☀️NETFLIX Wins the Q4 FAANG Race as YOUTUBE $ Drop ends tough week
PAR PICS COO departs / APPLE, AMAZON miss #s / Peltz targets the DIS Board seat that the wants in new campaign
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect here on LINKED IN if ya like) and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on FRIDAY February 3, 2023.
Where Wall Street was… slightly disappointed by Big Tech earnings day. In after hours trading yesterday (more in THE MEDIA BIZ section below of course):
APPL: -3%
AMZN: -5%
GOOG: -5%
Out of all the FAANG companies (err MAANG?) who’d a thought the N would be dominating the good news as we enter 2023?
Yes, FB / META had a huge stock bump - but “It’s not a disaster! 🥳” is nothing to post on your wall. APPLE & GOOGLE didn’t meet expectations, and AMAZON topped expectations but has some bigger issues going on (which their stock price reflected).
While yes still much smaller than the other 4, NETFLIX is the only one of the companies who beat expectations, had increased Revenue in Q4 this year, and saw a sizable stock bump as a result.
BIGGER PICTURE: If you’re looking for an indicator as to what Corporate America thinks of the current state of Stocks and the economy & if things kinda bottomed out… (with a potential ‘soft landing’/avoiding major recession ahead): Companies buying back their own stock hit a new record in January at $132 Billion, 3X that of last January. Granted, that’s not entirely what a stock buyback indicates, but take it fwiw.
ALSO: January added 2X as many jobs as expected so… yeah if you were hoping mortgage rates would eventually go down by end of year, probably not so much. But I guess it’s reassuring to see just how much bigger the rest of the jobs economy is in the US outside of the Tech industry?
PLUS: Roy Wood will emcee #nerdprom this year (aka the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April).
Friday Wakeup Box Office club: “Knock at the Cabin” has pretty wide tracking of $15 Mil to $20 Mil. “Old” did $17 Million in the Summer of 2021, so let’s use that as our demarcation point.
IN TODAY’S EDITION:
Reading the tea leaves & $$ breadcrumbs at AMAZON, APPLE, and YOUTUBE
New NETFLIX Ad-Tier estimates
WWE reports solid numbers as expected, as sale talks begin - a look at what kinds of suitors are they courting
Jordan Peele split with his longtime managers after missing out on Zach Cregger movie auction
Lotta TV renewal news as an FX project gets called off
Board changes at UTA, as Nelson Peltz targets the seat he wants on the DIS Board
COMCAST sells high with BUZZFEED investment
The weekend preview of new things to Stream and watch, and much more.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
