Walmart Buys Vizio, Walmart vs. Amazon, Revisiting the Roku Story
We go over my thoughts on Walmart buying Vizio. The discussion includes a closer look at the Walmart vs. Amazon competitive battle. We also revisit Roku’s strategy and the massive holes in the company’s story.
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Apple Announces First Immersive Video for Sports, Vision Pro and Apple Immersive Video, Why Is Apple Sports iPhone-Only?
Happy Thursday. In today’s update, our discussion will begin with the new Apple Immersive Video format found on Apple Vision Pro. There is then one follow-up regarding the new Apple Sports app.
One quick item: I have been using Apple Vision Pro for roughly a week. Zeiss Optical Inserts arrived just a few days ago. My plan is to use the device for some time, naturally see where it fits into my live, before publishing something along the lines of in-depth review or report. In more than a few ways, the initial round of reviews came across as rushed. When we talk about Apple Vision Pro in this update, my perspective is based on actually using the device for some time, and not just the two pre-launch demos.
Let's jump right in.
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Apple Launches Apple Sports App, Apple Sports vs. Competing Apps, Apple Sports and The Big Picture
Hello everyone. It feels good to get back in the swing of things after a little time off. We will dedicate today’s update to discussing a new app that Apple just launched: Sports.
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Microsoft Earnings, Peloton Earnings
In today’s update, we will wrap up our Big Tech earnings reviews with Microsoft. We will then conclude the discussion with a look at Peloton earnings.
To set the scene, Microsoft and Peloton are in some ways complete opposites. Microsoft has been reporting some of the cleanest, all-around solid earnings releases in Big Tech. Peloton is in the most precarious of positions in terms of companies that we check in on from time to time. It’s been six months since we looked at Peloton’s earnings.
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Alphabet Earnings, Amazon Earnings
Monday’s update concluded with the following:
“Meta has reported more than $38B of operating losses on its AR/VR efforts. The company needs products like Quest 3 and Ray-Ban Meta to do well and generate revenue to reduce pressure on what are mounting losses.”
There is more to say about the mounting losses in Meta’s Reality Labs and why I think generating some revenue is important. We will focus on that topic today. Our Big Tech earnings reviews will continue tomorrow.
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Thoughts on How Zuckerberg Can Monetize Meta Reality Labs
Monday’s update concluded with the following:
“Meta has reported more than $38B of operating losses on its AR/VR efforts. The company needs products like Quest 3 and Ray-Ban Meta to do well and generate revenue to reduce pressure on what are mounting losses.”
There is more to say about the mounting losses in Meta’s Reality Labs and why I think generating some revenue is important. We will focus on that topic today. Our Big Tech earnings reviews will continue tomorrow.
An Above Avalon membership is required to read this update. Members can read the full update here. (Members: Daily Updates are accessible via the archive. If you haven’t logged into the archive before, fill out this form to receive an invite.)
Payment is hosted by MoonClerk and secured by Stripe. Apple Pay and other mobile payment options are accepted. After signup, use this link to update your payment information and membership status at any time.
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Meta 4Q23 Earnings, Estimating Meta Quest 3 Sales, Ray-Ban Meta and AI
There are several Big Tech earnings reports for CY4Q23 worth going over. For those of you who recently became Above Avalon members, my approach to covering Big Tech earnings is twofold:
Assess how Apple competitors are doing from a financial/business perspective. This will involve looking at revenue growth metrics, cash flow generation, etc. Given major differences in business models, the metrics will need to be put into proper prospective.
Look for developments that shine light on competitive dynamics that stand to impact Apple. This may include everything from advertising to hardware.
Today’s update will be dedicated to Meta, a company that is turning into one of Apple’s most direct competitors.
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Disney FY1Q24 Earnings, Disney Buys Minority Stake in Epic Games, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox Announce New Sports App
Today's update will have a Disney focus with the company announcing earnings and two new business initiatives.
Heading into earnings earlier this week, Disney CEO Bob Iger and the board were facing some of the strongest pressure to date from activist shareholders looking to get Disney board seats – and eventually kick Iger out. The pressure served as the backdrop for what was a news-packed earnings release from Disney.
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Apple 1Q24 10-Q Takeaways, Apple Balance Sheet Observations
Today’s update will wrap up Neil’s 1Q24 earnings preview. We will examine Apple’s 1Q24 10-Q filing and the latest balance sheet trends. Here’s what we have covered so far on the Apple earnings front:
Feb 2nd: Big picture takeaway, Apple’s 1Q24 numbers (vs. my expectations), 2Q24 guidance.
