Snowflake CEO Frank Slutman arrives at the Allen & Company Sun Valley conference on July 6, 2021 in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Kevin Ditch Getty Images News Getty Images
Shares of Snowflake fell as much as 30% in extended trading on Wednesday after data analytics software showed the slowest revenue growth since at least 2019.
Here’s how the company did:
Profits: Loss of 43 cents, adjusted
income: $ 383.8 million, up from $ 372.6 million as analysts expect, according to Refinitiv.
Snowflake’s revenue grew 101% year-over-year in the quarter ended Jan. 31, according to a statement. In the previous quarter, growth reached 110%. The company reported a net loss of $ 132 million, down from nearly $ 199 million in the previous quarter.
Its adjusted gross margin of 70% was below the StreetAccount consensus of 70.9%, although it rose from 62% two years ago, thanks in part to discounts on third-party cloud infrastructure, which it relies on to provide its services to customers.
CEO Frank Slutman is working to expand the ranks of the business. At the end of the quarter, the number of employees was nearly 4,000, an increase of 60% in the last year.
Snowflake said it expects product revenue to grow from 79% to 81% in the first fiscal quarter. Analysts polled by StreetAccount forecast 78% growth in product revenue. In the fiscal fourth quarter, product revenues increased by 102%.
For fiscal 2023, management called for 65% to 67% growth in product revenue. Analysts expected an average growth of 66%, according to FactSet.
Also Wednesday, Snowflake said it was acquiring data on startup Streamlit. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Before the movement hours later, shares of Snowflake fell 21% since the beginning of 2022, while the S&P 500 fell about 8% over the same period.
Leaders will discuss the results with analysts during a conference call starting at 17:00 ET.
This is breaking news. Please check again for updates.
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The revelation came three days after The Washington Post and other news outlets published details of Ericsson’s internal investigation, which revealed evidence of widespread fraud by company employees, decisions to send workers to terrorist-controlled territory, and the use of contractors who may have been paid by Islamic State fighters.
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A report on the findings of an internal audit was received from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and shared with The Post as part of an international reporting project.
In a statement posted on its website, Ericsson said it had been informed by the Justice Department on Tuesday that its revelations to US investigators on Iraq were “insufficient” and that the company had “violated” the terms of its 2019 agreement. the US government.
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The consequences are related to the conclusions of an internal investigation that Ericsson completed in 2019, which found that the company was involved in “bribes and concessions” and other fraud for almost a decade while pursuing contracts in Iraq that generated revenue of nearly $ 2 billion.
The internal report, based on interviews with employees and a review of millions of emails and other documents, also revealed worrying details about Ericsson’s decision to send workers to areas occupied by Islamic State militants.
The company continued to do so even after an engineer was abducted in 2014, making excessive cash payments to a cargo company that bypassed customs officials by “passing through ISIS-controlled areas,” according to company investigators.
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In the end, investigators said it “cannot be ruled out” that Ericsson had contributed to the “illegal financing of terrorism”.
In a conference call with reporters and market analysts on Wednesday, Ericsson President and CEO Björre Ekholm reiterated the company’s claim that it had found no evidence of direct involvement of Ericsson employees in any payments to Islamic State.
“The issue of funding armed factions cannot be justified,” Ekholm said.
Ekholm described the findings of the internal investigation as “extremely inconvenient and extremely unsatisfactory”, but did not comment on what the company failed to share with the Ministry of Justice.
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Ministry of Justice officials declined to comment.
“We are cooperating fully with the US authorities,” Ekholm said. “Now we have a notification of a violation, so, of course, we need to make improvements and changes.”
He said the company has taken steps to step up enforcement efforts, improve investigative mechanisms and encourage employees to speak out when violations occur. But he declined to answer a question as to why the employees named in the internal report remained in the company or were promoted.
The Justice Department’s announcement marks the second time Ericsson has been found in breach of a deferred prosecution agreement that has recognized widespread fraud in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kuwait and Djibouti.
Ericsson is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of sophisticated radios, switches and other equipment used in cellular communication networks. The Swedish company is seen by Western governments as a crucial alternative to Huawei, a Chinese company whose devices have been banned by the United States and other countries on suspicion of being set up to allow Chinese espionage.
“Our monetary policy is adapting to the evolving economic environment,” Powell told the House Financial Services Committee. “We have stopped our net purchases of assets. With inflation well above 2% and a strong labor market, we expect it to be appropriate to raise the target range for federal interest rates at our meeting later this month. “
This is in line with previous Fed guidelines. At a policy meeting in January, Powell first hinted at a potential increase in interest rates in the spring.
“I am inclined to propose an increase in the interest rate by 25 basis points,” Powell said Wednesday in response to a question from spokesman Patrick McHenry.
Investors are also on board, and market expectations for a quarter-percent increase are over 90 percent, according to CME FedWatch.
