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.
Ross Gerber, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Gerber Kawaski Wealth and Investment Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says now is a great opportunity to buy low on Tesla after shares fell in light of the EV giant's latest earnings report.
High-speed connectivity solutions provider Credo went public on the Nasdaq on Thursday, raising $200 million in its IPO. CEO Bill Brennan, joined Cheddar to discuss its entry into the capital markets and the next chapter for the company. "We're going to be focused on what we have been focused on, which is really creating, creating innovative connectivity solutions that really pushed the edge on efficient power as well as very effective cost," he said.
BD Veritor is a variation of the at-home COVID test that uses a smartphone to interpret the results. The test is taken via a nose swab test strip that is then scanned by your phone’s camera with the result clearly displayed as positive or negative. James Walker, vice president of integrated diagnostics USA for BD, joined Cheddar to discuss how the test hopefully takes the "guesswork out of testing." Walker also went into what BD is doing to deal with the surging demand for at-home tests amid the omicron spread. "While we don't disclose how much we produce, we have capacity to manufacture up to 12 million rapid antigen tests per month and are delivering on our commitments to distributors and retailers," he said.
Citi recently began collaborating with fitness entrepreneur Tracy Anderson to promote its Custom Cash Credit card. Pam Habner, CEO of U.S. Branded Cards for Citi, along with Tracy Anderson, creator of The Tracy Anderson Method, joined Cheddar to discuss how health and fitness matched up with a cash back credit card. "The fact that Citi is going 'hey if you lead a healthy lifestyle, we're going to help you out. We understand that it's more expensive and we're going to give you cash back for living your best life,'" Anderson said about the partnership, which also includes a custom promotional Spotify playlist.
Stocks closed lower Thursday amid continued volatility. The S&P 500 was down 10% from its record high, the Dow was down 7%, and the Nasdaq was 4% away from bear market territory as it closed 16% below its record high. Investors are still processing this week's Federal Reserve announcement about a potential first rate hike in March. Chris Gaffney, President of World Markets at TIAA Bank, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss today's close, the Fed's announcement, predictions about interest rate hikes, and more.
Low-code app development platform Crowdbotics raised $22 million in a Series A funding round led by Jackson Square Ventures. Crowdbotics has helped more than 14,000 customers launch apps without having to learn how to code. The company can offer a team of expert developers to help companies launch custom apps, or provide the means for companies to develop apps themselves. Crowdbotics CEO Anand Kulkarni joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Comcast announced that the company has beaten its projected earnings for Q4. However, the telecommunications giant fell short of its predictions for customer growth.
Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand Skims has doubled its valuation to $3.2 billion. Investors have taken a bet on the success of this brand in the form of fresh funds for the two-year-old company.
