The Information

Photo by Shutterstock.

Startups That Were Pandemic Darlings Look Overvalued as Stocks Drop

By Akash Pasricha · Mar 24, 2022 12:48pm PDT · 3 comments

Many of the stocks that benefited most from pandemic-driven bumps have since fallen to their pre-pandemic levels, even when their businesses remain much bigger than they were back then. Now, startups that privately raised money at sky-high valuations during the pandemic, piggybacking off the soaring valuations of public companies, could be due... Many of the stocks that benefited most from pandemic-driven bumps have since fallen to their...

Salesforce co-CEO Marc Benioff. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why Salesforce Trades Like Oracle—Investors Fear Benioff’s Next Big Deal

By Martin Peers · Mar 17, 2022 6:00am PDT · 5 comments

If you want an example of just how much more weight investors are placing on profits than on revenue growth, take a look at Salesforce and Oracle. On one side is Salesforce, whose top line has grown at a remarkably stable rate, averaging 26% over the past seven fiscal years. On the other is aging software giant Oracle, whose revenue averaged... If you want an example of just how much more weight investors are placing on profits than on...

Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud. Photo by AP.

Vimeo Is Looking Like a Prime Takeover Target

By Aidan Ryan · Feb 17, 2022 6:00am PST

Barry Diller’s IAC internet-media empire has a long track record of successful spin-offs, including companies such as travel booking site Expedia, ticket seller Ticketmaster, and dating app company Match. Vimeo, its latest, hasn’t exactly shared their fate. Since its May separation from IAC, the video software firm’s stock has... Barry Diller’s IAC internet-media empire has a long track record of successful spin-offs,...

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. Photo by Bloomberg.

Spotify’s Finances Show Why Music Streaming Is a Terrible Business

By Martin Peers · Feb 10, 2022 8:45am PST · 6 comments

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. Photo by Bloomberg.

Spotify’s Finances Show Why Music Streaming Is a Terrible Business

By Martin Peers · Feb 10, 2022 8:45am PST · 6 comments

Investors have slowly awakened to the realization that video streaming, as exemplified by Netflix, is a high-cost venture with lots of competition and no guarantee of a cash payoff. The economics of music streaming, though, are even worse. Just look at Spotify. It’s no secret that music companies take most of the money Spotify collects.... Investors have slowly awakened to the realization that video streaming, as exemplified by...

Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings.

Why Netflix Needs to Buy Another Streaming Service

By Martin Peers · Feb 2, 2022 6:00am PST · 4 comments

If Netflix’s warning of sharply slower subscriber growth tells us anything, it’s that Reed Hastings needs a new formula. The Netflix co-founder built the company into the leading video-streaming firm with a low-priced offering in a new market. But Netflix is now the priciest offering in an extremely crowded market. Without a change... If Netflix’s warning of sharply slower subscriber growth tells us anything, it’s that...

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan. Photo by Bloomberg.

Zoom, Palo Alto Networks, ServiceNow Stocks Deserve More Respect

By Martin Peers · Jan 27, 2022 9:03am PST · 1 comment

Talk about a descent to earth. Zoom Video, the rocket ship of the pandemic, has turned into a modern-day blimp in the stock sell-off of the past 12 months. Its stock has dropped 75% from the highs set in the fall of 2020 to Wednesday’s close of $140.33 as investors abandoned high-growth stocks. But Zoom has fallen too far. In a rising... Talk about a descent to earth. Zoom Video, the rocket ship of the pandemic, has turned into a...

Coinbase Stock Is Still Too Expensive, But That Won’t Last

By Martin Peers · Jan 13, 2022 6:00am PST · 5 comments

In the past two months, as bitcoin prices have fallen about 37%, Coinbase stock has followed suit. Predictably, Wall Street analysts are doubling down on buy recommendations. Most point to Coinbase’s valuation, as measured by the standard metric of its price compared to its annual sales, which is lower than that of stock exchange operators... In the past two months, as bitcoin prices have fallen about 37%, Coinbase stock has followed...

