This Week's Business Roundup Hello Readers! Welcome to this week's Business Roundup, where I summarize the top three business trends/stories of the week. Following our rule of three, this week we have: Tech Earnings, Battling Inflation, and Making Big Bets. Tech Earnings - This was an exciting week for tech earnings. We got releases from giants like Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta. Google's parent and Amazon reported record revenues and earnings, smashing analysts' expectations across the board, which saw their stock prices pop. Alphabet also announced a 20-for-1 stock split that will occur in July.
- Amazon reported revenue for its growing ad business for the first time, securing third place in the U.S. for ad revenue after Google and Facebook. Snap Inc, Snapchat's parent, reported its first profitable quarter, sending its stock price up over 60%.
- Meta, on the other hand, didn't fare so well. Facebook's parent missed on earnings, pointing to Apple's privacy software update. Meta also reported a slight decline in DAUs in Q4 for the first time in its history.
. Battling Inflation - The EU and the U.K. are battling rising prices much like the rest of the world. Inflation in the Eurozone hit a record high of 5.1% in January. Lithuania had the highest inflation rate at 12.2%, while France had the lowest at 3.3%.
- The Bank of England, the U.K.'s central bank, raised interest rates to 0.5% on Thursday. Four members had voted for a 50-basis-point increase, which would have raised interest rates to 0.75%. Consumer prices in the U.K. hit a 30-year high in December with an annual inflation rate of 5.4%.
Making Big Bets: - Investors are still making big bets across various sectors of the economy. Hedge fund Tiger Global has raised over $11B for its new venture fund – Private Investment Partners 15 (PIP 15), surpassing its initial target of $10B.
- The Women's NBA completed its first-ever capital raise, bringing in $75M at a $1B valuation, and ICEYE, a satellite imagery startup, has raised $136M in a Series D funding round led by Seraphim Capital. ICEYE did not share its new valuation.
Bonus: - A Russia-China solidarity can be a problem for the U.S. and its NATO expansion plans. Russian President Vladimir Putin met with China's leader Xi Jinping in Beijing before the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
What stories made your top three for the week? As always, I love to hear your thoughts on any of this week's stories. Feel free to reach out at vanessa@inside.com or on Twitter @Ms_Omeo. To see all Inside Business newsletters from this week, click here. Have a wonderful weekend! Vanessa
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 Amazon released its Q4 and full-year earnings on Thursday after market close, beating analysts' expectations across the board and reporting a $12B gain from its Rivian investment. The e-commerce giant reported Q4 revenue of $137.4B, a 9% increase YoY. Net income came in at $14.3B or $27.75 per diluted share, almost double the amount from a year earlier. Full-year sales came in at $469.8B, a 22% increase YoY. Full-year net income came in at $33.4B or $64.81 per diluted share, a ~57% increase YoY. More: - AWS reported Q4 revenue of $17.8B, a 40% increase YoY, and $62.19B for the full year.
- Amazon reported revenue for its growing ad business for the first time on Thursday. The segment reported Q4 revenue of $9.7B, a 32% increase YoY, and $31B for the full year.
- Amazon is now third in the U.S. market for ad revenue, after Google and Facebook.
- The company reported a $12B gain from its ~18% stake in EV startup, Rivian.
- Amazon currently employs over 1.6 million people worldwide.
- Amazon is expecting its Q1 FY 2022 sales to fall between $112B and $117B.
- Amazon shares jumped over 12% in after-market trading on Thursday. It closed at $3,152.79 on Friday, up ~13.5% for the day.
- Amazon added $191B to its market value on Friday, the biggest one-day increase in U.S. stock market history.
In related news: - Amazon said it would be increasing the price of its Prime membership from $119 a year to $139.
- The new Prime price will go into effect on Feb. 18 for new members and March 25 for existing members, marking the third price increase for Amazon Prime Membership.
- Amazon increased its Prime fee from $79 to $99 in 2014, from $99 to $119 in 2018, and the recent 17% hike from $119 to $139.
- Prime's monthly fee is also increasing from $12.99 to $14.99 per month.
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Apple will charge a 27% commission fee to dating app developers in the Netherlands who use an alternative payments platform on their app. The tech giant updated its payments policy for dating apps in the Netherlands following a Dutch court order. In December, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) told the iPhone maker that it could not restrict dating apps in the country from offering alternative payment options on its App Store and gave Apple until Jan. 15 to make the necessary changes. More: - Apple usually takes up to 30% in commission fee on all digital purchases on its App Store. This accounts for about ~20% of the company’s revenue.
