Tag Archives: amzn

‘Video Game On Steroids’: Is Drone Racing The Next Nascar?

Loading the player… Will drone racing become the next Formula 1 or Nascar? The World Drone Prix is coming up in Dubai this March, and drone event companies Aerial Grand Prix and the International Drone Racing Association hosted a qualifying race for the international spectacle at The Burbank Studios on Saturday. Recreational drones can be purchased via retailers such as Amazon ( AMZN ), Wal-Mart ( WMT ) and Best Buy ( BBY ). And GoPro’s ( GPRO ) Karma drone is still under wraps. But these high-speed races — with obstacles of different shapes and sizes — are not for the casual drone flyer filming footage at the park. They’re bringing unmanned aerial vehicles to a whole new level. The races feature quadcopters mounted with point-of-view cameras, and one pilot calls the sport “like a video game on steroids.”

Tech Firms Draft Neeson, Schwarzenegger For Super Bowl 50 Ads

Last year, tough-guy actor Liam Neeson made a splash in a Super Bowl ad promoting mobile video game “Clash of Clans” from Super Cell. But this year, he’s switched teams. For Super Bowl 50 on Sunday, he will be promoting LG Electronics’ flagship OLED TV. The spot is LG’s first-ever Super Bowl ad. Several tech companies, including LG, are using star power in their Super Bowl 50 commercials to increase their buzz factor. Action star Arnold Schwarzenegger will be hawking Machine Zone’s war-themed smartphone game, “Mobile Strike.” During last year’s big game , Machine Zone advertised its mobile game, “Game of War: Fire Age,” in a spot that featured model Kate Upton. Website-hosting service Squarespace recruited the comedy team of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele for a Super Bowl ad and to provide live commentary online during the big game. Amazon.com ( AMZN ) roped in actor Alec Baldwin, football great Dan Marino and hip-hop artist Missy Elliott for an ad to promote Amazon’s Echo smart-speaker with Alexa voice controls. Amazon is a first-time Super Bowl advertiser this year along with LG and PayPal ( PYPL ). Wireless carrier T-Mobile ( TMUS ) hired rapper Drake to spoof his hit song “Hotline Bling” in a Super Bowl 50 ad. Apartments.com is using its regular pitchman Jeff Goldblum in an ad that features hip-hop star Lil Wayne. Website-hosting company Wix.com ( WIX ) took a different approach, commissioning a computer-animated ad from DreamWorks Animation ( DWA ) that also serves as a tie-in to DreamWorks’ “Kung Fu Panda 3,” now in theaters. Super Bowl ads are pricey, but generate considerable press and social media interest. This year, 30-second spots are selling for upward of $5 million. Other tech companies advertising during Sunday’s game include financial software firm Intuit ( INTU ) and action-camera maker GoPro ( GPRO ).  

Why LinkedIn Stock Is Crashing And Analysts Are Slashing Targets

Analysts slashed their stock price forecasts on LinkedIn ( LNKD ) following a fourth-quarter earnings report late Thursday that included a 2016 outlook far below expectations. Even though LinkedIn’s fourth-quarter earnings report soundly beat expectations, the stock closed down a whopping 44% at 108.38, striking a three-year low in massive trade in the stock market today . Perhaps the most startling announcement in the Q4 earnings report was that LinkedIn will shutter a business called Lead Accelerator. That decision cut the company’s 2016 revenue forecast by $50 million. Lead Accelerator was created out of LinkedIn’s $175 million acquisition of Bizo in July 2014. The technology focuses on boosting the ability of marketers to target prospects and had been considered a high-growth opportunity. LinkedIn said the manpower needed to boost Lead Accelerator was not worth the time and effort, saying it was “a higher-than-anticipated demand on resources.” The remaining assets from the Bizo acquisition will be integrated into the company’s Sponsored Content unit, which is part of the larger Marketing Solutions Group. With the change, LinkedIn said it was willing to accept some short-term pain for long-term gain, but it still raised concerns. “The exit from Bizo leaves our confidence shaken about the pace of new monetization of LinkedIn’s unique data set,” wrote Pacific Crest analyst Evan Wilson, who slashed his price target to 190 from 280. “We think LinkedIn is making a gigantic mistake stepping back on investment in its ad network. We would understand if the ad network had grave issues with privacy or if there was no demand from advertisers, but we can see from Alphabet ( GOOGL ), Facebook ( FB ) and Amazon ( AMZN ) that this is not the case,” Wilson wrote. For the year, LinkedIn expects revenue in a range between $3.6 billion and $3.65 billion. The consensus among analysts is $3.9 billion. It expects EPS in the range of $3.05-$3.20 per share, below the consensus of $3.67. LinkedIn provided three reasons for its weaker-than-expected earnings forecast for 2016. In addition to the fading out of Lead Accelerator, it cited a slowdown in premium display advertising as it goes through a shift in strategy. That clipped another $50 million off the revenue forecast. The third reason for weakness is currency headwinds in emerging markets, due to “current global economic conditions.” Some analysts wondered if LinkedIn’s problems go deeper than that. “We do not believe that this alone can account for all of the downside to guidance, implying to us material deceleration in the core business,” wrote RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney, who cut his price target on LinkedIn to 156 from 300. LinkedIn has three revenue streams. The largest is Talent Solutions, used by companies to recruit employees and for training and education. Revenue rose 45% to $535 million. Marketing Solutions, which sells ads, rose 20% to $183 million. Premium Subscriptions, fees paid by users for enhanced services, increased 19% to $144 million. Another potential red flag is that page views among all LinkedIn users showed a deceleration in growth. Credit Suisse analyst Stephen Ju cut his price target on LinkedIn to 230 from 300. Cowen & Co. analyst John Blackledge cut his price target to 140 from 272.