Meta Impresses

April 28, 2023

Good Morning,

Meta, Facebook and Instagram's parent firm has reported a profit of US$5.7bn for the first quarter of this year, with the share price gaining +14.4%, An Aboriginal senator has been called out after claiming the Waitangi Tribunal had veto powers over the New Zealand Government and Microsoft's president Brad Smith said the UK regulator's decision to prevent its acquisition of 'Call of Duty' maker Activision Blizzard "had shaken confidence" in Britain as a destination for tech businesses.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

  • Asian stocks ended Thursday's session mostly higher, as a string of strong tech earnings offset lingering concerns about the U.S. banking sector (RTT)

  • Britain's FTSE 100 index closed lower for a fourth straight session on Thursday, weighed down by commodity-linked stocks although gains in banking shares following Barclays' upbeat results limited the decline (RT)

  • European shares ended higher on Thursday supported by positive earnings, especially reports from Deutsche Bank and Barclays that eased concerns about the banking sector's health, while Denmark's SimCorp surged on a deal with Deutsche Boerse (RT)

  • The tech-heavy Nasdaq led a Wall Street rally on Thursday as a strong update from Facebook parent Meta Platforms outweighed concerns over slowing U.S. economic growth (RT)

Earnings and Data

  • Rents are set to increase this year as landlords respond to a surge in demand and rising costs, economist Tony Alexander says. His latest survey of landlords, which was conducted with property management company Crockers, showed a record 82.2% planned to raise their rents over the next year, up from 82% in March (Stuff)

  • Contracts to buy U.S. previously owned homes tumbled unexpectedly in March to snap a three-month rebound, raising a caution flag about what had appeared to be a nascent recovery in a housing market that has been clobbered by rising interest rates (RT)

  • First Republic Bank's (FRC.N) shares rose 10% on Thursday morning, rebounding from a steep sell-off that wiped out nearly 60% of the bank's market capitalization this week (RT)

  • Meta, Facebook and Instagram's parent firm, has reported a profit of $5.7bn (£4.6bn) for the first quarter of this year, surpassing expectations for a period in which many jobs were cut (BBC)

News Summary

  • An Aboriginal senator has been called out after claiming the Waitangi Tribunal had veto powers over the New Zealand Government (Stuff)

  • A former student has failed in his bid to claim $10.5 million in compensation from a Christchurch polytech over its Covid-19 vaccine policy (Stuff)

  • Farmer-owned cooperatives Ravensdown and Ballance have reduced fertiliser prices, with some products down as much as $200 per tonne (Stuff)

  • The Treasury estimates the repair bill from Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland floods that preceded it in January will add up to between $9 billion and $14.5b (Stuff)

  • Sydney fashion designer Katie Taylor (née Perry) has won a David v Goliath legal battle against US pop star Katy Perry after suing the Grammy Award-winning artist for infringing the trademark of her eponymous clothing label (AFR)

  • Chris Ellison’s Mineral Resources is taking legal action against one of the owners of a cattle station at odds with the company over plans for a steady stream of autonomous jumbo road trains to cart iron ore through her property (AFR)

  • Qantas will be able to maintain strong profits in the domestic market because Virgin Australia’s private equity owners will not allow fare-cutting to get out of hand ahead of its planned share market listing, the airline’s largest institutional investor says (AFR)

  • Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman in international waters on Thursday, the U.S. Navy said, the latest in a series of seizures or attacks on commercial vessels in sensitive Gulf waters since 2019 (RT)

  • Singapore raised levies on private property purchases in a surprise move late on Wednesday night to cool the market, including a doubling of stamp duties for foreigners to an eye-watering 60% (RT)

  • First Republic Bank's (FRC.N) strategic options are "very challenging" because any potential sale is unlikely without the lender taking big writedowns on its mortgage loan book and securities portfolio, analysts at Fitch Ratings said on Tuesday (RT)

  • ASML, Europe’s Most Valuable Tech Firm, Is at the Heart of the US-China Chip War (BBG)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

  • The $1.6 billion takeover of digital donation service Pushpay looks to have finally made it over the line after shareholders voted in favour of a higher offer (Stuff)

  • The NSW government has picked a consortium including Endeavour Energy and Lendlease’s Cappella Capital as its preferred bidder for the first Renewable Energy Zone in Central-West Orana in a tender tipped to be worth more than $5 billion (AFR)

  • Fortescue Metals Group is set to acquire the country’s largest sheep property, Western Australia’s Rawlinna Station, from the MacLachlan family’s Jumbuck Pastoral and consider using it for renewable energy generation (AFR)

  • Marcus Blackmore put his 18 per cent stake of vitamins business Blackmores behind Japanese suitor Kirin’s $95-a-share bid on Thursday morning, but fund managers who pored through the 23-page substantial notice reckon he’s left the door open for a competing bidder to walk in (AFR)

  • Microsoft's (MSFT.O) president Brad Smith said the UK regulator's decision to prevent its acquisition of 'Call of Duty' maker Activision Blizzard "had shaken confidence" in Britain as a destination for tech businesses (RT)

  • India's Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GOCP.NS) said on Thursday it is acquiring the consumer goods business of Raymond Consumer Care Ltd for $345 million, bolstering its portfolio of brands in the country's fast-growing retail market (RT)

  • Stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse on Thursday announced a 3.9 billion euro ($4.31 billion) takeover offer for Danish investment management software company SimCorp SA, as it looks to diversify its business (RT)

  • Teck Resources Ltd withdrew its plan to split in two on Wednesday, a surprise development just ahead of a key shareholder vote, as the miner sought to fend off a $22.5 billion takeover attempt from Glencore Plc (RT)

  • Binance has called off its $1.3 billion deal to buy assets of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital, citing a "hostile and uncertain regulatory climate (RT)

  • New England’s biggest bank, Citizens Financial Group Inc., is determined to go it alone as long as the regulatory burden on big regional lenders remains tolerable, the company’s chief said (BBG)

VC & Fundraising

  • Sydney start-up Eucalyptus seems to have hit on to a winner with its weight-loss brand Juniper, with venture capital investors loosening their purse strings to fork out $50 million at a $560 million post-money valuation (AFR)

Equity Raises

  • Sinochem Holdings Corp. is exploring ways to salvage a planned Shanghai listing of its unit Syngenta Group, including a smaller initial public offering for the agrochemical giant, people with knowledge of the matter said (BBG)

Daily Picks

  • National said it would re-introduce no-cause terminations if elected later this year, as well as provisions which see fixed-term tenancies roll into periodic tenancies in most cases (Stuff)

Job Board

New Zealand

  • ASB rural banking graduate - Apply here

  • Waterman Capital investment analyst - Apply here

Australia

  • Citadel Securities graduate and intern roles - Apply here

  • Goldman Sachs Investment Banking Intern - Apply here

  • IMC graduate and intern roles - Apply here

  • Jarden

    • Graduate role - Apply here

    • Summer internships - Apply here

  • Macquarie graduate roles - Apply here

  • Optiver

    • Graduate role - Apply here

    • Internships - Apply here

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