BigCommerce Isn’t a Shopify Clone—And What That Means For Its Stock

By Malique Morris · Dec 15, 2021 6:00am PST

BigCommerce Isn’t a Shopify Clone—And What That Means For Its Stock

By Malique Morris · Dec 15, 2021 6:00am PST

On the surface, you might think BigCommerce is getting smaller. The e-commerce software provider said it had 58,600 merchants using its services in the third quarter, down from 60,000 at the end of last year. That decline has undercut Wall Street’s belief that BigCommerce is the next Shopify: BigCommerce’s stock has dropped by half... On the surface, you might think BigCommerce is getting smaller. The e-commerce software provider...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at an Oculus Connect event in 2017. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Will Metaverse Be Worth in 2025? Our Guess Is $82 Billion

By Mathew Olson · Oct 26, 2021 6:01am PDT · 6 comments

Facebook is spending tens of billions of dollars in the next few years building the virtual immersive world dubbed the metaverse, CEO Mark Zuckerberg indicated on Monday night. But he also acknowledged that the metaverse won’t evolve into a money-making business until “later in this decade.” We decided to try to calculate the... Facebook is spending tens of billions of dollars in the next few years building the virtual...

Honest Co's co-founder Jessica Alba with Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman and Honest Co CEO Nick Vlahos the day Honest went public in May. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why Warby Parker and Allbirds May Struggle on the Public Market

By Malique Morris · Sep 29, 2021 6:01am PDT · 4 comments

Warby Parker’s stock market listing today, along with Allbirds’ initial public offering expected in the coming weeks, will add two high-profile consumer goods brands to a stock market that lately has shown little love for similar businesses. In the past two years, Casper and The Honest Co. have been pummeled on Wall Street, with... Warby Parker’s stock market listing today, along with Allbirds’ initial public...

Reese Witherspoon. Photo by Bloomberg

Just How Rich Was Hello Sunshine’s Sales Price? Five Times Public Media Stock Values

By Jessica Toonkel and Sahil Patel · Aug 5, 2021 11:53am PDT · 1 comment

Since a Blackstone-led group agreed to buy Hello Sunshine at a valuation of $900 million this week, there’s been lots of talk about the rich prices Hollywood studios are fetching amid a shortage of quality programming for streaming. Just how rich, though, has remained murky—until now. The Information has learned that Hello Sunshine,... Since a Blackstone-led group agreed to buy Hello Sunshine at a valuation of $900 million this...

DoorDash signs outside the New York Stock Exchange at the time of its IPO in December. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why DoorDash Stock Is Too Pricey and Uber Too Cheap

By Ross Matican · Feb 15, 2021 6:00am PST · 14 comments

DoorDash signs outside the New York Stock Exchange at the time of its IPO in December. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why DoorDash Stock Is Too Pricey and Uber Too Cheap

By Ross Matican · Feb 15, 2021 6:00am PST · 14 comments

Here’s a stock market puzzle. Since DoorDash went public in early December at a higher than expected value for the food-delivery service, Uber’s stock has risen 13%. Investors realize that the premium put on DoorDash implies that Uber’s food-delivery business, UberEats, is also now worth more. But if you value UberEats based on... Here’s a stock market puzzle. Since DoorDash went public in early December at a higher than...

Illustration by Mike Sullivan

Why Snowflake Stock Needs to Come Down to Earth

By Ross Matican · Jan 11, 2021 9:01am PST · 6 comments

Snowflake shares have floated a little closer to earth over the past month since the high-flying enterprise software stock hit a high of $390, valuing it at nearly as much as computing pioneer IBM. But even at their recent price of around $300, Snowflake shares are still trading at a valuation that can only be described as bubble-like. The stock... Snowflake shares have floated a little closer to earth over the past month since the high-flying...

Why Rally in Snap and Pinterest Stocks May Last

By Tom Dotan · Nov 3, 2020 10:20am PST

Snap and Pinterest posted stellar revenue growth for the third quarter, sending their stocks to record highs and putting their valuations well above those of social media peers Facebook and Twitter. Whether they can maintain those valuations, however, depends on whether their recent advertising gains are sustained. Media buyers and advertisers... Snap and Pinterest posted stellar revenue growth for the third quarter, sending their stocks to...