Despite the Omicron variant that hit America at the end of the year, job growth remained intact as inflation continued to rise. In the year ended January, the personal consumption price index, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, rose at its fastest pace since 1982.
Powell – along with many economists – continues to expect inflation to fall in 2022.
“We understand that high inflation imposes significant difficulties, especially on those who are least able to cover the higher costs of basic things such as food, housing and transport. “We know that the best thing we can do to support a strong labor market is to encourage long-term expansion, and that is only possible in an environment of price stability,” Powell said.
The central bank has the task of keeping prices stable and employment as high as possible. Only half of this to-do list is currently available.
How Ukraine can affect the Fed
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is likely to leave its mark on inflation by rising energy prices. Oil futures rose above $ 110 a barrel amid the conflict.
The question to the central bank is how the situation in Ukraine changed the Fed’s plan for a series of interest rate increases, Powell said.
“The short-term effects on the US economy of the invasion of Ukraine, the ongoing war, sanctions and the upcoming events remain very uncertain,” Powell told lawmakers. “Given the current situation, we must act carefully.”
The significant devaluation of the Russian ruble in response to the invasion also underscored that Congress must come up with a regulatory framework to deal with cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, which can evade economic sanctions and serve as criminal behavior, Powell said.
Wednesday’s hearing marks Powell’s first appearance as professional chairman. His first term as president has ended, but the Senate has not yet voted to confirm him for a new four-year term.
In general, the stock market is heavy during the turbulent two weeks for humanity.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 600 points on Wednesday at the time of writing. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are approaching 2% gains. All three major indices are well off the lows affected by the close of trade on February 23, just hours before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Each member of FAANG [Facebook/Meta, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google/Alphabet] the cohort has increased in the last five trading days, as has luck, with a nearly 7% increase in Alphabet.
And believe us, there are many things that are trying hard to put the main stock indexes on their knees.
Oil prices reached $ 110 a barrel on Wednesday as the war between Russia and Ukraine intensified. Western company after Western company tells Russia to see you later in the light of its actions. One of the last names is the credit card giant American Express.
These actions by the West have led some Wall Street strategists to tell Yahoo Finance Live that the Russian economy is ready to plunge into a deep, protracted recession.
Meanwhile, leading investors in emerging markets such as Mark Mobius tell us that Russia may be non-investment for more than a year, and investing in other emerging markets such as China and Brazil is not without increased risk.
And as oil prices rise – and this could be considered a jump (leading to a potential super jump, as Goldman Sachs chief strategist Jeff Curry explained to us) – gas prices in America continue to rise, rise and rise more. The average price of gasoline in California is approaching $ 5 per gallon, the highest price in the country.
The additional gas inflation that will flow out of consumers’ pockets is real. This is money that can be spent at Macy’s for a new pair of jeans. This is extra money that will cost FedEx to send a package due to higher fuel costs. And what is FedEx likely to do about it? Raise prices even further on consumers’ broken wallets.
Despite many problems – which could naturally hit corporate profits in 2022 – the stock market is difficult. Why is that, you ask? I’m glad you asked.
Market professionals say investors are looking beyond the chaos in the headlines and remain focused on factors that tend to upset stock prices.
Higher interest rates than the Federal Reserve. Strange things, right?
“One of the reasons the stock market is doing so well is the belief that the Fed will not be as aggressive in its new tightening policy as some thought it would be before the Eastern European crisis erupted. So, if we get a little bit of positive reinforcement on this issue, the stock market could hold back (or even bounce back) for a while, “said Miller Tobacco’s chief market strategist Matt Mali.
Mail is on par here, judging by the positive reaction in stock prices to the new comment of Fed chief Jerome Powell in his testimony to lawmakers today.
“The bottom line is that we will continue, but we will continue to be careful as we learn more about the consequences of the war in Ukraine,” Powell told the House Financial Services Commission.
Fed’s Yahoo Finance correspondent Brian Chung said Powell said he supported raising short-term interest rates by 0.25 percent at the next policy meeting on March 15 and 16.
In early March, most market experts were preparing to raise interest rates by 50 at the March meeting, followed by another eight to 10 rate hikes at the end of the year. But Powell has officially reset the story, and investors like it.
So, here it is, people.
Inflation is going on indefinitely. Profit margins are under attack. Vladimir Putin is playing terror in front of the world. Still, there are markets focused on comments on raising interest rates from one of Powell’s most influential people in the financial industry.
No one said investing made sense. It doesn’t make sense now, and it hardly makes sense tomorrow. Be assured, however, that at some point markets will soon move beyond fears of rising interest rates and shift to geopolitical and macroeconomic risks.
When this happens, the aforementioned low levels of shares on February 23 may be in play. You have been warned.
Brian Sosie is the editor – in – chief and a leader in Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and so on LinkedIn.
