Scott Kessler

Global Sector Lead, TMT (Tech, Media & Telecom) at @teamthirdbridge. Previously with @SPGlobal and @cfraresearch. Graduated from @BrandeisU and @WashULaw.

[CNBC @CNBC]

Microsoft plans September cybersecurity event to discuss changes after CrowdStrike outage https://t.co/9A3RR1rhcT

[Scott Kessler @scottkessler]

@callieabost @RitholtzWealth Congratulations Callie!

[Lauren Thomas @laurenthomas]

SCOOP: IBM is nearing an acquisition of cloud-software provider HashiCorp. The deal could come together in the coming days. $IBM $HCP

https://t.co/VsR9EO3Ch2 via @WSJ

[Ed Ludlow @EdLudlow]

BREAKING: Informatica says it is NOT engaged in acquisition talks. Bloomberg had reported talks with $CRM had cooled due to disagreement over price via @Katie_Roof

[Katie Roof @Katie_Roof]

Sources say Salesforce and Informatica have held talks but a deal is not yet done. Still possible and could happen within the next week or so if the two parties reach an agreement https://t.co/ZFEZvcuWqq

[Lauren Thomas @laurenthomas]

Big Friday night scoop with @LCooperReports and @danacimilluca: Salesforce is in advanced talks to acquire data-management software provider Informatica. $INFA $CRM

https://t.co/JfCzPY9oUT via @WSJ

[Satya Nadella @satyanadella]

Welcome to Microsoft, @mustafasuleyman. Thrilled to have you lead Microsoft AI as we build consumer AI, like Copilot, that is loved by and benefits people around the world.

[Bloomberg Technology @technology]

Apple in talks to build Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence engine into the iPhone, setting the stage for a blockbuster agreement that would shake up the AI industry https://t.co/DQP6b2uxPb

[Sarah Friar @thefriley]

Our Q4 results demonstrate renewed strength across all key metrics. With over 88M neighbors on @Nextdoor, I feel the time is now right to put the company back in the hands of Nextdoor's co-founder, @niravtolia. I am proud of my time at Nextdoor and will always be a neighbor. 💚

[Scott Kessler @scottkessler]

@LaMonicaBuzz @barronsonline Congratulations Paul!

[IDC @IDC]

Global smartphone shipments declined 3.2% year over year to 1.17 billion units in 2023 while Apple moved ahead of Samsung into the number 1 market position, according to new data from IDC. https://t.co/KsEpjHDvGS

[Scott Kessler @scottkessler]

As anticipated, @Synopsys announces plans to acquire @ANSYS. The proposed transaction implies an enterprise value for Ansys of $35 billion. $SNPS $ANSS

https://t.co/wNyYTYiaQb

[Axios @axios]

SCOOP: Uber has decided to shutter Drizly, an alcohol delivery service it bought three years ago for $1.1 billion.

https://t.co/KJJtpKNcLi

[Aswath Damodaran @AswathDamodaran]

I will be teaching my valuation and corporate finance classes at NYU's Stern School of Business in the spring, and as always, you are welcome to join. You can virtually take the class, access the material and even take the exams. https://t.co/mlfsK9tKuy

[Reuters Tech News @ReutersTech]

Exclusive: Synopsys seeks to acquire engineering software company Ansys-sources https://t.co/S4IealvIox

[Alex Heath @alexeheath]

Every year, Evan Spiegel sends employees a letter about the company’s big-picture strategy. This year's letter gives a sobering view of how Snap's own goals keep shrinking. ($500 million of free cash flow next year vs. $1+ billion it hoped for this year)

Here are Snap's internal "stretch" goals for 2024, per a copy of the letter I obtained:

Grow Community and Engagement

- 475+ Million Daily Active Users in Q4 '24

- Grow Content Viewers to 80% of DAU

- Grow Content View Time per Viewer +15% in the US and Globally

Grow Revenue and Earnings

- +20% YoY Full Year Ads Revenue Growth

- 14 Million Snapchat+ Subscribers by EoY and $500 million in non-Ads Revenue

- $500 million of Adj. EBITDA and Positive Free Cash Flow

Lead in Augmented Reality

- Grow Lens Unique Users to 75% of DAU

- Grow Lens Actions (Save, Post, Send, or Play >6s) +10% per User

- Leverage Generative AI to Transform Lenses and Content Creation

“Anywhere else, it would be tempting to give up and simply settle for incrementalism,” per Spiegel. “Not at Snap.”

But can he turn things around? More here in this week's newsletter: https://t.co/mSKjV7iCpm

[FTC @FTC]

FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power: https://t.co/WgMrHiN6VC /1

[Anthropic @AnthropicAI]

Today, we’re announcing that @Amazon will invest up to $4 billion in Anthropic. The agreement is part of a broader collaboration to develop reliable and high-performing foundation models.

[Reuters @Reuters]

Exclusive: Business software company Alteryx explores sale -sources https://t.co/vxahAD7wwD

[Brad Smith @BradSmi]

Today we submitted a restructured proposal to the CMA for approval of our Activision Blizzard acquisition under UK law. This new proposal also honors our prior commercial and regulatory commitments. Read more here: https://t.co/t0UBcouTP9