Activision Blizzard (ATVI) shares closed 25% higher on Tuesday after Microsoft (MSFT) announced it will acquire the video game publisher for $95 per share. The deal, valued at $68.7 billion is Microsoft’s largest takeover ever.  When the transaction closes, Microsoft will become the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent (TCEHY) and Sony (SONY), according to the tech giant. The deal illustrates another consolidation move within the gaming industry — and massive bet… Source link

Byron Allen, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Entertainment Studios and Allen Media Group, speaks at the 2021 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., October 19, 2021. REUTERS/David Swanson Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Jan 18 (Reuters) – Media entrepreneur Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group (AMG) struck a multi-year deal with Google Cloud on Tuesday, through which the Alphabet Inc-owned (GOOGL.O) company will provide cloud services to… Source link

It’s time to load up on shares of Apple (AAPL) after the stock’s less than joyous start to 2022, argues Deutsche Bank.  “Considering a healthy demand backdrop and Apple’s strong product portfolio across its product lines, we believe the Street estimate for CY22 revenue growth of only +5% (vs. Deutsche Bank estimate of +9%) is too low with the push-out of some revenue from calendar year 2021 already accounting for ~3 percentage points of growth, and we therefore believe there is an upward… Source link

The Green Bay Packers’ Super Bowl odds improved over Wild Card Weekend even though they didn’t play at all. The Packers remain the Super Bowl favorite at BetMGM entering the Divisional round. The NFC’s No. 1 seed entered the playoffs at +400 to win the Super Bowl and is now at +375 ahead of a matchup against the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday. If Green Bay beats San Francisco (+1000) it will host the winner of the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship… Source link

Yandex (NASDAQ:YNDX) had its price objective dropped by analysts at Citigroup from $90.00 to $75.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, The Fly reports. Citigroup’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 43.29% from the company’s previous close. Several other research firms have also issued reports on YNDX. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Yandex from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $84.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday,… Source link

U.S. stock futures fell sharply Tuesday morning as investors geared up for a holiday-shortened week rife with quarterly earnings reports from companies across all three major indexes. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged in early trading, shedding 1.82% to 15,311.75 as Wall Street continued to weigh the likelihood of imminent interest rate hikes. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average also edged lower, down about 0.73%, or 263 points in early trading, while the S&P 500 declined… Source link

With the Federal Reserve now widely expected to jack up interest rates in March to beat back rampant inflation, investors in the stock market should buckle up for a more muted few months of returns, says Goldman Sachs chief U.S. equity strategist David Kostin.  The S&P 500 has been “resilient” around the start of Fed hiking cycles in the past, Kostin notes. But one could interpret that resiliency Kostin speaks of in different ways.  The first is that the stock market didn’t fall off a cliff… Source link

Top executives at Google and Facebook were involved in an effort to limit competition in a portion of the online advertising market, according to a newly amended (and less heavily redacted) version of a 2020 multi-state lawsuit aimed at Google and led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Why it matters: While a previous version of the suit also alleged collusion between the two companies, the newly public documents shed new light on the effort, dubbed “Jedi Blue,” as well as the extent 0f… Source link

(Bloomberg) — Most stocks fell Tuesday amid a jump in global bond yields as investors girded for the removal of central bank support to quell high inflation. Most Read from Bloomberg Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index declined, with energy the only sector to advance. U.S. equity futures slipped before the market reopens later from a holiday. Asian shares struggled. Treasuries dropped across the curve, pushing two-year and 10-year yields up to levels last seen before the pandemic roiled markets. Even… Source link

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/. Yandex and KT Corporation have entered into an agreement to launch autonomous robotic delivery in Seoul in 2022, a representative of the Russian company’s press service told TASS. “Yandex has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with KT Corporation, one of the leading South Korean telecommunications companies. The companies plan to start deliveries using Yandex’ autonomous robots in Seoul in 2022,” the company said. South Korea is the first East Asian market… Source link