Tech companies are taking a pass on this year’s Super Bowl. At this point, we could find only two tech companies, GoDaddy and Intuit (INTU), set to run ads for Super Bowl XLVIII on Feb. 2. Best Buy (BBY), BlackBerry (BBRY), Cars.com and E-Trade Financial (ETFC) opted out after running ads last year. CareerBuilder.com, Hulu and TaxAct, which advertised two years ago, are sitting out a second straight big game. The event, though, continues to be the
Europe’s big phone companies are fretting over the possibility of AT&T and other foreign companies pushing into the region’s already fierce wireless market, a development a Citigroup analyst calls “Barbarians at the Gate.” If new rivals enter in 2014, analysts say, some of Europe’s former state-run monopolies might respond by merging. An AT&T (T)acquisition of U.K.-based Vodafone (VOD), the world’s No. 1 wireless service provider by revenue, would
Best Buy stock plummeted 29% on Thursday, to a seven-month low, after the consumer electronics retailer reported weaker-than-expected U.S. holiday sales that an analyst called “shocking,” casting doubt on its turnaround. Best Buy (BBY) said U.S. same-store sales fell 0.9%, despite heavy discounting to draw in customers and compete with online sellers. For the nine weeks ended Jan. 5, Best Buy took in U.S. revenue of $9.75 billion, down 1.5% from