What we’re reading (2/11)
“GameStop Mania Is Focus Of Federal Probes Into Possible Manipulation” (Wall Street Journal). “The Justice Department’s fraud section and the San Francisco U.S. attorney’s office have sought information about the activity from brokers and social-media companies that were hubs for the trading frenzy, the people said. Prosecutors have subpoenaed information from brokers such as Robinhood Markets Inc., the popular online brokerage that many individual investors used to trade GameStop and other shares, the people said.”
“Disney Smashes Streaming Subscriber Expectations, Boosting Segments Hurt By Covid” (CNBC). “Disney said it now has almost 95 million paid subscribers to its Disney+ streaming service as of the quarter ended Jan. 2. This comes during the first quarter after Disney’s free-trial period ended for some subscribers who are also Verizon customers.”
“Bumble Spikes 85% In Trading Debut After $2.2 Billion IPO” (Business Insider). “Dating app Bumble surged as much as 85% on Thursday as shares publicly traded hands for the first time following the company's initial public offering. Bumble raised $2.2 billion in its Wednesday IPO before accounting for a possible over-allotment option. The company sold 5o million shares at $43 each, giving Bumble a market capitalization of more than $8 billion.”
“How GameStop Missed Out On Capitalizing On The Reddit Rally” (Reuters). “GameStop’s market value soared from $1.4 billion on Jan. 11 to a peak of $33.7 billion on Jan. 28. At that point, GameStop could have raised hundreds of millions of dollars through a stock sale to pay down its debt pile, which totaled $216 million net of cash as of the end of October, and fund its transformation into a digital gaming service, as sales at its mall-based stores dwindle. Yet GameStop never sold shares, the sources said, despite being egged on by many Wall Street pundits to do so.”
“Can Jane Fraser Fix Citigroup?” (DealBook). “Next month, Jane Fraser will take over Citigroup — and a major turnaround effort. ‘The sprawling institution has been limping along in third place among the four biggest U.S. banks, underwhelming its investors and irritating regulators,’ The Times’s Emily Flitter writes. She spoke with Ms. Fraser about the scale of the challenge and how she plans to tackle it.”
