Here are the stories that caught our eye this week.
SNAP gets snapped
Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) reported earnings after the market closed on Wednesday for the first time as a publicly-traded company. The results were disappointing.
Net losses for the quarter surpassed $2.2 billion, with $2 billion of that coming from stock-based compensation. Other metrics like revenue and daily active users did grow significantly, but not as much as analysts anticipated.
Snap shares tanked on the disappointing earnings, falling some 20% during Thursday’s trading.
Sprint/T-Mobile Talks
According to reports, the third and fourth-largest U.S. wireless carriers have begun having preliminary merger discussions.
Sprint Corp (NYSE:S), led by its largest shareholder, Softbank, reportedly initiated the talks with T-Mobile Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TMUS) parent company, Deutsche Telecom.
Pundits have long suggested the two smaller players get together to better compete with the two leaders, but convincing regulators to bless the marriage could be difficult.
Apple hits $800 billion
Investors continue to be bullish about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), pushing up shares more than 4% this week. Reasons for the bullishness include a boost in 2018 profit estimates and Warren Buffett’s continued confidence in the company.
During this latest move upwards, Apple shares passed an important milestone. The company became the first publicly traded company in
U.S. history to have a market cap surpassing $800 billion. Apple’s current market cap is $816 billion.
Apple is in a race with Alphabet ($653 billion), Microsoft ($521 billion), and Amazon.com ($458 billion) to become the first trillion-dollar company.
