Would Microsoft Buy Fortnite Headset-Maker Turtle Beach?
*By Michael Teich*
High-flying gaming headset maker Turtle Beach could find itself a buyer in Microsoft.
That's according to D.A. Davidson senior research analyst Tom Forte, who told Cheddar the company could be an acquisition target as the Xbox-maker angles to become a bigger player in the video game world.
"I would argue Microsoft could just as well buy Turtle Beach rather than try to come up with Microsoft's own lineup of console headsets," Forte said. "Their sweet spot is really the console, and not necessarily the accessories."
While Forte believes Microsoft ($MSFT) has cachet with esports gamers thanks to the Xbox, he thinks the challenge would ultimately be to create a headset that is technologically superior to what Turtle Beach ($HEAR) offers.
Even high-end audio companies like Beats, owned by Apple ($AAPL), have trouble breaking into the esports business.
"No disrespect to Beats, but this isn't really about marketing dollars. It's about who's offering me the best technology so I can play the games I like as effective as possible," Forte said.
Turtle Beach makes headsets for a variety of consoles, including PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One.
Shares have soared this year, fueled by the viral popularity of social games like mega-hit "Fortnite," which posted a new record monthly player count of 78 million in August. And though the stock has pulled back from its highs of early August, they're still up more than 1,000 percent in 2018.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/microsoft-could-buy-turtle-beach-says-analyst-tom-forte).
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
It’s an annual tradition: the Fed’s banking ‘stress test.’ A year after the regional banking crisis, there are good reasons to make sure they’re prepped.
Summer is upon us, which means weddings, trips overseas, and trips to see Taylor Swift. Avoid a “Cruel Summer” with these budget-friendly tips and tricks.
While Nvidia's meteoric rise led it to briefly dethrone Microsoft as the world's biggest public company, there's a lot more going on in this market than A.I.
