Finimize - ❗️ Microsoft has entered the metaverse

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Today's big stories

Microsoft is buying gaming giant Activision Blizzard for $69 billion
It might be time to dump your tech stocks, and our analyst has the perfect thing to replace them with – Read Now
Car sales in Europe fell for a sixth-straight month in December

Tutorial Level

What’s Going On Here?

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it’ll be buying gaming giant World of Warcraft-creator Activision Blizzard, so expect to see changes to in-game hints any day now.

What Does This Mean?

Like a squeaky-voiced teen with time to kill, Microsoft’s been getting seriously into the gaming thing recently. And it just unlocked its biggest achievement yet: the tech giant is set to buy Activision Blizzard for $69 billion in cash – around 45% more than the gaming company was worth before the announcement. The deal comes hot on the heels of Microsoft’s $7.5 billion acquisition of games maker Bethesda last year, and marks the company’s biggest purchase ever. Microsoft’s hoping it’ll do more than just help it compete with the likes of Sony too: it could enable the company to develop a metaverse that spans everything from gaming to office work.

Why Should I Care?

For markets: Investors are divided.
Activision’s stock jumped 31% after the news, which goes some way to making up for its near-30% collapse since allegations of misconduct rocked the company. That’s Microsoft’s problem now, which might be why investors sent its stock down 2%. Or maybe it’s not the ethical compromises that are going to keep them up at night, but the eye-watering wad of cash the company forked out – money that could've otherwise been used to reward shareholders.

Zooming out: Goldman’s mixed bag.
The deal was one of many that Goldman Sachs has worked on recently, which might be why the bank reported on Tuesday that revenue from its investment banking segment came in 45% higher last quarter than the same time the year before. But the company wasn’t short of shortfalls: its trading revenue slumped in line with lower market volatility, and its costs surged 23%. That led Goldman’s profit to fall by a worse-than-expected 13%, and investors weren’t happy: they initially sent its stock down 9%.

You might also like: How gaming stocks could 1UP the rest of the market in 2022.

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Analyst Take

The MVP Coming For Tech Stocks’ Top Spot

Stéphane Renevier, Analyst

What’s Going On Here?

A great portfolio is just like a great sports team.

If any of the players aren’t performing, you need to cut them for the good of the line-up.

And as we head into 2022, one of your most valuable players – tech stocks – doesn’t look like it’s fit to run the play anymore.

Tech stocks’ valuations are especially high right now, after all – even though their profits are more at risk than most from all-but-inevitable rising interest rates.

Fortunately, there’s a veteran asset waiting on the sidelines, ready to play ball.

So that’s today’s Insight: which asset you should draft in to replace your tech stocks, and five reasons you’d want to.

Read or listen to the Insight here

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