Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth dropped as much as $31 billion, among the biggest one-day drops in wealth ever, after Meta Platforms Inc.’s fourth-quarter results fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Meta is in the midst of a historic stock collapse after its earnings on Wednesday showed no growth in monthly Facebook users last quarter relative to the prior period, raising concerns about the company’s future growth. Shares tumbled 24% at 10:25 a.m. in New York Thursday.

Meta’s steep decline leaves Zuckerberg, the company’s chief executive officer, with a net worth of about $92 billion, down from $120.6 billion as of market close on Wednesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. It’s enough to push the 37-year-old outside the list of the Top 10 wealthiest people in the world for the first time since July 2015.

Read more: JPMorgan’s Meta Analyst Cuts Rating for First Time Since IPO

A one-day wealth loss of $31 billion would rank as the second-biggest ever caused by a share-price decline, only rivaled by the volatile swings in Elon Musk’s fortune. The world’s richest person lost $35 billion in a day in November as Tesla Inc. shares fell following a Twitter poll in which Musk asked voters if he should sell 10% of his stake in the company. His net worth also plunged $25.8 billion last week.

Meta’s co-founders are also facing unprecedented declines in their personal fortunes. Dustin Moskovitz, the world’s 79th-richest person with a net worth of $21.2 billion as of Wednesday, has lost about $3 billion, while Eduardo Saverin, worth $17.5 billion, is down more than $4 billion. 

The $2.5 billion personal fortune of Sheryl Sandberg, Meta’s chief operating officer, fell by more than $100 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Compared with Zuckerberg, however, Sandberg’s wealth is less concentrated in the company’s shares, softening the blow.

For Meta, the disappointing earnings add to its challenges. It’s in the middle of a number of regulatory fights and also looking to justify its strategic shift to bet on an immersive internet known as the metaverse. Meanwhile, other platforms like TikTok and YouTube are gaining ground with younger users.

(Updates wealth decline and share price starting in first paragraph.)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth dropped as much as $31 billion, among the biggest one-day drops in wealth ever, after Meta Platforms Inc.’s fourth-quarter results fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Meta is in the midst of a historic stock collapse after its earnings on Wednesday showed no growth in monthly Facebook users last quarter relative to the prior period, raising concerns about the company’s future growth. Shares tumbled 24% at 10:25 a.m. in New York Thursday.

Meta’s steep decline leaves Zuckerberg, the company’s chief executive officer, with a net worth of about $92 billion, down from $120.6 billion as of market close on Wednesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. It’s enough to push the 37-year-old outside the list of the Top 10 wealthiest people in the world for the first time since July 2015.

Read more: JPMorgan’s Meta Analyst Cuts Rating for First Time Since IPO

A one-day wealth loss of $31 billion would rank as the second-biggest ever caused by a share-price decline, only rivaled by the volatile swings in Elon Musk’s fortune. The world’s richest person lost $35 billion in a day in November as Tesla Inc. shares fell following a Twitter poll in which Musk asked voters if he should sell 10% of his stake in the company. His net worth also plunged $25.8 billion last week.

Meta’s co-founders are also facing unprecedented declines in their personal fortunes. Dustin Moskovitz, the world’s 79th-richest person with a net worth of $21.2 billion as of Wednesday, has lost about $3 billion, while Eduardo Saverin, worth $17.5 billion, is down more than $4 billion. 

The $2.5 billion personal fortune of Sheryl Sandberg, Meta’s chief operating officer, fell by more than $100 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Compared with Zuckerberg, however, Sandberg’s wealth is less concentrated in the company’s shares, softening the blow.

For Meta, the disappointing earnings add to its challenges. It’s in the middle of a number of regulatory fights and also looking to justify its strategic shift to bet on an immersive internet known as the metaverse. Meanwhile, other platforms like TikTok and YouTube are gaining ground with younger users.

(Updates wealth decline and share price starting in first paragraph.)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — Qualcomm Inc., the biggest maker of chips that run smartphones, slipped as much as 4.2% in New York trading after supply shortages hampered efforts to expand beyond its main business in the latest quarter. 

While overall sales and profit easily topped analysts’ estimates, the company fell short of projections in certain categories, including chips for cars, the Internet of Things and radio-frequency components. The pain was partially self-inflicted: The company prioritized sales to phone makers in China during the run-up to the Lunar New Year shopping season — at the expense of other categories.

“We still have more demand than supply,” Chief Executive Officer Cristiano Amon said in an interview. “I wish we had more supply.”

