Author: Kuldip K. Ambastha

By Kuldip K. Ambastha

Alphabet Inc. (GOOG), the parent company of Google, was a star performer on Wednesday February 2, 2022 when its stock delivered a +7.4% return for the trading day. The company’s earnings and revenue figures for the latest reporting quarter exceeded expectations. Furthermore, the company also announced a 20-for-1 stock split which will, subject to shareholder approval, take effect after the close of business on Friday, July 15, 2022. Splitting 1 current share into 20 shares through a one-time special stock dividend payout may make the stock of Alphabet Inc. more affordable to retail investors and also could help Alphabet Inc. become a constituent of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). Stay tuned to see if shareholders will approve this stock split plan put forward by Alphabet Inc.

Keywords – Alphabet Inc., Alphabet, Google, GOOG, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Dow Jones, DJIA, technology, tech, earnings, revenue, stock split, dividend payout, shareholders, retail investors.

Disclosure – The principals and clients of Ambastha Financial LLC have no positions in GOOG.

Disclaimer – No recommendations are being made via this post. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. As an investor, you should do your own research and seek professional advice from a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA). You can lose money by investing in stocks and other instruments. Ambastha Financial LLC does not assume any responsibility (legal or otherwise) for any losses that may occur as a result of actions taken based on this post. All content copyrighted © 2022 – Ambastha Financial LLC.

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By Kuldip K. Ambastha

Kohl’s Corporation (KSS) is an American department store retail chain, founded by Maxwell Kohl in 1962. On Monday, January 24, 2022, the company’s stock delivered a +36.0% return for the trading day. Why? The stock was in the public eye and in play due to the company receiving takeover offers through various investment firms with a focus on shareholder activism. In an environment of stiff competition, Kohl’s Corporation has struggled but also has been taking positive steps to increase sales and profits. It remains to be seen if one of the takeover offers will be accepted or if Kohl’s Corporation will instead continue to independently pursue its own improvement strategies.

Keywords – Kohl’s Corporation, Kohl’s Corp., Kohl’s, KSS, Maxwell Kohl, Max Kohl, in play, takeover, investment, shareholder, activism, competition, sales, profits, profitability, improvement, strategies, strategy.

Disclosure – The principals and clients of Ambastha Financial LLC have no positions in KSS.

Disclaimer – No recommendations are being made via this post. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. As an investor, you should do your own research and seek professional advice from a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA). You can lose money by investing in stocks and other instruments. Ambastha Financial LLC does not assume any responsibility (legal or otherwise) for any losses that may occur as a result of actions taken based on this post. All content copyrighted © 2022 – Ambastha Financial LLC.

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By Kuldip K. Ambastha

In this past trading week, the technology-heavy NASDAQ Composite Index (^IXIC) posted negative daily returns on all four consecutive trading days. (Monday, January 17, 2022 was not a trading day, due to this day being Martin Luther King Jr. Day.) The NASDAQ Composite Index entered into correction territory, with a correction defined as being when an index ends up closing 10% or more below the last record closing level. Friday, November 19, 2021 was when the NASDAQ Composite Index was at the past record high closing level. On Wednesday, January 19, 2022, the NASDAQ Composite Index dropped into correction territory, and after that two more negative daily returns were seen to close out the trading week. At the moment, investors are expecting that interest rates in the USA and elsewhere will be increasing soon. Growth stocks generally and technology stocks particularly have been hit hard because of this expectation. Expect significant volatility going forward.

Keywords – NASDAQ Composite Index, NASDAQ Composite, NASDAQ, ^IXIC, IXIC, technology, tech, growth, correction, interest rates, volatility.

Disclosure – The principals and clients of Ambastha Financial LLC have no positions in ^IXIC, since it is not possible to directly invest into an index. Furthermore, the principals and clients of Ambastha Financial LLC have no positions in index replication products related to ^IXIC.

Disclaimer – No recommendations are being made via this post. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. As an investor, you should do your own research and seek professional advice from a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA). You can lose money by investing in stocks and other instruments. Ambastha Financial LLC does not assume any responsibility (legal or otherwise) for any losses that may occur as a result of actions taken based on this post. All content copyrighted © 2022 – Ambastha Financial LLC.