What Opening Day for Asana and Palantir Says About Private Tech Stock Values

By Ross Matican and Martin Peers · Oct 1, 2020 6:01am PDT · 2 comments

The secondary market for private tech stocks is becoming a better indicator of how the public market will value those stocks, Wall Street executives say. Wednesday’s public debuts of Asana and Palantir seemed to bear that out. The stocks of both companies, which went public via direct listings, opened at about the same level as their... The secondary market for private tech stocks is becoming a better indicator of how the public...

From left: Snowflake's Frank Slootman, Palantir's Alexander Karp and Asana's Dustin Moskovitz. Photos by Snowflake, Bloomberg and Julie Mikos.

Five New Software Stocks: Why Investors Love Some and Hate Others

By Ross Matican · Sep 15, 2020 6:02am PDT · 2 comments

From left: Snowflake's Frank Slootman, Palantir's Alexander Karp and Asana's Dustin Moskovitz. Photos by Snowflake, Bloomberg and Julie Mikos.

Five New Software Stocks: Why Investors Love Some and Hate Others

By Ross Matican · Sep 15, 2020 6:02am PDT · 2 comments

Five enterprise software companies are going public this month, cashing in on the sector’s enormous popularity with investors. But while investors love some of the companies, such as Snowflake, giving it a valuation of nearly 100 times’ last year’s revenue, they hate others. Sumo Logic, for instance, may get a valuation of just... Five enterprise software companies are going public this month, cashing in on the sector’s...

Airbnb’s headquarters in San Francisco. Photo: Airbnb

Why Airbnb’s IPO Should Clear $30 Billion

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 26, 2020 7:02am PDT

Nothing would better epitomize the stock market’s strange surge in 2020 than a blockbuster initial public offering from a travel company whose business was bludgeoned by the pandemic. But that is exactly what looks likely for Airbnb. The Silicon Valley darling is a good bet to secure at least a $30 billion valuation when it goes... Nothing would better epitomize the stock market’s strange surge in 2020 than a blockbuster...

ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming. Photo by Bloomberg

Microsoft’s Talks to Buy TikTok Follow Headwinds for Investor Plan

By Jessica E. Lessin and Ross Matican · Jul 31, 2020 1:06pm PDT · 4 comments

Microsoft is in serious talks to acquire TikTok, the hugely popular Chinese-owned video app, The Information has confirmed, after separate talks for a U.S. investor group to buy the app ran into headwinds on both political and business grounds.Senior ByteDance executives see Microsoft as more able to afford Tiktok, which could be worth $30... Microsoft is in serious talks to acquire TikTok, the hugely popular Chinese-owned video app, The...

Zoom Video CEO Eric Yuan. Photo by Bloomberg

Why Zoom Video’s Sky-High Stock Will Fall to Earth When Pandemic Ends

By Kevin Dugan and Martin Peers · Mar 27, 2020 1:54pm PDT · 6 comments

No matter how the pandemic ends, one thing is certain: Zoom Video has become a household name as people flock to it to connect with work colleagues, family and friends. That has helped send Zoom stock into the stratosphere—it is up 46% in the past five weeks even as the overall market has fallen 25%. But like the pandemic itself, this... No matter how the pandemic ends, one thing is certain: Zoom Video has become a household name as...

The ride-hailing firms' logos on a car. Photo by Shutterstock

Virus Lockdowns Pose Serious Threat to Lyft, Uber

By Amir Efrati · Mar 16, 2020 7:17pm PDT · 4 comments

The ride-hailing firms' logos on a car. Photo by Shutterstock

Virus Lockdowns Pose Serious Threat to Lyft, Uber

By Amir Efrati · Mar 16, 2020 7:17pm PDT · 4 comments

There’s little doubt that the coronavirus crisis will eventually subside. But it’s not as certain that the two major ride-hailing giants will survive the pandemic in their current form—particularly if it persists for more than a couple of months.Stock traders seem to think that Lyft, in particular, faces the biggest question... There’s little doubt that the coronavirus crisis will eventually subside. But it’s...