RBC's Amy Wu Silverman: I'd characterize the market right now as 'hoping, but not hopeful'
Amy Wu Silverman, RBC Capital Markets head of derivatives strategy, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the latest market trends, what to make of the recent volatility, impact of tariff uncertainty, and more.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
Disney CEO Bob Iger Says WBD and NBCU Spinning Off Cable Networks ‘Gives Us an Advantage'
Two years ago, Disney chief Bob Iger floated the question in an interview on CNBC whether the company's TV channels — including ABC, the ABC station group, Disney Channel, NatGeo and FX — were no longer 'core to Disney.' On CBNC's 'Squawk Box' Tuesday, Iger was back for a talk with the network's David Faber. And this time, the Disney CEO positioned the conglomerate's stable of linear networks as an advantage over rivals. More from Variety Disney Closes Hulu Deal With Comcast, Paying Billions Less Than NBCU Was Seeking Who Is Gunnar Wiedenfels? WBD's Cost-Cutting Finance Exec Picked as CEO of New TV Networks Spin-Off Comprising CNN, TBS, TNT, Discovery+ and More Did David Zaslav's Grand Vision Fail? As WBD and Other Media Giants Move Pieces Around, They Can't Outrun the Cable Math Iger's comments came a day after Warner Bros. Discovery announced it would split the company in two, with one half comprising largely WBD's U.S. cable networks and the other consisting of its streaming and studios businesses. Comcast, meanwhile, has announced plans to jettison NBCUniversal's cable networks (excluding Bravo) into a new, publicly traded company called Versant by the end of 2024. One of the networks set to become part of Versant, incidentally, is CNBC. Regarding WBD and Comcast/NBCU's cable spins, Iger said that 'it's also interesting to us that as many others exit that business, I think it gives us a stronger hand to stay in that business. You know, we're very focused. We will have, interestingly enough, a linear television business that's paired with a streaming business. So, when you think about it, these spinoff companies won't have the assets from a streaming perspective that we will have. Again, I think that gives us an advantage.' Iger recalled, 'Two years ago, soon after I returned to Disney, I put everything on the table and asked the team to evaluate, one, whether we should buy Hulu or whether we should sell Hulu, whether we should sell our linear television networks or whether we should hold on to them. And after a pretty lengthy process internally and really taking a long look at what these properties could mean to us long term, we decided that the best course for us to take was to not only hold on to Hulu and buy it in its entirety but also to hold on to the linear television networks and to integrate them seamlessly with our streaming business because what that has enabled us to do is, one, aggregate revenue, both on the sub-fee side and on the advertising side. Now, there is still enough linear television subscribers to generate a significant amount of revenue in both cases, in advertising and in subscription fees. We program them seamlessly. We manage them in one organization, and so there's been great economies of scale in doing that. We also aggregate audiences for marketing purposes. And so, what we've determined is the combination of both is actually a winning combination for us. It's one of the things that's enabled us to turn the streaming business around from a huge loss to profitability, and over the next several years it will enable us to grow margins significantly on the streaming side because, again, the ability to amortize program costs and the ability to essentially aggregate audiences and revenue.' Also in the CNBC interview, Iger addressed Disney's just-closed Hulu deal with Comcast. He noted that if the third-party appraiser in the mediation had 'come up with a number that was closer' to that which Comcast's banker had picked, 'this could have cost us $5 billion more.' Instead, Disney is paying an additional $438.7 million (in addition to the $8.61 billion it already paid) for NBCU's 33% stake in Hulu. 'So obviously, we're very pleased with this result. But now we're focused on doing what we intended to do once we gain full control of [Hulu],' Iger said. 'And that's basically to put these apps together seamlessly, to create an experience for the consumer that's easier to use, easier to buy, to increase engagement, to lower churn, to grow subs, and ultimately to consolidate more and to save some money in terms of the operation.' So, we're very pleased with this result.'Best of Variety 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
What software earnings, the economy could signal for AI adoption
Oracle (ORCL) is among the top software companies prepping to report earnings this week, the cloud company is set to drop its fiscal fourth quarter results on Wednesday. RBC Capital Markets managing director of software Rishi Jaluria sits down with Josh Lipton for a conversation about the state of the software industry following President Trump's tariff wars, the sector's recession sensitivities, and the adoption trends in AI enterprises. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Asking for a Trend here. Oracle gearing up to report fourth quarter earnings tomorrow, giving investors more insight into the software sector, which has largely been considered as tariff resistant. Joining me now is Rishi Jaluria, Managing Director of Software at RBC Capital Markets. Rishi, it is great to see you, especially on set live here. Uh let me ask you this. Right, first question, big question I think for software investors who are listening right now, many might consider the the software sector, Rishi, which you know so well as relatively tariff resistant. Now that we've gone through earning season, you've read through those reports, Rishi, were in all those conference calls, is that your takeaway? Tariff resistance. I I think that's right. Josh, always great to be with you and especially in person in the studio. I think you're exactly right. I mean, the idea is you cannot