The shares fell as low as $180.37 following Qualcomm’s earnings report, with the concerns overshadowing an upbeat forecast for the current quarter. Revenue will be $10.2 billion to $11 billion, Qualcomm said, compared with an average analyst estimate of $9.59 billion. Earnings will be at least $2.80 a share, well ahead of the $2.48 projection.

Amon has said that the success of his tenure should be measured by Qualcomm’s progress in newer, higher-growth areas. On that front, the results were mixed last quarter. Revenue from the Internet of Things — efforts to add computing power to a wider range of devices and appliances — came in at $1.48 billion, growing 41%. But analysts had projected $1.57 billion.

As supply improves and phone demand eases, Qualcomm will be able to satisfy more of the orders it’s getting from newer customers, Amon said on a call with analysts.

Excluding certain items, overall profit was $3.23 a share in the fiscal first quarter, compared with Wall Street’s average estimate of $3. The company generated $10.7 billion in revenue, topping the $10.4 billion projection.

In the so-called RF front-end market — chips that help convert radio signals into data and voice — revenue was $1.13 billion, short of the $1.28 billion estimate. Sales of automotive chips were $256 million, compared with an estimate of $276.9 million.

Qualcomm shares closed up more than 6% at $188.20 in New York Wednesday, underscoring investors’ lofty expectations for its results. The stock gained 2.9% this year through Wednesday’s close, making it one of the top-performing companies on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index, which has slumped in 2022.

For now, Qualcomm’s phone processors and modems — chips that give the devices their computer-like functions and connect them to networks — provide the biggest portion of its revenue. Sales of phone chips jumped 42% in the period, while revenue from automotive chips climbed half that rate. 

Qualcomm chips are appearing more in tablets, virtual-reality headsets and wearable devices. In industrial applications, the company’s products can be found in energy metering, warehouse logistics systems and retail point-of-sale equipment.

Like many other chipmakers, Qualcomm outsources production to companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. A surge in demand has left these foundries unable to keep up. Amon has said that he expects to be able to get more supply in the second half of 2022.

The company is unique in the industry because a large chunk of its profit comes from technology licensing. Makers of phones pay to use Qualcomm’s technology, regardless of whether they buy its chips, because the company owns patents that cover some of the fundamentals of mobile communications.

While Apple Inc. doesn’t use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors, the iPhone maker buys modems that connect its handset to networks. Qualcomm’s leadership has acknowledged reports that Apple is working on its own modem, but the company has said that it doesn’t need to be a part of the iPhone to grow.

Qualcomm said Wednesday that Android devices — rather than Apple — fueled its sales gain in the smartphone market.

Revenue has the potential to top $46 billion by fiscal year 2024, Qualcomm Chief Financial Officer Akash Palkhiwala said at a company event late last year. That was above analysts’ projections at the time.

(Updates share price starting in first paragraph.)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — Meta Platforms Inc.’s one-day crash may rank as the worst in stock-market history.

The Facebook parent plunged 24% in U.S. trading Thursday on the back of poor earnings results, putting it on track to erase more than $200 billion. 

At current levels, that’s the biggest collapse in market value for any U.S. company. But there’s no certainty the losses will hold, especially given the recent volatility that’s whipped across technology shares. Markets have swung wildly in recent weeks, with buy-the-dip traders sometimes storming in during the final hours of the trading day. 

Still, analysts were bleak in their assessments, pointing out that Meta faces stiff competition from rivals like Tiktok and revenue was far lower than expected. Michael Nathanson, an analyst at brokerage Moffett Nathanson, titled his note “Facebook: The Beginning of the End?” 

“These cuts run deep,” he wrote. The results were “a headline grabber and not in a good way.” 

The sheer size of Facebook’s collapse illustrates just how tech companies have ballooned in size to become behemoths with unprecedented market power, and the drama that can ensue when they stumble.

“Lots of U.S. megacaps are priced as growth stocks. They may suffer more in a rising yield environment, especially if growth becomes more questionable,” said Frederic Rollin, senior investment advisor at Pictet Asset Management.

Another way of illustrating the decline: Meta’s decline would be more than the market value of about 470 of the S&P 500’s members.

Meta Slumps With Targets Slashed on TikTok Threat: Street Wrap

Meta “finds itself in the middle of a perfect storm” wrote Youssef Squali, an analyst at Truist Securities. 

Twitter Inc., Snap Inc. and Pinterest Inc. all traded lower, putting pressure on the Nasdaq 100 Index. Meta traded at $245.72 as of 10:13 a.m. in New York, down from a close of $323 on Wednesday. 

