• Buffett Doubles Down On Apple
    Ahead of Apple’s latest earnings report, last month Berkshire Hathaway chief Warren Buffett more than doubled his holdings in the tech giant. “Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway also bought 120 million Apple shares,” CNBC notes. “At this point, Buffett owns $17 billion worth of the tech giant's stock.”
  • Disney Slimming Down Maker Studios Staff
    Disney is cutting 80 employees across its digital media unit, including Maker Studios. “The cuts … are part of a larger restructuring within DCPI’s content and media group, which has encompassed Maker since December,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. “The business, which is led by executive vp Andrew Sugerman and also includes the websites Oh My Disney and Babble as well as most of Disney's social media operations, is being rebranded as the publishing and digital media group.”
  • Tech Titans Slight Trump For Transgender Snub
    Taking another political turn, Silicon Valley executives are openly objecting to the Trump administration’s decision to rescind protections for transgender students. “Companies including Apple, Facebook and Microsoft released statements and tweets following the administration’s announcement on Wednesday to withdraw legal guidance put in place by the Obama administration in May.”
  • HP Boasts Strong Q1 Earnings
    For its fiscal first quarter, HP easily beat analysts expectations this week. “Revenue in the three months ended in January rose by 4%, year over year, to $12.7 billion, yielding EPS of 38 cents, excluding some costs,” Barron’s reports. “Revenue from ‘personal systems,’ the PC group, rose 10%, year over year, to $8.22 billion,” it notes. “In particular, notebook computer revenue was up 16%.”
  • Apple Stock Hits New High
    Apple stock reached a record high on Tuesday. “Apple rose nearly 1 percent on Tuesday and briefly passed the previous record of $134.54, set in April 2015,” CNBC reports. “The record-setting trading came after Apple set a new record closing high on Monday of $133.29 a share.” Meanwhile, “hitting a market capitalization of around $701 billion on Monday, Apple briefly crested the $700 billion level it last broke in February 2015.”
  • Silicon Valley Sees Sluggish Job Growth
    At least in the Bay Area, the tech sector isn’t quite booming. Rather, “Job growth in the nine-county region has dramatically decelerated,” The Mercury News reports, citing its own analysis of figures released by state labor officials and Beacon Economics. “Tech’s annual job growth throttled back to 3.5 percent, or 26,700 new jobs, in 2016,” it writes. “That’s much slower than the 6 percent annual gain of 42,300 jobs in 2015, or the 6.4 percent gain in 2014.”
  • VCs Salivating Over Cybersecurity Startups
    Last year, VC firms invested $3.1 billion in 279 cybersecurity startups, Bloomberg reports, citing fresh research from CB Insights. “That compares to $3.7 billion in 272 startups the year before and $833 million in 117 in 2010,” Bloomberg notes. “Venture investors are clamoring to back cybersecurity startups after record hacking last year and calls by U.S. President Donald Trump and other global leaders to do more to protect against digital attacks.”
  • Consumers Finding News In Funny Ways
    Consumers come across news when they’re actively seeking it out and when they’re simply happening upon it at about the same rate (39% to 36%), Nieman Lab reports, citing new research from Pew. In other words, “There does not seem to be one ‘best’ or most effective way to distribute news. The findings may be a little disappointing for news organizations that hope they stand out in a crowded news feed.”
  • Nearly 100 Tech Titans Defy Trump On Immigration
    Nearly 100 U.S. tech companies just filed a legal brief denouncing the Trump administration. “The amicus brief was filed late Sunday in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and emphasizes the importance of immigrants in the economy and society,” Bloomberg reports. “The companies originally planned to file the brief later this coming week, but accelerated efforts over the weekend after other legal challenges to the order.”
  • The New York Times Joins Snapchat Discover
    The New York Times is joining Snapchat’s Discover service. “From Monday through Friday, the Times will create a daily edition for Snapchat users in the U.S. and Canada that is based on its Morning Briefing,” Venture Beat reports. “For the Times, embracing Discover gives it a direct pipeline to around 150 million daily Snapchat users, a substantial number of them younger people.”
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