actually tariff software as a service. There's there's no real mechanical way to do this. Um and and even if you think about it from a quote reputational standpoint, for most of the large software vendors out there, there aren't really good local alternatives to them as well, right? There aren't any good European alternatives to Microsoft or to Salesforce or anything like that. So I think we have been seeing that. However, what we also have been seeing is maybe some of the underlying cracks are this showing up, whether it's tariff, talks and uncertainty impacting the actual end customer base or whether it's just uncertainty leading to some issues overall as well. So and those those cracks you're pointing out, in your opinion, Rishi, are those are those priced in at these levels? You know, candidly, I don't think they are. Uh you know, if you look at it, the software index, the IGV, which is what we use to track, um is at basically near all-time highs in spite of the fact that we are introducing a lot of uncertainty into the equation. We don't know how this is going to play out, but I'm already starting to pick up in my conversations increased deal scrutiny, longer sales cycles. Um there's definitely some of that sort of issue. And I think initially when we went through, especially the March quarter end earnings, it seemed like things were fine, but I worry that some of those cracks were offset by pulled forward business. And now, I think we're going to see a little bit of that. I'm worried that just numbers and expectations may be a little bit higher than where they're actually going to shake out. And so I think we have to it's a stock picker's market. We have to pick and choose our spots too. Let me ask you, we talked about tariffs. Uh what about the macro? What about expectations of slowing economic growth? That that impacts your coverage universe how, Rishi? Uh absolutely. And and look, I mean, I think even when we think about recession sensitivity, we we've written a lot on this topic, even relative to recessions, software should be a little bit more resilient than other areas of of the economy. It is a secular growth driver of really the global economy. Uh we're still in very early stages on digital transformation. And by the way, the last time we had a really major recession going back to 08-09, it actually accelerated cloud adoption. And we're now in the middle of a new paradigm shift, which is AI. And you know, there is a case to be made, especially when you think about efficiency gains and cost savings that maybe, God forbid if we do hit an economic slowdown, it may actually accelerate AI adoption. Let's talk more about AI. What does AI adoption in the enterprise look like right now? What are the trends? Yeah, look, the trends are are I would say twofold. Number one is we are actually seeing not just up into the right, but I think we've seen an inflection in enterprise AI demand really over the past six months and nine months. And I think it's a function of the technology has just gotten better, the use cases are there, there's more urgency from companies and boards. But also I think the other really interesting trend that we're starting to pick up on is we're seeing adoption of AI in kind of more quote traditional industries because you'd expect the technology sector to see huge AI demand, you'd expect financial services to kind of follow behind that, but we're seeing it in industrials and manufacturing, retail, healthcare, food services. And I think that's because of this viewpoint that can generate real margin expansion. So if anything, the adoption of AI is maybe tracking ahead of previous technological waves.
CNBC
17 hours ago
- CNBC
Dave's Hot Chicken CEO shares the No. 1 red flag he sees in employees—it can be a fireable offense
When it comes to company culture, Bill Phelps, the CEO of Dave's Hot Chicken and former CEO of Wetzel's Pretzels, doesn't compromise. The 69-year-old CEO says the biggest red flag he looks out for when running his business is "toxic" people — those who lack the empathy to support their teams and the generosity to share their success with others. It's an offense that can even lead to termination, he says. "I take no pride in firing people, but I take pride in having an incredible culture," Phelps tells CNBC Make It. "You have to do the things that are necessary to maintain that incredible culture." Toxic people will show up in every organization, Phelps says: "It's human nature." While tolerance for difficult behavior may vary, Phelps says he's learned from experience that the best approach is to adopt a zero-tolerance policy. That's because "the toxic tone is contagious," Phelps says. It's up to a manager, or CEO, to spot toxic behavior and take the necessary steps to eliminate it quickly while promoting and investing in employees who foster a positive culture, he adds. Since taking the helm of Dave's Hot Chicken in 2019, Phelps has grown the Pasadena, California-based company from a single store to over 300 locations globally. The company has also sold the rights to about 1,000 more locations, Phelps told CNBC's "Squawk Box" last week. Phelps also says he's not afraid to ask franchisees to leave the organization if he feels it's necessary — often through an honest conversation that gives a store operator the chance to sell their business rather than being forced out, he says. "That's a tough conversation, but it's the right conversation for the whole system," Phelps says. Phelps says toxic employees lack generosity and positivity in the workplace, but there may be other warning flags as well. Tom Gimbel, CEO of staffing and recruiting firm LaSalle Network, looks out for entitled employees that expect a promotion or a raise without going the extra mile. Meanwhile, Talia Fox, CEO of executive consulting firm KUSI Global, says her biggest red flag is employees who refuse to take responsibility for their mistakes and instead blame others, the CEOs said in 2024. "Owning your mistakes and having a high level of integrity is so critical," Fox said. "Just show up and have some honesty around it."
