Streaming wars, tech sector rebound: Asking for a Trend
On today's episode of Asking for a Trend, Host Josh Lipton breaks down some of the top trends and takeaways from the trading week. Streaming giants Disney (DIS) and Paramount (PARA, PARAA) both reported earnings this week. Disney reported an earnings beat on both the top and bottom lines for its fiscal third quarter, revealing its streaming segment was profitable for the first time. Paramount Global reported mixed results for its second quarter, with adjusted earnings beating estimates, but revenue falling short of expectations. Morningstar Senior Equity Analyst Matthew Dolgin explains, "All these companies other than Netflix (NFLX) are continuing to make progress, but they are just not there, not mature." He adds, "the difference with them and Netflix, a decade or less ago, is that they have these other legacy businesses that they're managing. And so they're not getting the pass from Wall Street as streaming continues to grow and is not yet a mature or good business necessarily. They're seeing their other business decline, so they need that to turn." Despite a volatile week on Wall Street, investors still seem to love tech. Semiconductor stocks closed largely in the green, despite Nvidia (NVDA) falling 2.3%. Meanwhile, bond yields are bouncing back after coming under pressure last week. Jared Blikre breaks down his biggest takeaways from the trading week. The phrase "bad news is good news" for stocks used to be true, but now good economic news is good news for stocks. Josh Schafer breaks down a chart from Piper Sandler's Michael Kantrowitz taking a look at the impact of economic news on stocks ahead of big economic news out next week, including the CPI report and retail sales. Anduril Industries, a defense tech start-up, raised $1.5 billion, making the company valued at $14 billion, co-led by Founders Fund, which is Peter Thiel's venture capital firm, and Sands Capital. Anduril now joins a small, elite group of high-valued defense companies like Lockheed Martin (LMT). The company's goal is "to manufacture and produce tens of thousands of autonomous weapons systems addressing the urgent needs of the United States and our allies," according to a company press release. Venrock Partner Nick Beim explains, "I think there's a boom in the global defense industry generally. We've got wars in Europe and the Middle East. China has adopted a very aggressive military posture toward Taiwan and is trying to leapfrog US military capabilities by investing in tech. And so broadly, the defense industry is booming." This post was written by Melanie Riehl