- Apple announced that will still charge a 27% commission fee to dating app developers in the Netherlands who use an alternative payment option on its platform, noting this amount excludes any value related to payment processing
- Apple has other ongoing cases regarding alternative payment options in Europe and the U.S., most notably, its case with Fortnite maker Epic Games.
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 Tiger Global has raised over $11B for its new venture fund – Private Investment Partners 15 (PIP 15), surpassing its initial target of $10B. The hedge fund announced a new target of $12B and plans to close the fund in March. Tiger Global has already started making investments from the fund; last year, Tiger made more investments in private tech companies than any other firm. PIP 15 fund is gearing up to be one of the largest VC funds ever raised. More: - Last March, Tiger raised over $6.6B in VC funds, almost doubling its initial $3.75B target.
- According to a report from PitchBook, VCs raised a record $128.3B in 2021. Tiger signed over 300 deals in 2021.
- Tiger’s latest round points to continued demand for stakes in high-growth private tech companies.
- Andreessen Horowitz recently raised $9B across three new funds – Venture, Growth, and Bio.
- Insight Partners recently raised $20B, a 25% increase from its initial $16B target.
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Snap Inc., the maker of Snapchat, released its Q4 and full-year earnings on Thursday after market close, beating analysts’ expectations across the board and marking its first profitable quarter. The company reported Q4 revenue of $1.3B, a 42% increase YoY, and net income of $22.6M, or 22 cents a share. Full-year revenue came in at $4.1B, up 64% YoY. The company ended the year with a loss of $488M, down from almost $1B in losses in 2020. More: - Snapchat DAUs grew to 319 million in Q4, an increase of 54 million, or 20% YoY.
- Average Revenue per User (ARPU) – $4.06, up 18% YoY.
- Snap expects Q1 2022 revenue to fall between $1.03B and $1.08B and DAUs to fall between 328 million and 330 million.
- Snap shares jumped over 60% in after-market trading on Thursday. It closed at $38.91 on Friday, up ~59% for the day.
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 Image Credit: Amy Bushatz Kohl's has rejected a $9B takeover offer from a consortium led by activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP, saying the offer was too low considering future growth potential. The retailer also announced its board had adopted a shareholder rights plan, also known as a "poison pill," to wade off a potential hostile takeover. Kohl's noted the plan is effective immediately and good through Feb. 2023 to give the board time to review other potential offers. More: - Last month, Starboard offered to buy Kohl's for $64 a share in an all-cash deal, a 37% premium on the department store's closed price of $46.84.
- Activist investors Engine Capital LP and Macellum Advisors GP on various occasions have asked the company to either make significant changes, including changing its board members, or consider a sale.
- Macellum owns a 5% stake in the company, while Engine owns ~1% stake in Kohl's.
- Kohl's shares closed at $59.68 on Friday, up ~2% for the day.
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Ford Motor Company released its Q4 and full-year earnings on Thursday, missing analysts' expectations on earnings and revenue. The car company reported Q4 revenue of $37.7B, with $35.3B from its automotive sales. Q4 net income came in at $12.28B or 26 cents per share. Full-year revenue came in at $136.34B, with $126.15B from its automotive sales. Full-year net income came in at $17.94B or $4.45 per share, thanks in part to its ~12% stake in EV start-up Rivian. More: - The company missed its production targets for the year, pointing to the ongoing chip shortage.
- Ford sold 1.9 million cars and trucks in the U.S. in 2021, down ~7%.
- Ford expects full-year 2022 EBIT to fall between $11.5B and $12.5B.
- Ford's share price fell ~6% in after-market trading on Thursday. It closed at $17.96 on Friday, down ~10% for the day.
- Ford stock rose ~140% in 2021.
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- The U.S. added 467,000 jobs in January, according to a report from the Labor Department. Employers added over 6.6 million jobs to the U.S. economy in 2021.
- The Winter Olympics officially kicked off on Friday in Beijing with the opening ceremony at the National Stadium. Over 45,000 spectators attended the event.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin met with China's leader Xi Jinping in Beijing before the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. In a joint statement, both countries opposed NATO expansion and accused the U.S. and the West of fueling instability.
- Saudi Arabia plans to sell up to $50B worth of its Aramco shares, about 2.5% of the company. There are talks of a secondary listing in London, Singapore, or other locations.
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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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