here is the current availability for Apple’s fintech portfolio:
Apple Pay: 71 countries and regions
Apple Card: U.S. only
Apple Cash: U.S. only
Apple Savings: U.S. only
Apple Pay Later: U.S. only
For a global company, the following list is far from ideal. While Apple users in the U.S. are seeing the latest and greatest from Apple in terms of the company’s fintech play, outside the U.S., it has been slim pickings. And more worrying for non-U.S. Apple customers, it’s not clear when these fintech features will become available in other countries. Apple has not given any indication of rollout timelines or even the feasibility of global rollouts. For example, the Apple Savings account launched on Monday is only available to U.S. residents with a social security number of individual taxpayer identification number. There are no announced plans for additional country support, partially because Apple Savings requires an Apple Card which is only available in the U.S.
We can say with confidence that Apple would want to bring these fintech features to more countries. The ideals underpinning these features are universal (financial well-being and data privacy), even though they may not necessarily match all government allowances and goals.
As for why these features have limited distribution, my suspicion is
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Apple Launches High-Yield Savings Account, Apple’s Great Timing, Apple’s Expanding Fintech Play (Daily Update)
Happy Tuesday. We begin today’s update with an examination of Apple’s new savings account (in partnership with Goldman Sachs). The discussion goes over three things about the account that jumped out at Neil. We then go over how Apple has great timing with this savings account and how the new product fits within Apple’s broader fintech play.
Apple Launches High-Yield Savings Account
In a press release issued yesterday, here’s Apple:
“Starting today, Apple Card users can choose to grow their Daily Cash rewards with a Savings account from Goldman Sachs, which offers a high-yield APY of 4.15 percent — a rate that’s more than 10 times the national average. With no fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balance requirements, users can easily set up and manage their Savings account directly from Apple Card in Wallet.
‘Savings helps our users get even more value out of their favorite Apple Card benefit — Daily Cash — while providing them with an easy way to save money every day,’ said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. ‘Our goal is to build tools that help users lead healthier financial lives, and building Savings into Apple Card in Wallet enables them to spend, send, and save Daily Cash directly and seamlessly — all from one place.’
Once a Savings account is set up, all future Daily Cash earned by the user will be automatically deposited into the account. The Daily Cash destination can also be changed at any time, and there’s no limit on how much Daily Cash users can earn. To build on their savings even further, users can deposit additional funds into their Savings account through a linked bank account, or from their Apple Cash balance.”
Like Apple Card, this savings account is run through Goldman Sachs. This means Apple doesn’t need to have a banking charter and get bogged down by regulatory items. More on this shortly.
It’s not fair to say this is just a Goldman Sachs savings account wrapped in an Apple shell or covering.
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Apple Opens First Store in India, Cook to Meet Modi, Samsung Reportedly Contemplating Bing Search Deal (Daily Update)
We kick things off with Neil’s thoughts on Apple opening its first retail store in India. The discussion goes over how Indian officials have a lot riding on the development as well. The update concludes with Samsung reportedly contemplating switching default search providers. We go over why the odds continue to favor a Samsung + Google search contract renewal.
Hello everyone. Welcome to a new week. We are fully back into the swing of things. Let's jump into today's update.
Apple Opens First Store in India
Apple has been operating its own retail stores for more than two decades. Most of its peers have tried to copy the initiative but have seen little to no success. Along with Apple’s design-led culture and vertical integration strategy, the company’s direct retail operations have played a vital role in its expanding ecosystem.
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More on Apple Reality, Why the Apple Reality Name?, Luxshare Reportedly Gains Apple Reality Contract (Daily Update)
Hello everyone.
The latest Above Avalon Report, "Apple's Reality (Headset) Plans," was sent via email to all members last Wednesday (11:30 pm ET). Even though the report is only a day old, there are already a few updates worth pursuing. In addition, incoming member questions pointed to interest in one part of the report in particular (what Apple may call its first headset). We will cover that in today’s update.