Fanatics Founder / CEO Michael Rubin attends the Fanatics Super Bowl Party at the College Football Hall of Fame on February 2, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Mike Coppola Getty Images
Michael Rubin’s fanatics have raised $ 1.5 billion in a new round of funding, which the sports platform company estimates at $ 27 billion. The company was recently valued at $ 18 billion less than a year ago.
His latest round of funding includes new investors Fidelity, BlackRock and MSD Partners of Michael Dell, as well as existing investors. The investment was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. A source familiar with the deal confirmed the details to CNBC.
A Fanatics spokesman declined to comment.
Rubin, co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, started the Jacksonville, Florida-based company in 2011. That same year, he sold eBay’s e-commerce business for $ 2.4 billion, bought back parts of it and acquired Fanatics – which it was then a retail operation with two stores. Fanatics already has exclusive licensing deals with the NFL, NHL, NBA, Major League Baseball and numerous colleges and universities to manufacture and sell T-shirts, hats and tons of other official goods for the team.
Earlier this year, the company acquired Topps trading cards for $ 500 million. The trading card company Fanatics is valued at $ 10 billion after a round of $ 350 million in funding last September. Rubin called Topps an iconic brand in a statement announcing the move.
Fanatics is a two-time company for CNBC Disruptor 50. Sign up for our weekly original newsletter, which goes beyond the annual Disruptor 50 list, offering a closer look at private companies like Fanatics and founders like Rubin, who continue to innovate in every sector of the economy .
Russia’s oil and gas giants, listed on the London Stock Exchange, have seen their stock plummet after Putin invaded Ukraine last week.
Since last Thursday, when Russia invaded Ukraine, shares of Rosneft, Gazprom, Lukoil and Surgutneftegaz have collapsed in the London market, losing up to $ 190 billion of their total market capitalization, or 95 percent, according to estimates by Saxo Group and Bloomberg. shared by Saxo Bank Commodity Strategy Manager Ole Hansen.
Companies could also see the collapse of their market capitalization in Moscow if the Moscow Stock Exchange was opened. However, after SWIFT sanctions imposed on Russian banks over the weekend, the Russian ruble collapsed on Monday, ordinary Russians lined up in front of banks and ATMs to withdraw cash, the central bank doubled the key interest rate to 20 percent to avoid a complete collapse of the economy, and the Moscow Stock Exchange said it would not open at all this week.
Russia’s oil and gas reserves in London were also shattered by an avalanche of reports from international major companies that cut ties with Russian oil and gas companies, withdrew from projects and halted investment in Russia.
BP said this weekend that it would abandon its 20 percent stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft and likely receive $ 25 billion from the move. BP is also reported to have canceled all its fuel oil loads from a Russian Black Sea port due to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier this week.
Shell said it intends to leave its joint ventures with Gazprom and related parties, including its participation in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. ExxonMobil, the operator of the Sakhalin-1 project, is beginning the process of terminating operations and developing steps to exit the Sakhalin-1 plant, the US superintendent said on Wednesday. Equinor of Norway has also decided to start the process of leaving its Russian joint ventures.
US stocks jumped, while oil prices also jumped as investors watched updates from Ukraine and analyzed evidence of the Federal Reserve’s plans to raise interest rates.
The S&P 500 rose 1.9 percent on Wednesday, a day after the base index fell 1.6 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 579 points, or 1.7 percent, and the technology-focused Nasdaq Composite Index added 1.7 percent. Progress has been wide-ranging, with all 11 of the S&P 500 sector up 9, more than 1%.
Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine and soaring oil prices, investors have focused on interest rates. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, who appeared before the House Financial Services Committee, said he would propose a four-percent increase in interest rates at a central bank meeting in two weeks. This eased Wall Street fears that the central bank would raise interest rates by half a percentage point.
Yields on benchmark 10-year treasury bonds rose to 1.865% from 1.708% on Tuesday. Bond yields and prices are moving in opposite directions.
Shares have been volatile in recent days as investors have followed an escalation of Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as domestic news on the economy and inflation.
Investors are reacting to rapidly evolving events on the battlefield, a barrage of Western sanctions against Moscow and large companies that are severing ties with Russia. Rising energy prices have added to the uncertainty over the likely path of US interest rates this year.
If S&P keeps its profit, it will mark its sixth move of more than 1% – in both directions – in the last seven sessions, said Frank Capelleri, CEO of the brokerage company Instinet. These moves are a reflection of a fragile market, he said.
“We haven’t seen big moves like the one in two years,” he said, referring to the first days of the pandemic.
Following the Russian invasion, major US indexes were relatively stable, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rising 1.9%. However, rising oil prices threaten to unleash more volatility in the markets, and stocks are still in general decline since last year, said Mr Capelleri.