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By Kuldip K. Ambastha

On Monday, January 10, 2022, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (TTWO) shares dropped by -13.1% for the trading day, while Zynga Inc. (ZNGA) shares increased by +40.7% instead. Take-Two Interactive will be buying Zynga at a 64% premium, for $12.7 billion. Take-Two Interactive is well-known for the console-based Grand Theft Auto series of videogames, while Zynga is well-known for mobile gaming franchise titles such as Words With Friends. By acquiring Zynga, Take-Two Interactive may be making a proactive effort to enter into the mobile gaming sector. Also, Take-Two Interactive may be better able to enter into emerging market countries, using a free to play (F2P) model, after having acquired Zynga. Once the acquisition closes, Take-Two Interactive will have approximately 8,000 game developers on its payroll.

Zynga will be expected to operate as an autonomous label within Take-Two Interactive, and will continue to be led by CEO Frank Gibeau. Furthermore, Zynga will have two seats on Take-Two Interactive’s board, while Strauss Zelnick will continue to be the CEO of Take-Two Interactive. On Monday, January 10, 2022, the stock price of the acquirer (Take-Two Interactive) dropped, while the stock price of the acquiree (Zynga) increased. This may be implying that investors are skeptical of Take-Two Interactive’s potential acquisition activity, while at the same time Zynga being bought out at a premium means its stock price increased. Only time will tell if a combination of Take-Two Interactive and Zynga will ultimately reward long-term investors, but for now at the least this deal is the largest ever acquisition seen in the videogaming sector.

Keywords – Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., Take-Two Interactive Software, Take-Two Interactive, Take-Two, TTWO, Zynga Inc., Zynga, ZNGA, Grand Theft Auto, Words With Friends, videogaming.

Disclosure – The principals of Ambastha Financial LLC have a short option position in TTWO and no position in ZNGA. The clients of Ambastha Financial LLC have no positions in TTWO or ZNGA.

Disclaimer – No recommendations are being made via this post. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. As an investor, you should do your own research and seek professional advice from a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA). You can lose money by investing in stocks and other instruments. Ambastha Financial LLC does not assume any responsibility (legal or otherwise) for any losses that may occur as a result of actions taken based on this post. All content copyrighted © 2022 – Ambastha Financial LLC.

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By Kuldip K. Ambastha

Sea Limited (SE), a technology company based in Singapore with operations in digital entertainment, e-commerce, and digital financial services, was in the news during the past trading week. The stock of Sea Limited had four negative daily returns plus one positive daily return for the trading week, with a -11.4% loss on Tuesday, January 4, 2022 being the biggest loss. Tencent Holdings Limited (TCEHY), a prominent China-based technology conglomerate, has decided to sell a 2.6% partial ownership stake in Sea Limited to raise approximately $3.1 billion. Tencent would like to use the sales proceeds as part of its philanthropic efforts plus other endeavors. After the sale, Tencent’s ownership stake will fall to 18.7% and the full stake will be in non-voting Class A shares, instead of the previously owned voting Class B shares.

Tencent’s power within Sea Limited will be more constrained going forward, while Sea Limited’s executive leadership will be potentially empowered to pursue new ideas of interest to them. Furthermore, with this move Tencent may be starting to reduce its Asian holdings in favor of potential overseas growth plus new technology categories. Tencent’s actions may also be happening now due to new, tighter anti-monopoly rules and regulations recently announced within China. Even within the context of a technology sector famous for its inherent volatility over time from underlying companies, Sea Limited and Tencent Holdings Limited provided significant volatility to the technology sector in the past trading week.

Keywords – Sea Limited, Sea Ltd., Sea Ltd, Sea, SE, Tencent Holdings Limited, Tencent Holdings Ltd., Tencent Holdings Ltd, Tencent Holdings, Tencent, TCEHY, technology, tech, conglomerate, digital entertainment, e-commerce, digital financial services, Asian, Asia, Singapore, China.

Disclosure – The principals and clients of Ambastha Financial LLC have no positions in SE or TCEHY.

Disclaimer – No recommendations are being made via this post. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. As an investor, you should do your own research and seek professional advice from a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA). You can lose money by investing in stocks and other instruments. Ambastha Financial LLC does not assume any responsibility (legal or otherwise) for any losses that may occur as a result of actions taken based on this post. All content copyrighted © 2022 – Ambastha Financial LLC.