The podcast version of the report was published earlier today. It came out to 31 minutes of audio. As a reminder, the Above Avalon Reports podcast is available to everyone who has the podcast add-on attached to their membership. If you have the add-on, you previously received an email (from “Neil Cybart via Transistor”) with instructions on getting the podcast up and running in various podcast players. The process takes literally five seconds. Any questions or issues, let me know. If you don’t have the podcast add-on and want access to the two private podcasts, fill out this form.
More on Apple Reality
The latest Above Avalon Report has been in the making for a few months. For much of 2023, June had been penciled in my calendar as a possible unveiling point for a MR (mixed reality) Apple headset. In recent weeks, as the news cycle regarding this product turned silly, that WWDC unveiling timeline solidified.
Originally, the plan was to keep the report focused primarily on the product itself (the why behind the initiative, use cases, challenges). However, while putting together the finishing touches, a product strategy discussion needed to be included. There is a lot to discuss regarding how a headset fits within the Grand Unified Theory of Apple Products and the Apple Innovation Feedback Loop – both theories are still very much alive even though we haven’t talked about them much over the past year or so. If there are questions about the strategy section of the report, please send them my way. They can be used to guide additional discussion in the coming weeks.
Two new items worth discussing today:
New artist renderings for what Apple Reality may look like.
Why would Apple call the device Apple Reality in the first place?
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Apple’s Reality (Headset) Plans (Above Avalon Report)
An examination of Apple’s upcoming entry into AR/VR headsets.
Written by Neil Cybart – April 12th, 2023
In the coming months, Apple is expected to unveil its next wearables chapter with an AR/VR headset. Having already launched wearable devices designed for the wrist (Apple Watch) and ears (AirPods), Apple will soon expand its focus to the eyes (Apple Reality). This report serves as a primer for Apple’s play for the “eyes” - a headset delivering AR/VR experiences.
Note: This report references terms including AR, VR, MR, eye wearables, and Apple Reality. Here is a short explanation of the key differences:
AR (augmented reality): Overlays digital objects/context on top of one’s visual and auditory surroundings.
VR (virtual reality): Offers a digital alternative to one’s visual and auditory surroundings.
MR (mixed reality): A combination of AR/VR, and the goal is to enhance the wearer’s presence.
Face / eye wearables: Devices that include headsets/visors/goggles/glasses.
Apple Reality: The name Apple may give to its MR headset.
Background
The discussion surrounding AR and VR has been noisy and unnecessarily complicated because four devices have been talked about in the press seemingly interchangeably:
Smart Glasses. Lightweight and thin glasses that display small snippets of text, information, and symbols in the wearer’s peripheral vision. This device is, in theory, closest in utilization to that of Apple Watch.
AR Glasses. Lightweight and thin glasses that enhance one's surroundings by adding a contextual layer on top of reality. This device is a more enhanced and capable version of smart glasses.
VR Headsets. A historically bulky contraption worn on the face that removes the wearer from their surroundings. Meta Quest is an example of a VR headset.
MR (AR/VR) Headsets. A historically bulky contraption worn on the face combining VR and AR. Microsoft HoloLens is an example of a mixed reality headset, but some will say the device is closer to a bulky AR headset.
Apple is believed to be working on two distinct products:
MR headset “Apple Reality” (to be unveiled soon).
Pair of AR glasses (to be unveiled in a few years when the technology is ready).
As a sign of how ambitious Apple’s goals are in the AR/VR space, the company
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Why Publish a Tim Cook Profile Now?, The Evolution in Cook’s AR/VR Comments (Daily Update)
Today’s discussion will continue our look at GQ’s Tim Cook profile. We begin with examining why such a profile was published in April 2023. What does it tell us about Apple? The update then looks at how Cook’s comments about AR/VR have evolved over the years and what his most recent comments suggest about upcoming products.
Why Publish a Tim Cook Profile Now?
Following Monday's update, there were a few incoming questions from members regarding why Apple would agree to such a large Tim Cook profile in April 2023.
Was the profile a result of Cook reaching an unsaid milestone as CEO?
Is there some connection to upcoming succession planning?
Is Apple preparing the PR runway for a big product-related announcement at WWDC?
There is some background related to the profile worth discussing.
