Facebook Analyst: Tech Firms Will Have to Invest "Billions" in Security
While some Facebook execs were in Washington, D.C. Wednesday, testifying about Russia-backed ads, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced blow-out earnings. The company reported ad revenue of over $10 billion and 2.07 billion monthly active users. Daniel Ives, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Technology Research at GBH Insights, discusses the social media platform's 2018 guidance.
Zuckerberg said 2018 will be a year of "investment." Ives believes this should be used to further expand its ad growth, AR, mobile platforms, video, consumer engagement, and Instagram/Messenger monetization into 2018 and beyond. However, Ives said the platform will need to invest billions in security, which concerns investors. Zuckerberg warns that the company's future profitability will be impacted because of it.
Plus, we can't forget Apple. The tech giant reports earnings after the bell Thursday. Ives says early demand for the iPhone X will continue throughout the year. He says the Street really wants to see guidance for 75-80 million units in the month of December. He believes this will be Apple's biggest super cycle.
Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies a decade after they joined in a massive merger that created one of the biggest food companies on the planet. One of the companies will include brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other will include brands like Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables. When the company formed in 2015 it wanted to capitalize on its massive scale, but shifting tastes complicated those plans, with households seeking to introduce healthier options at the table. Kraft Heinz's net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