Moreover, some of the current market trends, such as oil driving other assets or rising interest rates, have not been observed for years or decades, he noted. “Very few investors have survived an environment with rising interest rates,” he said.
Rising oil prices are a headache for central banks, which have been dealing with the fastest inflation rates in decades.
Energy markets continued their rapid development on Wednesday. Crude oil prices in the United States rose above $ 110 a barrel for the first time since 2014, as refineries refused to buy Russian oil, taking a bite out of global energy supplies. US crude traded at $ 112.10 and recently rose 7.4% to $ 111.09.
Conflicts such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine have historically led to lower stock prices and increased the value of some commodities. WSJ’s Dion Rabuin explains the psychology of investors that drives markets. Photo: Justin Lane / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
“The impact effects [across markets] are highly dependent on how high oil prices are, ”said Craig Erlam, a senior market analyst at Oanda. “If oil prices start to reach $ 120, we will start seeing a lot more talk about the global economic consequences of these sanctions.
The energy sector performed best in the session. Exxon Mobil rose 2.5 percent, Chevron rose 3.4 percent and ConocoPhillips rose 2.6 percent. Overseas, BP PLC rose 4.8% and TotalEnergies rose 8.2%.
Energy companies will benefit from higher energy prices, even when working to break away from Russia. Exxon said this week that it would suspend operations on a multibillion-dollar oil and gas project in Russia and make no more investments in the country. BP said on Sunday it would leave its nearly 20% stake in government-controlled Russian oil producer Rosneft.
The financial sector was the second best sector of the day, growing nearly 3% and wiping out about half of its losses earlier in the week. Berkshire Hathaway rose 2.6 percent, JPMorgan won 2.2 percent, Bank of America rose 1.9 percent and Wells Fargo rose 4.5 percent.
Among other corporate names, Nordstrom’s shares jumped 38% after the retailer forecast higher-than-expected earnings this year. Hewlett Packard Enterprise raised its earnings forecast for the year by raising shares by 11%.
In Europe, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 grew by 1.2%. In Russia, trading in stocks and derivatives closed for a third day this week. The Russian ruble fell 0.7% against the dollar to 111.25 per US dollar, from 83 on Friday.
Prices have jumped into other pockets in the energy market tied to Russia. Natural gas prices in Europe jumped 37%. So far, there has been a minimal disruption to Ukraine’s pipeline system, through which about a third of Russian gas exports to Europe pass, analysts say.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its Russian-led allies agreed on Wednesday to increase their total production by another 400,000 barrels a day in April, as agreed last year. This came after the United States and other major oil-consuming countries said they would release 60 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves.
The International Energy Agency said it wanted to send a “united and strong message to global oil markets that there will be no supply shortages as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
Traders have rejected expectations about the number of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes this year.
photo:
Michael Nagle / Zuma Press
In the cryptocurrency market, bitcoin is trading at about $ 43,662, according to CoinDesk, a drop of 0.3%. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sparked demand for cryptocurrencies in both countries, which has helped raise the price of bitcoin.
Shares in Asia have largely fallen. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.7 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended down 1.8 percent. South Korean Kopsi, by contrast, added 0.2%.
People shop at the newly opened Amazon Books on May 25, 2017 in New York.
Getty Images
Amazon is closing all of its physical bookstores at Amazon Books, as well as its 4-star Amazon and Amazon Pop Up stores, which sell a variety of electronics and other hot items.
The closure affected 68 stores in the United States and the United Kingdom, Amazon said. Closing dates will vary by location, and Amazon will help affected employees find roles elsewhere in the company. Workers who choose not to stay with the company will receive compensation, Amazon said.
The news of the store closures was first reported by Reuters.
Amazon has gradually launched a range of standard concepts, from supermarkets to retail stores offering Amazon-branded electronics such as Fire tablets and Echo smart speakers. In particular, the 4-star stores tried to connect Amazon’s in-store and offline operations by presenting the best-selling products in their web store.
But Amazon’s physical store department has lagged far behind in its overall retail business in recent years. Physical stores, which include Whole Foods and Fresh stores, recorded lower sales in 2021 than in 2018.
Amazon is cutting back on its physical footprint after its slowest quarterly growth since 2001. Amazon shares have fallen more than 8% so far this year, with Big Tech performing the worst. the band last year.
An Amazon spokesman said the company “remains committed” to building long-term physical concepts and retail technologies. They said Amazon continues to open new stores and retail formats, citing Amazon’s recently launched Style stores, the company’s first foray into physical clothing stores. The company also said it would continue to focus on its Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go convenience stores and Just Walk Out cashless technology.
Amazon has introduced other experimental retail technologies such as Amazon One, which allows consumers to scan the palm of their hand to pay for items, and Dash Carts, a shopping cart full of sensors that allows shoppers to check without a cashier. .
Amazon’s physical stores department is currently controlled by Dilip Kumar, a former “shadow” of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
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