TNB Tech Minute: Softbank Posts First Annual Profit in Four Years - Tech News Briefing
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Victoria Craig: Here's your TNB Tech minute for Tuesday, May 13th. I'm Victoria Craig for the Wall Street Journal. Softbank today reported its first annual profit in four years. After expenses, the Japanese tech investment company booked a profit of $7.7 billion, helped in part by gains from its stake in T-Mobile US. The company has been pivoting to a strategy focused on bigger investments, especially as earnings improve and tech stocks march higher on advancements in AI. Elsewhere, at Microsoft announced it will cut thousands of jobs as it streamlines its management ranks. The company said less than 3% of its workforce or fewer than 7,000 jobs will be affected. Last month, Microsoft's CFO told investors the company's headcount was 2% higher than a year ago. She said the focus is on building high-performing teams and increasing agility by reducing layers with fewer managers. Microsoft's latest earnings beat analysts' expectations and showed revenue growth across its business segments. And finally, ESPN took the wraps off its highly anticipated streaming service called ESPN. It's priced at $29.99 a month. Set to launch this fall, the company says the new platform will give users access to all content on ESPN's TV channels, that includes professional and college football and basketball. Disney, which owns ESPN, will include the new sports streaming service in its bundle with Disney+ and Hulu for a cost of $35.99 a month. For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out Wednesday's Tech News Briefing podcast.
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