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By Kuldip K. Ambastha

• 

Novavax, Inc. (NVAX), a clinical-stage vaccine company, had four negative daily returns and one positive daily return for its shares during this past trading week per the table displayed here. Worldwide, the coronavirus pandemic continues to be a serious public health issue, especially through the Delta and Omicron COVID-19 variants. Novavax has been delayed in filing for emergency-use authorization (EUA) in key countries, due to development, manufacturing, and production issues. On the positive side, in this past trading week Novavax did obtain EUA approval from India.

In the recent past, Novavax had received EUA approval from the European Union (EU), while Novavax has instead struggled in obtaining EUA approval from the USA. Novavax had hoped to make a robust EUA approval request in the USA to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sometime at the end of 2021, but this did not happen. Novavax has now stated it will make the request in January 2022, and if the USA gives Novavax EUA approval this could be a positive catalyst for the stock. As with many stocks in the vaccine arena, Novavax’s daily returns for its shares are highly volatile and dependent on various approvals being received or not from relevant regulators around the globe.

Keywords – Novavax, Inc., Novavax, NVAX, clinical-stage, vaccine, COVID-19, coronavirus, pandemic, Delta, Omicron, variants, emergency-use authorization, EUA, India, European Union, EU, United States of America, United States, USA, Food and Drug Administration, FDA, catalyst, volatility, regulation, approval.

Disclosure – The principals and clients of Ambastha Financial LLC have no positions in NVAX.

Disclaimer – No recommendations are being made via this post. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. As an investor, you should do your own research and seek professional advice from a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA). You can lose money by investing in stocks and other instruments. Ambastha Financial LLC does not assume any responsibility (legal or otherwise) for any losses that may occur as a result of actions taken based on this post. All content copyrighted © 2022 – Ambastha Financial LLC.

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By Kuldip K. Ambastha

On Tuesday, December 21, 2021, the stock of Carnival Corporation & plc (CCL), a leisure travel company, delivered an +8.7% gain for the trading day. Investors cheered on the company’s plan to return to profitability, which includes an anticipated profit in the second half of 2022. The company expects that COVID-19’s Omicron variant will not pose serious public health complications to its various business lines, and potential customers are currently free to sign up for cruises at the moment (including on a new AIDAcosma cruise ship powered by liquefied natural gas, within the AIDA Cruises subsidiary – this is the second kind of cruise ship using liquefied natural gas in the Carnival offerings). Company management also will be introducing new restrictions (to be present through January 2022) within Carnival’s various holdings to keep customers safe, including a requirement to wear masks indoors and a ban on smoking in casinos. Lastly, alongside the manufacturing solutions provider Jabil Inc. (JBL), Carnival will be launching a new apparel line focused on consumer wearables within an Experience Internet of Things framework.

Keywords – Carnival Corporation & plc, Carnival Corporation, Carnival Corp., Carnival, CCL, Jabil Inc., Jabil, JBL, leisure travel, profitability, COVID-19, coronavirus, pandemic, Omicron variant, cruises, AIDAcosma, liquefied natural gas, AIDA Cruises, casinos, apparel, consumer wearables, Experience Internet of Things.

Disclosure – The principals and clients of Ambastha Financial LLC have no positions in CCL or JBL.

Disclaimer – No recommendations are being made via this post. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. As an investor, you should do your own research and seek professional advice from a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA). You can lose money by investing in stocks and other instruments. Ambastha Financial LLC does not assume any responsibility (legal or otherwise) for any losses that may occur as a result of actions taken based on this post. All content copyrighted © 2021 – Ambastha Financial LLC.

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By Kuldip K. Ambastha

The stock of Accenture plc (ACN), a multinational professional services company which is strong in information technology (IT) services and consulting, was up by +6.7% for the trading day of Thursday, December 16, 2021. Accenture delivered impressive quarterly results for the past quarter, with earnings and revenues both surpassing estimates by large amounts. Accenture has strong products and offerings in the cloud, digital, and security spheres. These products and offerings have seen extensive demand because of companies needing them to steer digital transformations in workplaces due to the coronavirus pandemic (including the relatively new Omicron variant). Accenture sees a bright future going forward, and Wall Street equity research analysts are bullish about this Fortune Global 500 company as well.

Keywords – Accenture plc, Accenture, ACN, Fortune Global 500, multinational, professional, services, consulting, information technology, IT, digital, products, offerings, cloud, security, companies, transformations, workplaces, COVID-19, coronavirus, pandemic, Omicron, variant, Wall Street, equity research, analysts.

