French telecom Altice’s sudden push into the U.S. sets up a potential battle with Charter Communications for Time Warner Cable, as both Altice and Charter eye deals to gain scale so they can bulk up for further takeovers. Altice on Wednesday announced it would buy a 70% stake in Suddenlink Communications, the seventh-biggest U.S. cable TV firm, for about $7.9 billion. Charter (CHTR), rebuffed by Time Warner Cable (TWC) in early 2014, has been
Jumei International (JMEI), China’s No. 1 online retailer of beauty products, is expected to report double-digit revenue growth when it posts earnings after the market close Thursday. The consensus estimate on first-quarter revenue is $230.5 million, which would be up 49% from the year-earlier quarter and the fifth quarter in a row of double-digit growth. The consensus on earnings per share minus items, as polled by Thomson Reuters, is 9 cents.
Nearly four weeks after a report surfaced that the software company could be for sale, Salesforce.com (CRM) reported first-quarter earnings of 16 cents a share minus items, up 45% vs. 11 cents in the year-earlier period. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected 14 cents. That followed four straight quarters of accelerating profit growth, capped off with a 100% EPS gain in Q4 2014. Revenue climbed 23% to $1.51 billion vs. views of $1.50