Episode 80: Tech Earnings Posting Great Results
It was a big week in tech earnings with both Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) posting great results. Despite blowout profits, the Dow dropped 200 points.
Tech Stars: Investors can breathe a sigh of relief now that the busiest week of the first-quarter earnings season is in the rearview mirror. Amazon was among the last of the major tech firms to report, posting its quarterly update on Thursday after the bell. The expectations were high, and the company did not disappoint. Amazon handily beat Wall Street's forecasts with a 44% jump in year-over-year revenues, prompting a number of analysts to up their price forecasts Friday morning.
Diversity and Inclusion: In a letter to shareholders, Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) CEO Marc Benioff reiterated the CRM software company's commitment to racial equity, citing the work of the Racial Equality and Justice Task Force the company formed last year. Salesforce will invest $200 million over the next 5 years and commit 1 million volunteer hours towards advancing racial equity. The company also set internal goals around increasing representation at the company, including doubling the number of Black Americans in leadership roles by 2024.
Tune In Saturday: Elon Musk hasn’t appeared on “Saturday Night Live” yet, but he is already getting banned by some of its cast members. SNL announced Saturday on Twitter that the business mogul will host the late-night show on May 8. Other big names in the corporate world that have hosted NBC’s popular late-night show include Donald Trump before he was president and Steve Forbes.
Market Recap
Dow 30 @ 33,874.85, 185.51 (-0.54%)
S&P 500 @ 4,185.67, 25.80 (-0.61%)
Nasdaq @ 13,962.68, 119.86 (-0.85%)
IPO/SPAC
Allvue Systems, a Coral Gables, Fla.-based investment management software firm owned by Vista Equity Partners, is prepping a 2021 IPO at an up to a $3 billion valuation, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/Us6O
Sonder, a San Francisco-based hotel and short-term apartment rental platform, agreed to go public at an implied $2.2 billion valuation via Gores Metropoulos II (Nasdaq: GMII). Sonder, recently valued at $1.3 billion, raised over $500 million in VC funding, from firms like Fidelity, Westcap, Inovia Capital, Greenoaks, Spark Capital, Greylock, Valor Equity, Tao Capital, Atreides Capital and Lennar. http://axios.link/XUpX
LATAM
Loft, the Brazilian proptech, announced a $100M extension round to the $425M Series D raised last month, led by Baillie Gifford, Tarsadia Capital, Flight Deck Capital and Caffeinated Capital, among others. Loft operates a “one-stop shop” for home buying and selling. The startup buys, renovates and manages properties in 130 regions across São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in partnership with 30,000 brokers. The platform also offers insurance, renovation, and rental services to customers.