Media & Entertainment Moves

Although we briefly discuss FaZe Holdings and Rumble earnings in the story above, there was much more media and entertainment news today. We did our best to summarize them here. ๐Ÿ‘‡

European Union regulators approved Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition. However, the market still seems unsure that other hurdles will be mounted as $ATVI shares are still trading well below the proposed price. ๐ŸŽฎ

In other gaming news, Amazon is reportedly making another Lord of the Rings MMORPG, while HBO continues working on its Game Of Thrones game.

As for the lottery market, the global leader of iLottery solutions and services, NeoGames, was acquired by Australia’s Aristocrat Leisure for $1.2 billion. As for gambling, Fanatics is making its official foray into sports betting by acquiring PointsBet’s U.S. business in a $150 million deal. ๐ŸŽซ

A new company founded by Pluto TV co-founder Ilya Pozin, called Telly, is offering 500,000 freeย  55-inch TVs to consumers. However, the bottom of the two-screen display will play a steady stream of ads. With mid to high-quality televisions already pretty cheap, it’ll be interesting to see how this experiment plays out. ๐Ÿ“บ

Are consumers willing to continue paying for things with their attention? Does a constant stream of ads disturb the viewing experience? We’ll have to wait and see the answer to these questions.ย 

Vice Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this morning in a move many expected. At its peak, the media brand was valued at $5.7 billion but has struggled to live up to expectations since. However, after failing to secure a buyer, filings with the Southern District of New York show Vice has agreed to an asset purchase agreement led by a “Fortress Consortium” of previous investors/lenders. ๐Ÿค

A federal appeals court in New York ruled that Elon Musk will still require a “Twitter sitter” as part of his revised agreement with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). ๐Ÿ‘€

Verizon’s chief marketing officer Diego Scotti is leaving the company after eight years to “explore new challenges.” It joins the recent departures of chief creative officer Andrew McKechnie and chief media officer Tony Wells. ๐Ÿ“ฑ

And lastly, another billionaire is staking his claim in the media industry. The youngest self-made billionaire, Austin Russell, now owns an 82% stake in Forbes Global Media Holdings. The deal values the company at roughly $800 million, about a year after it called off its SPAC plans. ๐Ÿ“ฐ

Investors Are Losing Trust

It’s been a rough eighteen months or so for real estate investment trusts (REITs), with higher interest rates giving investors alternative sources of yield and pressuring commercial real estate’s asset values. Unfortunately for Medical Properties Trust (MPT), that pain continuesย today, with its shares falling back to their Great-Financial-Crisis lows. ๐Ÿ˜ฌ

The medical-related real estate property operator revealed to investors that one of its tenants, Steward Health Care System, is roughly $50 million behind in rent payments. As a result, MPT will take a $225 million noncash charge to write off rent receivables and other items.ย 

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Nio & Nikola’s Never-Ending Story

No matter the day, there seems to be an endless stream of electric vehicle (EV) industry news. Let’s get into today’s headlines. ๐Ÿ“ฐ

First up is China’s Nio, which just received an additional $2.2 billion investment from Abu Dhabi’s CYVN Holdings, which raised its stake to 20.1%. The fund had last invested in Nio during July, with a $1 billion investment.ย 

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A Chip Off The Holiday News Flow

It’s a slow week in the market, but as usual, there’s some news out of the semiconductor space. Let’s take a look. ๐Ÿ‘€

First up is Israel granting Intel $3.2 billion to support the company’s biggest investment in the country. Intel will not only build a $25 billion factory that creates thousands of jobs but will also buy $16.6 billion in goods and services from Israeli suppliers over the next decade. It is anticipated that the plant will open in 2028 and operate through at least 2035. ๐Ÿญ

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Trouble Continues For Telecoms

We last talked about Telecom stocks about six months ago, when their stocks came under significant pressure due to slowing growth, competition concerns, and regulatory issues. We then discussed them in October when investors dumped defensive stocks for higher-yielding treasuries with no risk.

Prices have since rebounded sharply with the broader market as investors priced in Fed rate cuts this year. However, Verizon was back in the news today for a not-so-great reason. Let’s dig in. ๐Ÿ‘‡

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