Meta-Facebook asked the judge to dismiss the FTC’s antitrust complaint. He said no. 🙅♀️
Meta-Facebook asked the judge to dismiss the FTC’s antitrust complaint. He said no. 🙅♀️
Wednesday, 12th January 2022 by Gotrade
Hey Gotraders,
In case you weren’t aware, the FTC filed a complaint against Meta-Facebook (FB) last June.
What was the complaint about? The FTC alleged that Facebook held monopoly power in the U.S. personal social networking market with its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram. They also alleged that Facebook has a tendency to use market power to quash potential competitors before they could turn into true rivals.
What was the outcome of the initial complaint? The district judge dismissed the FTC’s initial complaint then, saying that the FTC did not adequately show that Facebook held a monopoly in social networking. But he left the door open for the FTC to resubmit its complaint with changes, which they did in August.
What did the judge rule now? On Tuesday, the federal judge said that the FTC's "significant additions and revisions" from its earlier filing met the threshold for the case to continue. While it is an overall win for the FTC, the judge did narrow the scope of the lawsuit, saying that the accusation that Facebook's policies around interoperability (which is the ability to smoothly move between competing social networks) cannot move forward. This is because Facebook abandoned a key policy around interoperability in 2018.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg - "Although the agency may well face a tall task down the road in proving its allegations, the Court believes that it has now cleared the pleading bar and may proceed to discovery… The FTC has now alleged enough facts to plausibly establish that Facebook exercises monopoly power in the market for [personal social networking] services."
Facebook’s response - “We're confident the evidence will reveal the fundamental weakness of the claims. Our investments in Instagram and WhatsApp transformed them into what they are today. They have been good for competition, and good for the people and businesses that choose to use our products.”
Why is this important? Meta will continue to receive unwelcome scrutiny as long as the case is ongoing. Meta could potentially end up having to spin off some of its most valuable assets. That would definitely have a monumental impact on everyone given the fact that we use apps like Instagram and WhatsApp on a daily basis!
📈 General Motors wants to get into the used vehicles market 🚗
Competition in the EV space is heating up with more and more companies announcing plans to produce their own electric vehicles. Companies need to get creative in order to remain competitive. So, what is General Motors (GM) doing?
They plan to venture into the second-hand vehicles market. They will be launching a shopping platform designed to boost used vehicles called CarBravo later this spring. When it comes to shopping, customers love choices! Similarly, CarBravo will give customers variety when it comes to buying used GM and non-GM vehicles.
Brilliant idea. Bravo, GM! 😉
Shares of GM closed at $61.46, up 0.64% for the day.
📈 Tesla sold a record number of cars in China in Dec 👏
Tesla (TSLA) sold a record number of cars in China for the month of December. They sold 70,847 cars for the month, its highest ever monthly output!
This brings the total number of cars manufactured in China in 2021 to 473,078. Tesla's December sales were 34% higher than November.
Analyst Adam Jonas from Morgan Stanley (MS) maintained an “Overweight” rating on Tesla and increased its price target from $1,200 to $1,500.
"Not owning Tesla means not owning the one company that could make all other EV names obsolete" - Adam Jonas.
Shares of Tesla closed at $1,064.40, up 0.59% for the day.
Top movers & shakers 🎢
What else is making headline news 📰
Dow rises 180 points, Nasdaq rallies for the second day as tech shares rebound.
FTC delays vote on Lockheed Martin’s (LMT) purchase of Aerojet for two weeks.
Citi (C) to exit Mexican consumer business as it pushes ahead with strategy revamp.
Pfizer (PFE) to cut U.S. sales staff as meetings with healthcare providers move to virtual.
United Airlines (UAL) cuts flights as about 3,000 workers call out sick from Covid.
How Amazon's (AMZN) battle with Reliance for India retail supremacy became a legal jungle.
Rivian (RIVN) misses 2021 production target of 1,200 Electric Vehicles - What you need to know.
Strike at Kroger's (KR) King Soopers stores was imminent as union talks fail.
Apple (AAPL) paid out around $60 billion to App Store developers in 2021.
CVS Health (CVS) raises 2021 earnings outlook, backs 2022 forecast.
Popular companies releasing earnings this week 💰
Wednesday: Wipro (WIT), IHS Markit (INFO)
Thursday: Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), Delta Airlines (DAL)
Friday: JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), BlackRock (BLK), Citibank (C), First Republic Bank (FRC)
A company’s market value may fluctuate considerably around the time that the earnings report is expected to be published. Stock prices may rise or fall according to analysts' speculative estimates, released prior to the actual earnings announcement.
The earnings season can be a time of great opportunity since better-than-expected figures could cause a company’s stock to greatly increase in value. Worse-than-expected results could have the opposite effect.
That’s all from us for now.
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