PayPal finally embraces cryptocurrencies with New York licence
Move comes as growing number of traditional financial services firms revisit virtual currencies
PayPal will soon begin offering support for cryptocurrencies, as the Silicon Valley payments company looks to capitalise on a resurgence of interest among consumers and traders in the likes of bitcoin and ethereum.
The New York State Department of Financial Services said on Wednesday it had granted PayPal a conditional “Bitlicense”, permitting it to trade and hold cryptocurrencies. In the coming weeks, PayPal plans to offer its US-based customers the ability to buy, sell and hold bitcoin, ethereum, bitcoin cash and litecoin, in partnership with New York-based fintech start-up Paxos.
PayPal told Reuters on Wednesday that its customers would be able to use cryptocurrencies as a funding source to pay at millions of retailers from next year.
“The shift to digital forms of currencies is inevitable,” said Dan Schulman, president and chief executive of PayPal. “We are eager to work with central banks and regulators around the world to offer our support, and to meaningfully contribute to shaping the role that digital currencies will play in the future of global finance and commerce.”
The move is the latest example of a more traditional financial services company revisiting virtual currencies this year. The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated a shift away from cash towards digital payments, both online and on the high street.
The price of bitcoin has gained steadily in recent months on elevated trading volumes, rising by more than 70 per cent since the beginning of January. This week, bitcoin was testing the $12,000 mark for the second time this year. However, prices remain far below the levels seen during the bitcoin frenzy of late 2017.
PayPal’s decision to embrace bitcoin and other digital coins has been eagerly awaited by the crypto community, as an opportunity to tap into the mainstream consumer payments market. PayPal and its social payments app Venmo have almost 350m active accounts around the world, making it one of the largest digital wallet providers outside China.
Until now, PayPal could be used only to transfer funds in and out of cryptocurrency platforms such as Coinbase but not hold or trade crypto directly within its own app.
PayPal’s stance on crypto has fluctuated over recent years. Last October, PayPal was the first of what would be several companies to withdraw from the Libra Association, as regulatory uncertainty clouded the Facebook-led cryptocurrency venture.
But earlier this year, in a letter to the European Commission, PayPal hinted that it was revisiting the market, saying it was “continuously monitoring and evaluating global developments in the crypto and blockchain/distributed ledger space”. It said it hoped the technology could “achieve greater financial inclusion and help reduce [or] eliminate some of the pain points that exist today in financial services”.
Meanwhile, PayPal’s main US rival Square has offered bitcoin support through its Cash app for more than two years. Square’s co-founder Jack Dorsey has long been bullish on cryptocurrencies. In August, Square reported that its Cash app generated $875m in bitcoin revenue during the second quarter of the year, up 600 per cent year on year, thanks to “growth in customer demand”.
Bob Iger invests in vegan dairy start-up Perfect Day
Disney’s executive chairman sees ‘enormous potential’ in group tapping into animal-free food trend
Bob Iger, Walt Disney’s executive chairman, has invested in alternative protein company Perfect Day, lending his name to a small start-up looking to replace an array of dairy products even before it has launched a mass-market product.
In his first such move since stepping down as Disney’s chief executive in February, Mr Iger will also join the board of Perfect Day, which has raised $360m from investors including Temasek of Singapore and Li Ka-shing’s Horizons Ventures.
He declined to say how much he had invested but told the Financial Times he saw “enormous potential” in the 150-person group. Its patented technology uses fungi, fermentation tanks and digital copies of cow DNA to create animal-free proteins that, it says, better replicate the texture and taste of dairy products than current alternatives.
“I certainly am mindful of the reputation I’ve established, and it’s my intention to not do anything that tarnishes that reputation,” Mr Iger said.
Perfect Day has so far commercialised just one product, a $5.99-a-pint vegan ice cream launched this summer. But it is targeting a wide swath of the dairy industry, from cheese to milk, and hoping to address the challenge of scaling up by working with established brands rather than attempting to sell directly to consumers.
Co-founders Ryan Pandya and Perumal Gandhi told the FT they were in advanced negotiations with several global food companies, and expected to announce partnerships with large ice cream and cream cheese brands in the coming months.
Investors have put record sums recently into competitors offering plant-based and cell-cultured alternatives to dairy products, eggs and meat, most of which have launched consumer brands, from Oatly oat milk to Impossible burgers.
Mr Iger said he could “open doors” for Perfect Day and would bring experience of brand-building and “operational excellence” from his time at Disney and Apple, which was his only other for-profit directorship until he left its board last year.
He predicted that growth in new, more environmentally sustainable food businesses would “explode” in the coming years. “I’m really betting on the potential that I see in this product and the potential I see in the founders.”
Mr Pandya said the company was not yet looking to go public but wanted to operate with the disciplines and profitability public markets would expect.
“We’re entering a potentially sensitive stage where most companies could make big mistakes,” Mr Gandhi said, adding that Mr Iger’s backing “just adds a layer of credibility to us”.
Disney has been grappling with a Covid-19 pandemic that has closed cinemas and cruise ships, stalled film and television production and cost 28,000 jobs in its theme parks. It is doubling down on the Disney Plus streaming service Mr Iger launched last year, which remains lossmaking but has gained more than 60m subscribers.
Mr Iger said he had been drawn to the idea of mentoring founders of “disruptive” businesses outside the media and entertainment industry where he has spent his career. “The last thing I need to do is to spend my time further disrupting businesses like that,” he said.
Papa John Is Bearish on Papa John’s
Pizza chain founder takes to Seeking Alpha to critique stock
The managerial food fight at Papa John’s International PZZA -1.25% has become even saucier.