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The Tim Cook Profile in GQ, Cook and China, Cook Provides More Mixed Reality Headset Clues (Daily Update)
Hello everyone. Welcome to Monday. Today’s discussion will be dedicated to discussing GQ's Tim Cook profile. Let’s jump right in.
(Go UConn as they play for their fifth national basketball championship tonight.)
The Tim Cook Profile in GQ
As we head deeper into spring, and soon developer conference season, this is a good time for companies to draw attention to topics that either have been under attack in the press or which can be leveraged to support upcoming product unveilings.
With that in mind, GQ is out with quite the Tim Cook profile. Not only did Zach Baron sit down (and walk around) with Cook at Apple Park, but there were also interviews with Eddy Cue (SVP services) and Lisa Jackson (VP environment, policy, and social initiatives).
With "Tim Cook on Shaping the Future of Apple," here’s Baron:
“In his tenure as CEO, Cook has rarely missed an opportunity to decry, usually with a fair amount of heat in his voice, what he describes as the 'data-industrial complex'—a complex built of companies (and Apple competitors) who profit from the use and sale of their consumer’s personal information and data. This practice, Cook said in another public moment, 'degrades our fundamental right to privacy first, and our social fabric by consequence,' and helps build an ecosystem full of 'rampant disinformation and conspiracy theories juiced by algorithms.'
If you ask Cook, a notoriously private person himself, why this subject is so important to him, he will pivot the conversation back to Apple. 'It’s personal for Apple in that we’ve been focused on it from the start of the company,' he told me the first time we met, for an interview in 2021. In Cook’s tenure, Apple has adopted a set of public values and practices that are particularly rigorous around privacy. 'We feel privacy is a basic human right,' Cook says. 'And so we try to design our products to where we collect the minimum kind of data, and as important, that we put the user in the control chair, where it’s the user’s data and they’re deciding what they want to do with it.'"
GQ’s 6,600-word profile was among one of the better ones that have been published about Cook. Instead of picking the profile apart and including large sections of it in this update, it is best to find some time and read the profile in its entirety.
It’s not easy to summarize a 6,600-word profile. GQ covered a long list of topics, although a few subjects weren’t discussed (which we will talk about in greater detail shortly).
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Apple Announces WWDC 2023, WWDC 2023 Artwork Clues, Early Expectations for WWDC 2023 (Daily Update)
Today’'s update (March 30th) is dedicated to discussing Apple’s WWDC 2023. After going over the WWDC 2023 format, we look at this year’s WWDC artwork for some clues as to what may be discussed during the keynote. This brings us to a broader discussion involving Neil’s expectations for WWDC 2023 regarding a mixed reality headset.
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The Amazon/AMC Rumor, Amazon Sidewalk Opens to Developers, Revisiting Amazon’s Play for Neighborhoods (Daily Update)
Hello everyone. We will begin today’s update with a follow-up to our theatrical release discussion from earlier in the week. The discussion then turns to Amazon. Amazon Sidewalk is up there as one of the more interesting initiatives within Amazon. It’s multiple times more interesting to Neil than what is found with Alexa.
The Amazon/AMC Rumor
Over at The Intersect, here’s Joe Bel Bruno:
“Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has dispatched his investment advisors and top entertainment chiefs to explore acquisition plans for embattled theater chain AMC Entertainment, according to multiple senior sources familiar with the discussions.
The thinking is that Amazon can use AMC’s nearly 600 theaters across North America, Europe and the Middle East as ‘marketing weigh stations,’ said one Amazon insider. This would be used for promoting Amazon Prime movies for awards contention, cross-selling services such as grocery delivery, serving as local distribution hubs, and collecting crucial data from AMC’s annual 200 million moviegoing customers.
It would also throw a lifeline to AMC, the world’s largest theater chain whose financials were torpedoed by the COVID pandemic chased by Hollywood’s cut-throat pivot to their own streaming services. The cinema chain – whose stock traded a year ago at $34 and now languishes at about $4 – can be scooped up cheaply (and without a major premium) for just a few billion dollars."
One wonders if those “senior sources familiar with the discussions” happen to be investment bankers itching for a deal. Also, it seems like Bel Bruno refers to AMC as “cheap” merely because the stock price is down. That is not how that works.
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