Book A Stay With Airbnb CEO

Tech companies are getting back to basics in an effort to turn their stock prices around. One of those companies is Airbnb, which sees two obstacles in hosts using its product. 🚧

One, it can be hard to get started. And two, it can be nerve-wracking to have guests in your home.

So, to alleviate those fears, the company is rolling out several new features.

The first is a new service called Airbnb Step, connecting new hosts with experienced ones to help them get started. Second, it’s upgrading its Aircover by tripling its damage protection up to $3 million. And it’s also installing a stronger verification process for guests. 🛡️

But the most interesting part of all this is how the company announced it. As part of this roll-out, the company’s CEO Brian Chesky listed the guest room of his San Francisco home on the site for people to book, just as he did when he started the company.

Whether or not these changes will help boost $ABNB shares over the long run remains to be seen. But in the near term, we can expect some interesting stories to come out of this experience… 😂

Retailers’ Rocky Start To ’23

As companies and investors alike shake off their holiday slumber, the time for results has come. Earnings season is kicking off on Friday with the banks, but in the meantime, several retailers have already preannounced that their holiday quarter didn’t go as well as they had hoped. 👎

Kicking off the weakness was Lululemon, which told investors at the ICR conference that its Q4 net revenue will be between $2..66 to $2.70 billion. This was marginally higher than its previous guidance, but its higher earnings per share range of $4.22 to $4.27 missed expectations.

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A Match Made In Switzerland

It was another wild weekend in banking news, so let’s go through the headlines and summarize what happened. 📰

The biggest story of the day is the shotgun marriage between Switzerland’s two largest banks. Sunday afternoon, it was reported that UBS agreed to buy its embattled rival Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs (~$3.2 billion). This was up from the initial $1 billion offer made by UBS and will see investors receive 1 UBS share for every 22.48 Credit Suisse shares they own. 

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Today’s Banking Bailout

It was another volatile day for bank stocks, with the primary focus being on First Republic Bank ($FRC). 🕵️

The bank has been in focus because the market believes it’s in a similar situation to Silicon Valley Bank. It’s a regional bank sitting on a lot of unrealized losses on its books, a high number of uninsured deposits, and a potentially skittish deposit base.

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Alibaba Calls It Splits

In a post-Jack Ma era of slower growth, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is turning to financial engineering to drive value. 📝

Today the company outlined the most significant reorganization in its history, designed to unlock shareholder value and foster market competitiveness. The business will be split into six separate companies, each led by its own CEO and board of directors. 🧑‍💼

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