Alphabet's Shares Take a Dive

Google's parent company, Alphabet, suffered a significant drop in shares yesterday with a decline of over 7%. This saw the company lose $100 billion in market value after their AI chatbot, Bard, failed to impress during its promotional event. The event was held the day after rival Microsoft presented its new AI technologies in Bing, leading to concerns that Google is falling behind in the competition.

Zoom's Pandemic Bubble Bursts

Zoom, the video conferencing company, announced layoffs for 1,300 employees, equivalent to 15% of its workforce. The demand for video conferencing services has weakened as people have started returning to the office. CEO Eric Yuan has stated that the company has made mistakes and will be taking a 98% pay cut for the next fiscal year, along with forgoing his 2023 bonus.

Crypto Winter Yet to Thaw

Despite the recent rise in Bitcoin prices, many analysts are not convinced that the crypto winter is coming to an end. CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, warned of further contagion ahead and CEO of Morgan Creek Capital Management, Mark Yusko, predicts a crypto summer may begin in Q2 2023.

Goldman Sachs Sees Bright Future for Nio

Goldman Sachs analysts predict that electric vehicle battery manufacturing and charging infrastructure will experience substantial growth through 2030. The analysts have also given Nio an upside of 120% and billionaire investor, Ronald Baron, sees Tesla reaching $1,500 by 2030.

Pinterest Struggles with Ad Spend

Pinterest reported Q4 2022 results, beating bottom-line estimates but missing revenue due to a slowdown in digital ad spend. Advertisers are expected to prioritize Google and Meta, leading to less appetite for secondary platforms, according to Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney. Pinterest is focusing on boosting user engagement, which saw a 10% YoY increase in Q4 2022.

Meta's Efficiency Drive

Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, declared 2023 as the Year of Efficiency after reporting Q4 2022 results. The company is now asking managers and directors to transition to individual contributor roles, with a focus on coding, designing, and research. This move is part of the company's plan to become stronger and more nimble.

AstraZeneca's Full-Year Report

AstraZeneca swung to full-year profit with a 19% increase in revenue to $44.35 billion. The growth was attributed to all therapy areas and the integration of US firm Alexion Pharmaceuticals. Despite this, Q4 saw a dip in revenue and core earnings per share, with AstraZeneca blaming the decline on Vaxzevria.