Disclosure – The principals and clients of Ambastha Financial LLC have no positions in ACN.

Disclaimer – No recommendations are being made via this post. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. As an investor, you should do your own research and seek professional advice from a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA). You can lose money by investing in stocks and other instruments. Ambastha Financial LLC does not assume any responsibility (legal or otherwise) for any losses that may occur as a result of actions taken based on this post. All content copyrighted © 2021 – Ambastha Financial LLC.

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By Kuldip K. Ambastha

In the past trading week, BuzzFeed, Inc. (BZFD), an online / digital media, news, and entertainment company, went public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) of 890 5th Avenue Partners, Inc. (ENFA, ENFAU, ENFAW). Other media companies, especially in the digital media arena, have been watching BuzzFeed stock closely to see how investors are valuing the media sector. On Monday, December 6, 2021, the first day of trading, the opening price was $10.95 per share and the closing price was $8.56 per share, making for a change of -21.8% per share during the trading day. On Thursday, December 9, 2021, another big decline was seen, specifically -23.6% per share for the trading day. If BuzzFeed’s currently limited history of days of having its shares traded publicly is a valid precursor of what other media companies should expect in the future when going public, early indications do not look good.

Keywords – BuzzFeed, Inc., BuzzFeed, BZFD, 890 5th Avenue Partners, Inc., 890 5th Avenue Partners, 890 5th Avenue, 890 5th Ave, 890 5th, ENFA, ENFAU, ENFAW, special purpose acquisition company, SPAC, online, digital, media, news, entertainment.

Disclosure – The principals and clients of Ambastha Financial LLC have no positions in BZFD, ENFA, ENFAU, or ENFAW.

Disclaimer – No recommendations are being made via this post. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. As an investor, you should do your own research and seek professional advice from a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA). You can lose money by investing in stocks and other instruments. Ambastha Financial LLC does not assume any responsibility (legal or otherwise) for any losses that may occur as a result of actions taken based on this post. All content copyrighted © 2021 – Ambastha Financial LLC.

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By Kuldip K. Ambastha

The stock of Twitter, Inc. (TWTR), a microblogging and social networking technology (tech) platform, delivered negative returns for each day of this past trading week, as the table here shows. On Monday, November 29, 2021, Jack Dorsey announced that he would step down as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Twitter. [He will stay in the CEO position at Square, Inc. (SQ), soon to be rebranded as Block (SQ) to reflect its expansion from seller-focused commerce solutions into other areas including blockchain and cryptocurrency.] The Twitter announcement by Jack Dorsey was unexpected, and thus caught everyone by surprise. The Twitter CEO exit was effective immediately upon announcement, and likely was the main cause of the negative returns seen for the past trading week.

Parag Agrawal, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Twitter and a Ph.D. alumnus of Stanford University’s Computer Science program, will be taking over as CEO of Twitter. He is now the youngest CEO of a company included in the S&P 500 Index. Prominent tech sector advocate and investment manager Cathie Wood used the leadership transition news to buy approximately $49 million worth of shares in Twitter on behalf of her investment firm ARK Investment Management LLC’s various exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

On Tuesday, November 30, 2021, Twitter’s corporate blog mentioned a significant and controversial change related to the platform’s media sharing policy. Going forward, private individuals depicted in media content must give consent before users can share the relevant media items on Twitter. If this new policy is strictly enforced, Twitter will be dramatically different in the future. Will Cathie Wood’s contrarian confidence in Twitter be vindicated over time? Stay tuned.

Keywords – Twitter, Inc., Twitter, TWTR, Square, Inc., Square, Block, SQ, ARK Investment Management LLC, ARK Invest, ARK, Jack Dorsey, Parag Agrawal, Cathie Wood, technology, tech, S&P 500 Index, S&P 500.

Disclosure – The principals and clients of Ambastha Financial LLC have no positions in TWTR, SQ, or the ETFs of ARK Investment Management LLC.

Disclaimer – No recommendations are being made via this post. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. As an investor, you should do your own research and seek professional advice from a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA). You can lose money by investing in stocks and other instruments. Ambastha Financial LLC does not assume any responsibility (legal or otherwise) for any losses that may occur as a result of actions taken based on this post. All content copyrighted © 2021 – Ambastha Financial LLC.

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