Feb 5th: Looking through 1Q24 numbers to examine Apple’s ecosystem growth.
Feb 6th: Analyzing Apple’s earnings call with analysts.
Today: Examining the 10-Q and balance sheet developments.
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Reading Between the Lines of Apple’s 1Q24 Earnings Q&A With Analysts
In today’s update, we will focus on Apple’s 1Q24 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 Neil’s response to the exchange. Let’s go beyond what was talked about on the call with the ninth installment of reading between the lines of Apple's earnings Q&A with analysts.
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, Seeking Alpha offers a written transcript here.
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Apple’s Installed Base Growth, Apple's Paid Subscriptions Growth, A More Effective Apple Growth Narrative for Wall Street
Last Friday’s update kicked off our Apple 1Q24 earnings review. When it comes to Apple’s financial story, trends are tracking close to Neil’s expectations. For today, we will take a closer look at one takeaway from earnings: Apple’s ecosystem growth.
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Initial Thoughts on Apple’s 1Q24 Results, Apple’s 1Q24: By the Numbers, Parsing Apple’s 2Q24 Guidance
Apple’s 1Q24 earnings call was jam-packed with information. Unlike the average earnings call from Big Tech, Apple’s calls contain useful commentary and tidbits. More time will be needed to go through the disclosures, including the installed base information.
For today, we will look at the big picture from earnings, how the reported figures compared to my estimates, and Apple’s 2Q24 guidance.
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My 1Q24 Apple Estimates, Expectations for 2Q24 Guidance, My Updated Apple Earnings Model
Apple reports FY1Q24 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 estimates related to Apple’s product categories. We then look at Neil’s expectations for what Apple will say about guidance (FY2Q24). 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.
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Preparing for Apple’s 1Q24 Earnings Release
Apple reports FY1Q24 earnings (results from October to December) on Thursday. Today's update will begin our preparation for Apple's earnings as we go over Neil’s broader thoughts heading into Apple’s earnings.
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Apple Unveils Plan for Digital Markets Act, The Spotify Boost Act, Apple Changes Game Streaming Policy
This is shaping up to be a busy week. Apple reports earnings on Thursday. We will begin preparing for earnings tomorrow (Tuesday). For today's update, we will focus on Apple's plan for the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The discussion includes why Neil thinks the DMA should be renamed the Spotify Boost Act. We conclude with a noteworthy change in how Apple will treat game streaming services in the App Store.
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Netflix 4Q23 Earnings, Netflix Buys Rights for WWE Raw, Spatial F1 Racing on Apple Vision Pro
Some weeks, the news flow comes together in such a way as to result in a fun conversation at the end of the week covering several related topics. We will do that in today’s update. The update will begin with Netflix earnings, turn to Netflix getting into live sports/entertainment, and then conclude with a closer look at an intriguing concept for live sports consumption on Vision Pro.
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Indie Apps on Vision Pro, A visionOS Developer Strike?, The Apple Developer Community
We kick things off with Neil’s thoughts on indie app development for Apple Vision Pro. The discussion then turns to why Neil disagree’s with Stratechery’s Ben Thompson’s theory regarding developers being on a Vision Pro / visionOS “strike.” The update concludes with a few broader observations about the Apple developer community, new computing platforms, and not getting caught in developer silos.
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Netflix and Spotify Snub Vision Pro, YouTube Dragging Feet With Vision Pro, Apple TV+ Was the Right Bet for Apple
When the Vision Pro launches on February 2nd, there will be approximately 250 apps with native support for visionOS - apps optimized for Vision Pro when it comes to design elements and other features made possible by visionOS). Considering how we are talking about a new platform with all-new design thinking, that number comes across as decent. The list includes some, but not all, of Apple’s apps, along with a variety of third-party apps.
A million iPhone and iPad apps will also be available unless the developer opts out. In recent days, attention has flowed to three opt outs – Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube. We will focus on those companies today. There will be more to say about visionOS apps tomorrow.
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More on My Apple Vision Pro Demo, Apple’s Vision Pro Sales Pitch
Last Thursday, we went over Neil’s initial thoughts following his second Vision Pro demo. For today, we will kick things off with more about what actually occurred during Neil’s demo. This provides a look at how Apple is positioning Vision Pro at launch. The discussion will then go deeper into the Apple Vision Pro sales pitch.
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Thoughts After Using Apple Vision Pro for a Second Time
Earlier today, I experienced a 40-minute demo of Apple Vision Pro. The demo was about 10 minutes longer than the one that occurred at WWDC 2023. Across the two demos, I’ve spent about 70 minutes using Apple Vision Pro.
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