Amazon's Grocery Gamble, All Eyes on Netflix Earnings
Amazon opens its first fully automated grocery store in Seattle on Monday. In this cashier-less model, the consumer picks items and leaves the store without ever having to pull out their wallet. Amazon's technology senses what items were purchased, and then charges the customer's account. Amazon's new grocery store is called Amazon Go.
Netflix gets ready to report Q4 earnings after a very successful 2017. Beyond looking at the company's revenue growth, investors will be watching for subscriber growth, particularly at the international level. Last year, Netflix shares grew by 65%.
And Twitter COO Anthony Noto is reportedly considering a new job. Reports swirled over the weekend that Noto may leave the social media company for SoFi, the personal finance company. Noto is considered one of the most important executives at Twitter.
Xiaohua Yang, professor of international business and director of the China Business Studies Initiative at the University of San Francisco, joins Cheddar News to talk about the history of Lunar New Year.
Fundrise is an investment platform that allows its users to access a diversified portfolio of real estate investments. The company found more than 70 percent of 1,000 Gen Z and Millenial investors surveyed were concerned about inflation and 66 percent were putting their money in real estate, venture capital, and crypto as a safety net. Ben Miller, CEO and co-founder of Fundrise, joined Cheddar to talk about providing retail investors access to the previously difficult-to-access private real estate markets. "I think there's there's an understanding in society that real estate is where you go when there's high inflation," Miller said.
In January alone, the gaming sector has seen three major acquisitions. Yesterday, Sony added to the flurry of M&A activity in the gaming space, snatching up game developer 'Bungie' for $3.6 billion dollars. Renee Gittins, executive director at the International Gaming Developers Association, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
General Motors reported its Q4 earnings Tuesday. While chip shortages impacted sales and revenue last quarter, Paul Jacobson, GM Chief Financial Officer, told Cheddar chip availability has gotten better since Q3. This is crucial as GM has pivoted its focus toward electric vehicles. It recently announced it will be building a new battery plant in Michigan, making $35 billion in EV investments, and producing a million electric vehicles by 2025.
