Strategy in TECH...
After 70+ days of declining gas prices and news that inflation has peaked, consumers are feeling a little bit better about things. And that is especially true of wealthier consumers, according to the latest reading from the Morning Consult/Axios Inequality Index – which includes consumer sentiment information broken down by income level.
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly released the latest housing data this week showing that sales of new single-family homes in July hit their lowest level in 6½ years. While unit sales declined, both median and average prices continued to increase, making future home sales even more unaffordable.
In a new and interesting teardown analysis that included a cost of production comparison between the previous and the newest version of Amazon’s Echo, it appears that the company is making dramatic changes to lower the cost of their basic Echo model. Even though cost has been cut by more than half, the report says that the company still often sells it at a loss.
Walmart surprised analysts in its latest earnings report for its fiscal second quarter. After having issued a warning last month that its profit may drop as shoppers were feeling the effects of high inflation and focusing purchases on necessities like food rather than discretionary (and more profitable) items such as electronics. But on Tuesday, the company reported solid revenue increases and although earnings tightened a little, they still beat analysts’ forecasts.
In a tough economic environment for retailers, how did they do it? The company says they are attracting more middle- and high-income shoppers. These high-income consumers are ‘trading down’ – an effect that has been discovered in past times of economic slowdowns and recessions. And it seems to be happening now…
After two years of tussling in courts, with both sides registering a mix of wins and losses on various matters, you’d think some kind of settlement would be in order. But last week, Google intensified its patent war with Sonos by opening up yet another front with two new lawsuits on voice control and other technologies, leading me to believe that any type of settlement is yet down the road.
Masimo Corporation (NASDAQ: MASI), a global designer and producer of medical products and associated services that recently acquired Sound United, reported its second quarter fiscal 2022 results this week. With this filing, we get to see real data on the size and performance of Sound United, which the company acquired in April.
Wall Street hates surprises, especially when public companies fail to hit analysts’ estimates and when the company is forced to cut previously issued financial estimates based on a deteriorating macroeconomic environment. Sonos hit a surprisingly sour note in its report today on fiscal 2022 third-quarter results – soundly missing expectations, cutting forward guidance on future results, and announcing the CFO is leaving the company. The result of this terrible trifecta of bad news? Sonos stock dropped as much as 20% in after-hours trading.
On Monday, Emerald Holding, Inc. (NYSE:EEX) (Emerald), one of the nation’s leading business-to-business exposition companies and owner of the CEDIA Expo event and CEPro trade magazine, announced the results for their fiscal second quarter, the period that ended on June 30, 2022. The results showed a rebounding top line, with revenues increasing 376% over last year’s COVID-impacted quarter – while the company still booked a net loss, although less of a net loss than in the same quarter last year.
On April 11, 2022, Masimo Corp. appointed Kevin Duffy – then CEO of Sound United – President of the Consumer Division of Masimo Corp. as part of its $1 billion acquisition of Viper Holdings Corp., Sound United’s parent company. Duffy was offered a fairly rich package, with salary and certain other benefits and perks that could be worth millions of dollars, in some cases after a vesting period.
Then, just ninety days later, the company filed paperwork with the SEC saying that it had terminated Duffy “without cause.”
For some time now, I have been dutifully reporting on the – at first subtle…now as subtle as a Mac truck – changes taking place in the housing market, clearly in decline after a stunning runup during the 2020-2021 COVID period. Certain economic segments, including Tech in general and custom integration specifically, benefitted from the COVID period forcing consumers to huddle in their homes.
