Long-read: Has the twit hit the fan? TECH BATTLE THE HOT topic in tech over the past week or so has been Elon Musk’s hostile $43bn bid for Twitter, which set off a firestorm of, well, tweets.Some claimed Elon Musk was riding to the rescue of free speech, others that his success would mark another step towards the breakdown of democracy. In all this [...]
The Analyst: A Silicon Valley report card LONG READ Ian Whittaker has been a City analyst for more than two decades, and what he doesn’t know about media, advertising and the creative services industry isn’t worth knowing. Here’s his monthly column for City A.M. THE YEAR is going quickly. From an analyst perspective, a lot of that has to do with the fact that [...]
Could tech stocks lose their shine in 2022? US tech If you wanted to put money in the stock market over the past five years, then a sure-fire bet has been to invest in US tech stocks, which have significantly outperformed the wider markets. That divergence in performance has been particularly noticeable since the start of the pandemic, as the crisis spurred new ways of [...]
The Analyst: Disney becomes the mouse that squeaked November 17, 2021 Ian Whittaker has been a City analyst for more than two decades, and what he doesn’t know about media, advertising and the creative services industry isn’t worth knowing. Here’s his latest monthly column for City A.M. Disney’s shares fell over 7 per cent the day after it published poorly received full year results (Disney’s financial [...]
The Analyst: Pearsona non grata after third quarter update October 30, 2021 Ian Whittaker has been a City analyst for more than two decades, and what he doesn’t know about media, advertising and the creative services industry isn’t worth knowing. Here’s the next instalment of his monthly column for City A.M. Pearson’s shares fell nearly 15 per cent after its third quarter trading update. While the headline [...]
The Analyst: Inflation is coming, and advertisers too September 6, 2021 Ian Whittaker has been a City analyst for more than two decades, and what he doesn’t know about media, advertising and the creative services industry isn’t worth knowing. Here’s his third monthly column for City A.M. Inflation is coming for you. Companies such as P&G, Unilever, Kelloggs and Nestle have highlighted the rising cost of [...]
The Analyst: Is Netflix going to be able to swim up-stream? August 7, 2021 In the middle of another summer results season, the outlook for many media and tech companies – like many other sectors – is generally positive. But bucking that trend is behemoth Netflix, where net subscriber additions – the bread and butter of the business, after all – missed analyst expectations by around a quarter of [...]
The Analyst: What could the future hold for Channel 4? July 10, 2021 Ian Whittaker has been a City analyst for more than two decades, and what he doesn’t know about media, advertising and the creative services industry isn’t worth knowing. Here’s his second monthly column for City A.M. The UK Government recently announced a consultation on the future of state-owned Channel 4. Theoretically all options remain but [...]
The Analyst: Ian Whittaker on the future of media June 15, 2021 Ian Whittaker has been a City analyst for more than two decades, and what he doesn’t know about media, advertising and the creative services industry isn’t worth knowing. Here’s his first monthly column for City A.M. After twenty years covering media, technology, and everything else in between, it’s always tempting to look back and marvel [...]
Analysis: Extending superdeduction to creative industries would make a difference May 9, 2021 One of the most eye-catching measures in Rishi Sunak’s latest Budget was the introduction of the “super deduction” regime which will allow businesses to offset 130% of investment spending on plant and machinery against profits for the next two years. So, spend £10m on new equipment and firms reduce taxable income by £13m. This is [...]