Meta’s market cap as of the previous close stood at roughly $900 billion. The company makes up one of the original Faang cohort of tech megacaps, including Google’s parent Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. 

It’s not the first time Meta shares have dropped dramatically. The stock plunged 19% in July 2018 on a slowdown in user growth, translating to a about $120 billion decline in market capitalization. At the time, it set the record for the largest-ever loss of value in one day for a U.S. traded company.

“We’re hopeful the company kitchen-sinked the outlook,” said Shyam Patil, an analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group. 

(Update share price moves throughout.)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — Kobe Bryant’s estate has filed three trademark applications for virtual goods as his family looks to protect his name in the metaverse.

The filings include “Kobe Bryant” and “Mamba Forever,” for digital items like clothing, jewelry, avatars, emotes, toys and trading cards, and “Mambacita,” in reference to his daughter Gianna.

“Theres been this avalanche of trademark filings from different companies and celebrities to protect their rights as it pertains to things in the metaverse,” said Josh Gerben, a Washington-based trademark lawyer who tracks filings by athletes and others. He said this was the first he’d seen from a basketball star.

The Bryant family has registered for numerous trademarks over the past year spanning footwear, apparel and wine under Kobe Inc., the company that owns all the basketball legend’s trademarks since his death two years ago.

The sports industry is paying increased attention to virtual goods as they become more popular. Nike Inc. opened its own digital world on the Roblox platform and acquired a digital collectibles company late last year.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — Electric vehicle technology, having zipped from sedans to scooters to tractors, finally is connecting to homes on wheels. And, similarly to autos, it is starting on the swanky end of the market.

Airstream, the brand of silver-bullet shaped campers, has rolled out an electrified travel trailer that will help its parent, RV giant Thor Industries, navigate towards an emissions-free future. The rig, dubbed the eStream, is only a concept and isn’t yet available for purchase, but it showcases technology that Chief Executive Officer Bob Wheeler says will soon trickle through the booming RV industry.

“Everything that’s packed in the eStream won’t make sense for the market as is,” Wheeler said at a press event showcasing the trailer, “but there are so many threads, so much can come out of this that will find its way in the future.” 

The eStream is outfitted with a span of solar panels and a skateboard-style chassis with two large battery packs in a configuration much like Tesla’s. Narrower and with fewer vents and protrusions, the rig is about 20% more aerodynamic than a traditional Airstream. The solar panels, for example, are built into the roof, rather than bolted on.

Airstreams are trailers and, as such, are traditionally engineless. The sheer bulk and profile of most RVs present a significant challenge to traveling the distances electric vehicle owners have come to expect. The eStream, however, represents a kind of middle ground on the path to emissions-free camping. It has a pair of electric motors driving its axle, essentially making it easier to tow. If it’s being towed by a gas-powered vehicle, the drivetrain will offset some emissions; if it’s being towed by another electric vehicle, the camper will extend its range. The powered axle will also help the rig navigate slick or uneven terrain, according to McKay Featherstone, the brand’s vice president of product development and engineering.

Its cleverest party trick, however, is moving while unhitched. The trailer can be driven independently via a smartphone, precluding the fraught process of backing into a tight camping spot. “That’s a pain point we hope we can just simply eliminate and we’ll save a lot of marriages with this product,” Featherstone said.

RVs often draw electricity from brawny outlets at campgrounds — “shore power” in industry-speak. Airstream says its new rig will be able to pass up those plugs and let owners roam more freely off the grid. The bank of batteries juices the air-conditioner, refrigerator and other appliances, creature comforts that typically have relied on burning propane. They can be charged via plug, but will also top up from the solar panels and a regenerative braking system.

“It’s going to help customers go wherever they want to go and to stay there as long as they wish,” Featherstone said. “You could literally stay off-grid for weeks if you wanted to.”

The camper can also export its electrons, acting as a backup generator for a home or a charger for a separate electric vehicle.

The eStream is hitting an industry with momentum. With consumers steering clear of airlines and hotels, RV sales accelerated throughout the pandemic. Last year, U.S. RV companies delivered 600,240 vehicles, a 48% increase over 2019, and most of those rigs were towable trailers like the ones Airstream makes. 

Thor, however, isn’t the only company investing in electric R&D. Last month, Winnebago unveiled an electric motorhome dubbed the e-RV that will be able to drive 125 miles on battery power. Alas, it also a concept vehicle and, like the eStream, won’t be available for sale.