It isn’t every day that a former executive takes to the internet to critique his ex-employer’s performance. But founder “Papa” John Schnatter, who resigned from the company amid a slew of controversy in 2018, did just that. He is bearish on the stock, as he wrote in an article posted to Seeking Alpha on Wednesday afternoon.
Like many investors, Mr. Schnatter is concerned about high valuations: Papa John’s stock trades at about 56 times last year’s earnings. He also noted other risk factors such as increased competition from independent restaurants as pandemic restrictions ease, as well as higher food prices.
There is a little more spice to this bear call, however: Other headwinds the company faces, as Mr. Schnatter sees it, include “lackluster pizza quality” and “limited pizza experience among leadership.”
Of late, investors seem to agree with Mr. Schnatter’s view of the stock. Shares are down nearly 25% since September. But current Chief Executive Rob Lynch might have a rejoinder: Even with that selloff, shares have risen 60% since Mr. Schnatter stepped down as chairman.
EXCLUSIVE-Ferragamo family explores stake sale to drive Italian fashion brand revamp - sources - Reuters News
21-Oct-2020 15:46:32
By Pamela Barbaglia and Claudia Cristoferi
LONDON/MILAN, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The family owners of Italian fashion house Salvatore Ferragamo SFER.MI have held informal discussions with financial investors to sell a minority stake within their holding firm, as they seek to turn around the luxury brand and cope with the fallout of COVID-19, five sources told Reuters.
The company's chairman Ferruccio Ferragamo, son of founder Salvatore who is now leading the shoe dynasty, held the discussions sometime after the summer, offering a stake of about 20% in the holding vehicle that controls the Milan-listed business, banking and private equity sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the matter is confidential.
A spokeswoman for the company - which has a market value of 2 billion euros ($2.37 billion) - denied that the Ferragamo family planned to sell the stake.
The sources told Reuters that the family is still in the preliminary stages of testing market appetite and that a deal might face resistance from investors since the family is not willing to give away any governance control.
EXCLUSIVE - FAMILY OWNERS OF ITALIAN FASHION FIRM SALVATORE FERRAGAMO SFER.MI EXPLORE MINORITY STAKE SALE IN HOLDING FIRM FERRAGAMO FINANZIARIA - SOURCES
Gapping down
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
- NFLX -5.4%, NAVI -5.1%, IRBT -4.4%, CNI -4.1%, THC -3.2%, IBKR -2.6%, AGR -2%
Other news:
- CRSP -11% (top-line results from the Company's ongoing Phase 1 CARBON trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of CTX110)
- APTX -7.1% (stock offering)
- PE -4.8% (PXD to acquire PE)
- REPL -4.5% (stock offering)
- RUN -4.1% (attributed to block trade pricing)
- CWST -3.5% (stock offering)
- AGR -2.9% (PNM Resources to be acquired by AVANGRID (AGR) for $50.30 per share)
- CENX -1.6% (issues WARN notice to employees at SC smelter)
- IFF -1.4% (to voluntarily delist shares on Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in Jan 2021)
Analyst comments:
- GSX -24.3% (downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse; tgt $71; also hearing of Muddy Waters report)
- GLPG -6.2% (downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman)
- WORK -5.4% (downgraded to Underweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley)
- FRO -2.6% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BTIG Research)
- PWR -2.1% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at DA Davidson)
- MOS -2% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup)
- EURN -1.4% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BTIG Research)
- OXY -1.3% (downgraded to Hold from Buy at Truist)
- TBK -1.3% (downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James)
- HXL -1.2% (downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets
- INSW -1.2% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BTIG Research)
Gapping up
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
- SNAP +23.1%, CALX +14.8%, TCS +9.4%, ERIC +8.3%, AN +8%, WDFC +7.3%, SCL +6.4%, USNA +5%, REXR +4.7%, UCBI +4%, LAD +3.8%, IPG +3.6%, HOPE +3%, HWC +2.8%, PNFP +2.8%, WGO +2.8%, FBC +2.7%, EVR +1.6%, TMO +1.6%, NDAQ +1.6%, CADE +1.5%, NEP +1.5%, AVY +1.3%, BKR +1.3%, ABT +1.1%, SLGN +1%, TER +0.9%, TXN +0.8%
Other news:
- PNM +7.8% (PNM Resources to be acquired by AVANGRID (AGR) for $50.30 per share)
- PRTA +6.6% (PRTA and RHHBY to advance prasinezumab into late-stage clinical development study in Parkinson's disease)
- ATNM +6.4% (awarded grant from National Institutes of Health to study Iomab-ACT targeted conditioning with CD19 CAR T-Cell therapy)
- XERS +5.9% (FDA grants Fast Track designation for XP-0863)
- OCX +5.1% (announces DetermaRx testing volumes more than doubled in Q3)
- TGTX +3.8% (granted FDA Fast Track Designation to the combination of ublituximab) GM +2% (introduces 2022 GMC Hummer EV sport utility truck starting at $112,595, according to CNBC)
- PSTH +1.2% (Michael Bloomberg in talks to sell minority stake in Bloomberg LP to Pershing Square, according to the NY Post)
- PHR +1.2% (prices underwritten public offering of 5,000,000 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $32.00 per share)
Analyst comments:
- PINS +8.2% (in sympathy with SNAP earnings report; names former DIS exec to board; also upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman and upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA Securities)
- AAP +1.9% (upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at Raymond James)
- PLAY +1.6% (upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James)
- JCI +1.5% (upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer)
- ALB +1.4% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC Securities)
- PAYC +0.9% (upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Mkts)