The biggest highlight of the week arguably was Intel’s purchase of Mobileye.
Reaction in the stock market was muted, with the shares of the US-based behemoth essentially unchanged since the announcement, but it is possible to speculate that Intel stock remains undervalued at current levels.
Surely, the acquirer paid a massive premium given the headline multiples associated to the transaction — the target was snapped up for about $15bn, but it generated only $358m of revenue and $191m of Ebitda in 2016. However, its growth rate has been sensational in recent years, and Intel possibly decided to bid up also because Mobileye has also become profitable in past 24 months.
Chief executive Brian Krzanich noted that Intel provides critical foundational technologies for autonomous driving including plotting the car’s path and making real-time driving decisions, while Mobileye brings the industry’s best automotive-grade computer vision and strong momentum with automakers and suppliers.
“Together, we can accelerate the future of autonomous driving with improved performance in a cloud-to-car solution at a lower cost for automakers,” he added.
Meanwhile, Tech Crunch pointed out that the deal represents “the biggest-ever acquisition of an Israeli tech company,” while flagging that Intel’s autonomous driving division will be based in Israel.
Another sign that we live in a cash-rich world where innovation plays a pivotal role came from Tesla, which wrapped up another fundraising worth over $1bn, raising more money than it planned initially.
Elsewhere, privacy issues and data exploitation were other trending topics in the past few days, which were also characterised by mounting cyber security concerns.
Trending Tech: Google
- Allo App Spurs Privacy Concern (RE/Code, 13/3/2017)
- Discover The Latest About Payments Via Gmail Apps (The Verge, 14/3/2017)
- Parenting Is Easy With Google (Cnet, 15/3/2017)
- Heard About DeepMind & Data Exploitation In The UK? (Springer, 16/3/2017)
Key highlight of the week:
Trending Tools/Digital: Twitter, Telegram, FB, Uber, Yahoo…
- Twitter Woes Deepen (The Guardian, 15/3/2017)
- About Hackers, Telegram & Whatsapp (Check Point, 15/3/2017)
- Uber Drivers Get An Upgrade? (Engadget, 15/3/2017)
- Yahoo Hack 2014 Grabs The Headlines (US Department Of Justice, 15/3/2017)
Key highlight of the week:
Trending Finance: Intel, Adobe, Snap, GOPro, Toshiba, Apple, Tesla…
- Intel Acquires Mobileye (Financial Times, 13/5/2017)
- Abode Beats Estimates, Shares Surge (RTTNews, 16/3/2017)
- Snap Drops Below $20 A Share (Seeking Alpha, 16/3/2017)
- GOPro Cuts More Jobs (CNBC, 16/3/2017)
- Toshiba Struggles (Fortune, 17/3/2017)
- Apple‘s R&D Plans In China (Bloomberg, 17/3/2017)
- Tesla Wraps New Funding Round (Reuters, 17/3/2017)
Key highlight of the week:
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