 Disney reported its Q1 FY 2022 earnings on Wednesday after market close, beating analysts’ expectations across the board. The company reported revenue of $21.81B, a 34% increase YoY. Net income came in at $1.15B or $1.06 a share. During the company’s earnings call, CEO Bob Chapek noted Disney+ releases would continue to play a significant role in the company’s distribution of original content. Chapek stated he does not believe theatre releases are the only way to build the Disney franchise. More: - Disney’s parks, experiences, and consumer products unit reported $7.2B in revenue, over a 100% increase YoY.
- The company added 12 million Disney+ subscriptions in Q1, bringing the total of subscribers to 129.8 million.
- Average revenue per user for the U.S. and Canada came in at $6.68 per month.
- The company plans to spend between $800M and $1B on programing and production expenses in Q2.
- Disney shares jumped over 8% in after-market trading. It closed at $147.23 on Wednesday.
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Microsoft released a set of Open App Store Principles for its new app store for videogames on Wednesday. The tech giant noted its new platform would operate by a set of open-market principles. In a blog post, Microsoft President and Vice-Chair Brad Smith stated Microsoft would not use nonpublic data from its app store to compete with other developers. More: - The commitments come as Microsoft has been drawing scrutiny on its $69B Activision Blizzard deal, with regulators and developers raising antitrust and anticompetition concerns.
- Microsoft aims to ease the concerns of regulators and developers in hopes of getting the deal approved.
- In approved, it would be the largest deal in the tech industry to date and make Microsoft the third-largest game company in the world, behind Sony and Tencent.
- In the blog, Smith noted the new principles will apply not only to its new games marketplace but also to its Microsoft Store on Windows.
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 Image: Meredith IAC media group, led by Barry Diller, will stop publishing print versions of six of its magazines: Health, Parents, People en Español, EatingWell, InStyle, and Entertainment Weekly. The company will only have digital versions of these publications. The magazines are under Meredith Corp., a subsidiary of IAC. In a memo sent to employees, Meredith Dotdash CEO Neil Vogel said the change will result in about 200 job losses, ~5% of the company’s staff. More: - In October, IAC purchased Meredith Corp. for $2.6B, merging it with its existing digital publishing company Dotdash.
- Vogel noted the company plans to invest in its remaining print publications like Better Homes & Gardens, Southern Living, and People Magazine.
- The company plans to invest $80M across its various brands in 2022, including hiring more product, editorial, and design teams.
- Prior to its merger with Meredith, Dotdash had over 100 million monthly online subscribers across its various brands in finance, health, and lifestyle.
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KFC parent company Yum Brands released its Q4 and full-year earnings on Wednesday, beating analysts’ expectations on revenue but missing on earnings. The company reported Q4 sales of $1.89B, an 8% increase YoY. Q4 net income came in at $330M or $1.11 per share, down from $332M reported last year. Yum pointed to an increase in costs chipping away at its profits. Full-year sales came in at $6.6B, a 16% increase YoY. Full-year net income came in at $1.6B or $5.21 per share. More: - Yum Brands owns KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. It reported same-store sales rose 5% for KFC, 8% for Taco Bell, and 3% for Pizza Hut in Q4.
- The company added 1,678 gross units in Q4 and 4,180 gross units for the full-year 2021, a 6% increase YoY.
- Yum repurchased 5.6 million shares of the company’s stock at an average price of $128 a share, totaling $720M in Q4.
- For FY 2022, Yum expects same-store sales growth between 2% to 3% and unit growth between 4% and 5%.
- Yum shares closed at $127.70 on Wednesday, up ~2% for the day.
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 A message from SEEDINVEST Fuel your company’s growth engine with SeedInvest Whether your startup is in SaaS, consumer goods, e-commerce, or just about any other sector you could name, equity crowdfunding can help take your business to the next level. More than 250 companies have been funded through SeedInvest, and yours can too. Here’s what you need to know: - Equity crowdfunding and VC are not mutually exclusive
Companies that raised through SeedInvest went on to raise additional funds from big-name VCs like Greycroft, Menlo Ventures, Tiger Global, and more. - Your fundraise can draw attention in several ways
Launching a raise on SeedInvest has been a big attention-getter for many companies, boosting sales, signups, and media coverage. - You can raise millions of dollars
Startups are raising real money from real people through SeedInvest; the average fundraise was over $3 million in 2020. Find out more at inside.seedinvest.com and start your application, or refer a founder who’s building something big.
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 Image: Animoca KKR plans to join metaverse gaming company Animoca Brands' latest $500M fundraise. Animoca was founded in 2014 and makes blockchain-based games like car racing and tower defense. It is at a pre-money valuation of over $5B; investors include Sequoia China, Ubisoft, George Soros, and the Winklevoss twins. More: - This is one of a few blockchain investments KKR has made recently; in December, KKR was part of a $350M series D raised by digital asset platform Anchorage Digital.
- KKR, over the last few years, has moved its focus more on startups in addition to its traditional private equity business.
- KKR released its Q4 earnings on Tuesday, reporting a ~66% drop in earnings.
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Lyft released its Q4 and full-year earnings on Wednesday, beating expectations on revenue and narrowing its losses. The rideshare company reported Q4 revenue of $969.9M, a 70% increase YoY. The company narrowed its losses from $458.2M down to $258.6M, or 9 cents a share, in Q4. Full-year revenue came in at $3.2B, a 36% increase YoY. Full-year losses were $1B or $3.02 a share, down from $1.8B in 2020. More: - Lyft reported 18.73 million active riders in Q4, a 49% increase YoY but a drop from Q3’s 18.9 million riders.
- Q4 revenue per active rider came in at $51.79, up 14% YoY.
- Lyft reported airport rides more than doubled in Q4 compared to last year.
- Lyft expected Q1 FY 2022 revenue to fall between $800M and $850M.
- Lyft shares closed at $44 a share, up ~7% for the day.
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- Tesla is recalling 26,681 vehicles over defective windshield defroster software that makes the defroster not work properly.
- For the first time in history, Americans can bet on the Super Bowl football game. The NFL is expected to earn $1B a year by the end of the decade from deals with sports betting companies.
- President Joe Biden acknowledged Tesla for the first time during a White House event on manufacturing. Biden praised the EV maker for its investments in domestic manufacturing.
- Hyundai and Kia are recalling about 500,000 vehicles in the U.S. due to the risk of them catching fire spontaneously. Hyundai is recalling its 2016-2019 Santa Fe SUVs and 2014-2015 Tucson SUVs. Kia is recalling its 2016 Sportage SUV and 2016-2018 K900 sedans.
- Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy S22 smartphones on Wednesday. The base model price starts at $800, the Galaxy S22+ starts at $1,000, and the top tier Galaxy S22 Ultra with an S Pen starts at $1,200.
- 3D is the future of online shopping. With unlimited3D.com from Threedium, you can publish and share 3D & A.R. to the web with ease.*
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 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie is a Researcher at Inside. Her interests include finance, tech, and startups. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending music festivals, and traveling. Connect with her on Twitter @Ms_Omeo. |  | | 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 Ford. | |
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