For the moment, climate conscious campers will have to think smaller. Sometime this year, Ford is expecting to deliver the first electric versions of its Transit van, which will travel about 126 miles on a charge. And Volkswagen is reprising its storied camper van in an electric iteration dubbed the ID.Buzz, which is expected to hit dealers sometime next year.  

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — Electric vehicle technology, having zipped from sedans to scooters to tractors, finally is connecting to homes on wheels. And, similarly to autos, it is starting on the swanky end of the market.

Airstream, the brand of silver-bullet shaped campers, has rolled out an electrified travel trailer that will help its parent, RV giant Thor Industries, navigate towards an emissions-free future. The rig, dubbed the eStream, is only a concept and isn’t yet available for purchase, but it showcases technology that Chief Executive Officer Bob Wheeler says will soon trickle through the booming RV industry.

“Everything that’s packed in the eStream won’t make sense for the market as is,” Wheeler said at a press event showcasing the trailer, “but there are so many threads, so much can come out of this that will find its way in the future.” 

The eStream is outfitted with a span of solar panels and a skateboard-style chassis with two large battery packs in a configuration much like Tesla’s. Narrower and with fewer vents and protrusions, the rig is about 20% more aerodynamic than a traditional Airstream. The solar panels, for example, are built into the roof, rather than bolted on.

Airstreams are trailers and, as such, are traditionally engineless. The sheer bulk and profile of most RVs present a significant challenge to traveling the distances electric vehicle owners have come to expect. The eStream, however, represents a kind of middle ground on the path to emissions-free camping. It has a pair of electric motors driving its axle, essentially making it easier to tow. If it’s being towed by a gas-powered vehicle, the drivetrain will offset some emissions; if it’s being towed by another electric vehicle, the camper will extend its range. The powered axle will also help the rig navigate slick or uneven terrain, according to McKay Featherstone, the brand’s vice president of product development and engineering.

Its cleverest party trick, however, is moving while unhitched. The trailer can be driven independently via a smartphone, precluding the fraught process of backing into a tight camping spot. “That’s a pain point we hope we can just simply eliminate and we’ll save a lot of marriages with this product,” Featherstone said.

RVs often draw electricity from brawny outlets at campgrounds — “shore power” in industry-speak. Airstream says its new rig will be able to pass up those plugs and let owners roam more freely off the grid. The bank of batteries juices the air-conditioner, refrigerator and other appliances, creature comforts that typically have relied on burning propane. They can be charged via plug, but will also top up from the solar panels and a regenerative braking system.

“It’s going to help customers go wherever they want to go and to stay there as long as they wish,” Featherstone said. “You could literally stay off-grid for weeks if you wanted to.”

The camper can also export its electrons, acting as a backup generator for a home or a charger for a separate electric vehicle.

The eStream is hitting an industry with momentum. With consumers steering clear of airlines and hotels, RV sales accelerated throughout the pandemic. Last year, U.S. RV companies delivered 600,240 vehicles, a 48% increase over 2019, and most of those rigs were towable trailers like the ones Airstream makes. 

Thor, however, isn’t the only company investing in electric R&D. Last month, Winnebago unveiled an electric motorhome dubbed the e-RV that will be able to drive 125 miles on battery power. Alas, it also a concept vehicle and, like the eStream, won’t be available for sale.

For the moment, climate conscious campers will have to think smaller. Sometime this year, Ford is expecting to deliver the first electric versions of its Transit van, which will travel about 126 miles on a charge. And Volkswagen is reprising its storied camper van in an electric iteration dubbed the ID.Buzz, which is expected to hit dealers sometime next year.  

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — NBCUniversal said it has sold out of in-game Super Bowl ads across all platforms, including NBC, Telemundo and its streaming service, Peacock.

The network said Thursday that the game will set a new Super Bowl unit-rate average record with multiple 30-second advertising spots selling for $7 million each. Of the over 70 spots sold, more than 30 were to new advertisers, NBCUniversal said. Industries with the largest growth in advertising compared with last year include automotive, technology and travel. Cryptocurrency companies like Crypto.com and FTX are among those making their debut.

The majority of advertisements will be 30 and 60 seconds, said Mark Marshall, president of advertising and partnerships for NBCUniversal, in an email.

See also: NFL misses out on U.S. racial awakening

Super Bowl LVI airs Feb. 13 and will feature the Cincinnati Bengals taking on the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast Corp., has said total viewership for the game is expected to exceed 100 million, up from last year’s 14-year low of 96.4 million.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.