Google pushes back office return to January as Covid cases surge August 31, 2021 Google has pushed back on plans for a full return to the workplace and extended its voluntary return-to-office policy through to January next year, amid concerns over rising Covid cases in some locations around the world. “Beyond January 10, we will enable countries and locations to make determinations on when to end voluntary work-from-home based [...]
SoftBank ramps up exits to fund prolific Vision Fund dealmaking August 18, 2021 The Japanese investment giant sold around $14bn worth of listed stocks last quarter, marking a change in its exit-hesitant strategy in order to fund its Vision Fund’s accelerating investments in tech startups. SoftBank sold an estimated $14bn worth of listed stocks in the last quarter – almost triple that of the previous period, according to [...]
Google owner Alphabet smashes earnings estimates on digital advertising boom July 27, 2021 Google parent company Alphabet sprinted past revenue expectations for the second quarter, as the pandemic-induced surge in online shopping powered companies’ digital advertising spend. The tech giant posted revenue of $61.88bn in the three months to 30 June, up 62 per cent from the same period last year, and miles in front of Wall Street estimates [...]
OECD: Ireland snubs global tax deal July 2, 2021 Ireland refused to sign a major agreement to overhaul the global corporation tax regime on Thursday. 130 countries and jurisdictions agreed to the deal brokered by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which paves the way for sweeping international changes. The new regime will see a global tax for 100 of the world’s largest [...]
Saturday Read: Investors are fleeing Myanmar as coup grows more deadly March 6, 2021 The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, the Norwegian central bank, has put Japanese Kirin Holdings on a watch list for possible exclusion due to its ties to Myanmar’s military, in light of the recent coup and ongoing unrest in the country. The Japanese beverage group Kirin has a partnership and $1.7bn controlling stake in Myanmar [...]
Google owner Alphabet beats revenue estimates as cloud losses grow February 2, 2021 Google parent company Alphabet beat revenue expectations for the fourth quarter, but revealed hefty losses in its cloud computing division. The tech giant posted revenue of $56.9bn (£41.7bn) in the final three months of the year, up from $46bn in the same period last year. Alphabet said the figures were driven by strong performance from [...]
Amazon earnings: What to expect amid a record-breaking tech boom February 1, 2021 Amazon enjoyed a stellar 2020, so all eyes will be on the ecommerce giant tomorrow night as it reports earnings for the final quarter of the year. Apple last week kicked off tech earnings season with bumper revenue of $111.4 (£81.5bn) — its best ever quarter, while Facebook also beat expectations. Amazon is also expected [...]
It’s game over for Alphabet’s Loon balloon broadband adventure January 22, 2021 Alphabet, the parent company of Google, said last night it will shut down its high-altitude broadband connectivity venture Loon. The announcement is at odds with its recent successful endeavours. Loon raised $125m from a SoftBank unit in 2019, and in April 2020 it launched the first balloons to provide commercial connectivity service to Kenyans following [...]
Alphabet earnings: Five key takeaways as Covid-19 hits Google April 29, 2020 Shares in Google parent company Alphabet were up almost eight per cent in after-hours trading last night after the tech giant reported its first-quarter earnings. The closely-watched report was the first in a string of major US tech results set to be published this week, and give a key indication of how the coronavirus crisis [...]
Google it: Alphabet hits $1 trillion landmark amid ad growth optimism January 17, 2020 Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has hit a landmark stock market valuation of $1 trillion (£760bn) for the first time. The company’s shares rose by 0.76 per cent yesterday, enough to make it the fourth US-listed company to hit the milestone. Shares ended the day valued at $1,450.16. Alphabet hit the valuation 22 years [...]