Disney released its Q1 FY2023 earnings on Wednesday, posting an 8% growth in revenue. The media and entertainment giant generated $23.5B in revenue. Net income from operations was $1.3B, 99 cents a share, up 11% YoY. During its earnings call, Disney announced it would lay off 7,000 workers as part of re-org and cost-cutting measures. More: - The company aims to transform its business by reducing expenses and putting creative power back in the hands of its content creators.
- This was Disney’s first earnings report since the return of CEO Bob Iger in November.
- Disney reported it lost 2.4 million Disney+ subscribers in the quarter, bringing its total Disney+ subscriber count to 161.8 million.
- Hulu had 48 million subscribers, up 2% YoY, and ESPN+ reported 24.9 million.
- Disney’s Parks and Experiences generated $8.7B in revenue, up 21% YoY.
- Disney’s shares jumped more than 8% during extended trading on Wednesday.
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On Wednesday, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Microsoft’s planned $75B acquisition of video game developer Activision Blizzard would harm U.K. gamers. The regulator pointed to Microsoft’s strong position in the cloud gaming market, noting the acquisition of Activision would further consolidate the tech giant’s power. More: - The CMA proposed several remedies, including Microsoft divesting Activision’s publishing unit, which owns the Call of Duty franchise.
- Microsoft could also sell off Blizzard Entertainment, which owns World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Starcraft.
- Another option that doesn’t involve the sale of any of Activision’s assets could include enforceable commitments by Microsoft to make Call of Duty and other games available to rival console makers such as Sony Group.
- Microsoft previously said it would make its Call of Duty game available to rival consoles for 10 years.
- The CMA said it would ask both companies to propose ways to ease its concerns and would make a final decision on the deal in late April.
- In a statement responding to the new development, Microsoft said it is committed to offering effective and easily enforceable solutions that address the CMA’s concerns.
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Uber released its Q4 and full-year earnings on Wednesday, posting its strongest quarter to date. The ride-hailing company generated $8.6B in revenue, up 49% YoY. Gross Bookings grew 19% YoY to $30.7B. Net income fell to $595M from $892M reported during the same period in 2021. More: - Uber reported Q4 Mobility Gross Bookings of $14.9B, up 31% YoY, and Delivery Gross Bookings of $14.3B, up 6% YoY.
- The company’s freight business posted $1.5B in sales for the quarter.
- Uber’s monthly active users rose 11% in the quarter to 131 million.
- Full-year revenue was $31.9B, up 83% YoY, and Gross Bookings for the year rose 28% to $115.4B.
- The company expects Q1 2023 Gross Bookings to grow 20% to 24% on a constant currency basis, or around $31B to $32B.
- Uber shares closed at $36.83, up more than 5% for the day.
NOTE: Inside.com founder and CEO Jason Calacanis is an investor in Uber.
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TotalEnergies has suspended its planned $4B investment in a green hydrogen project with Adani Group. The French oil and gas company said it was waiting for more clarity on Adani’s financial situation before proceeding with the deal. Adani Group was recently accused of widespread fraud by short-seller Hindenburg Research. More: - TotalEnergies is one of the biggest foreign investors in businesses connected to Adani.
- The company has invested about $3B with Adani, which includes gas distribution and solar projects.
- The $4B deal involved TotalEnergies taking a 25% stake in Adani New Industries Ltd as part of hydrogen co-development with Adani Enterprises.
- TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné said that although the companies have announced the joint project, nothing has been signed, and nothing will be signed until there is clarity on Adani’s financial standing.
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Fox Corp released its Q2 FY2023 earnings on Wednesday, reporting a 4% increase in advertising revenue primarily due to the FIFA Men’s World Cup. The company generated $4.61B in total revenue and $2.5B in ad revenue. Net income rose to $321M, compared to a net loss of $73M reported in the same period last year. More: - Fox Executive Chair and CEO Lachlan Murdoch said the company had a compelling fall sports schedule and an active midterm political news cycle.
- Murdoch added that the company will look for merger-and-acquisition targets more aggressively following the decision to cancel re-merger plans with News Corp.
- Fox announced a $3B share buyback plan, expanding its program to $7B.
- Fox shares closed at $33.21 on Wednesday, up more than 4% for the day.
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Alphabet shares fell more than 7% on Wednesday after Google's AI event, where the company showcased its new AI chatbot Bard. CEO Sundar Pichai announced Bard on Monday in a blog post, noting that Google will open up the technology to trusted testers initially before a broader rollout to the public. More: - Google's AI event was livestreamed from Paris, and the executives discussed some of Bard's capabilities.
- Bard is powered by the company's language model LaMDA or Language Model for Dialogue Applications.
- Google also showed AI improvements to its other products, including Maps and Google Lens.
- Google's event occurred a day after Microsoft held its own AI event at its headquarters in Redmond, Washington.
- Microsoft showcased new AI-powered updates to its Bing search engine and Edge browser.
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- Affirm laid off 19% of its workforce, or about 500 people, on Wednesday. The news came after the payments company reported weaker-than-expected Q2 FY2023 earnings on Wednesday. Affirm shares were down more than 15% in extended trading.
- Twitter went down for about 90 minutes Wednesday afternoon, with many users reporting getting a message that read, “You are over the daily limit for sending Tweets.” Twitter’s limit for the number of tweets a person can send a day is 2,400.
- The U.S. Navy recovered parts of a Chinese spy balloon that was shot down over the weekend off the coast of South Carolina. China has said the balloon was a civilian unmanned airship that was blown off course and is used primarily for conducting weather research.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed U.K. parliamentarians in Westminster Hall on Wednesday and asked for western fighter jets.
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 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie is a writer for Inside.com; she writes the daily Inside Business newsletter. Her interests include finance, technology, and entrepreneurship. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending concerts and music festivals, traveling, and exploring. Connect with her on Twitter @VanessaOmeo or on LinkedIn. |   | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 and 1972 Fords. | |
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