Regulators are coming under pressure to improve pre-flotation disclosure of information to investors, following this week’s controversial listing of AO World, when shares in the online retailer jumped 33% on its first day of trading

Last updated: February 28, 2014 10:05 pm

Regulators under pressure over AO listing

By Andrew Bolger, Andrea Felsted and David Oakley

Regulators are coming under pressure to improve pre-flotation disclosure of information to investors, following this week’s controversial listing of AO World, when shares in the online retailer jumped 33 per cent on its first day of trading. Read more of this post

Apple’s television division, long dubbed a “hobby” by its executives, is now a billion-dollar business

Last updated: February 28, 2014 11:40 pm

Apple chief turns up TV ambitions

By Tim Bradshaw in Cupertino

Apple’s television division, long dubbed a “hobby” by its executives, is now a billion-dollar business, Tim Cook told investors at an annual meeting on Friday. Read more of this post

New enthusiasm for biotech

February 28, 2014 6:40 pm

New enthusiasm for biotech

By Andrew Ward, Pharmaceuticals Correspondent

A cure for cat allergies might not sound like the most promising starting point for the next stock market boom.

Yet many in the UK biotech industry are hoping the planned flotation this month of Circassia – a specialist in anti-allergy drugs – will mark the return to favour of a sector long shunned by British investors. Read more of this post

Some Puzzling Questions about Innovation in the Digital Economy

February 28, 2014, 12:32 PM ET

Some Puzzling Questions about Innovation in the Digital Economy

By Irving Wladawsky-Berger

Guest Contributor

This semester I am teaching the innovation half of a course on Entrepreneurship and Innovation at New York University’s new Center for Urban Science and Progress. Teaching forces you to take a fresh look at the subjects you are covering, so I find myself revisiting questions I’ve long been thinking about:  What is the essence of innovation in the digital economy and how does it differ from the industrial age innovation of the past 200 years? Read more of this post

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Has ‘High Customer Empathy,’ Says Former Boss

February 28, 2014, 3:57 PM ET

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Has ‘High Customer Empathy,’ Says Former Boss

By Clint Boulton

Reporter

When Microsoft Corp.’sMSFT +1.19% board picked Satya Nadella as the company’s next CEO, many people talked about his 20-plus years at Microsoft, his engineering skills, and his success building the Azure cloud business. But CIOs might like to know that the company’s new chief, who succeeded Steve Ballmer on Feb. 4, has a good ear for customer needs, says a former boss. Read more of this post

The Job After Steve Jobs: Tim Cook and Apple; From the moment he became CEO of Apple, Tim Cook found himself in the shadow of his boss

The Job After Steve Jobs: Tim Cook and Apple

From the moment he became CEO of Apple, Tim Cook found himself in the shadow of his boss

YUKARI IWATANI KANE

Feb. 28, 2014 8:40 p.m. ET

Author of “Haunted Empire, Apple After Steve Jobs”, Yukari Kane discusses what she’s learned about Tim Cook, Apple’s evolving relationship with its suppliers, and whether or not she believes Apple has lost it’s way since Steve Jobs’ death. Read more of this post

Apple CEO promises new products, says Apple TV no longer a ‘hobby’

Apple CEO promises new products, says Apple TV no longer a ‘hobby’

4:27pm EST

By Alexei Oreskovic

CUPERTINO, California (Reuters) – Apple Inc sold more than $1 billion of Apple TV set-top boxes in 2013 and is investing heavily in the next generation of products, Chief Executive Tim Cook said at the company’s annual meeting on Friday. Read more of this post

Autodesk Has Designs on New Business Model: The shift to subscription-based pricing should pay off in the long term.

Autodesk Has Designs on New Business Model

The shift to subscription-based pricing should pay off in the long term.

By Andrew Lange | 02-28-14 | 06:00 AM | Email Article

After fully digesting  Autodesk‘s (ADSK) fiscal 2014 results, we have taken a fresh look at the firm’s strategic business model transition and what it ultimately means for the company over the long term. While the company’s financial performance will be underwhelming (relatively speaking) in the short term given revenue recognition changes, we think Autodesk is well placed to benefit from its shift to more subscription-based, higher long-term value pricing models. We expect revenue growth to converge with 12% billings growth in fiscal 2018. Additionally, we forecast considerable operating margin expansion given the business model transition, with 30% non-GAAP operating margins in fiscal 2018, in line with guidance. In all, we have rolled our financial model forward one year, have become more confident in Autodesk’s ability to migrate clients to subscription-type pricing models, and see good spending across the company’s core markets. As a result, we have increased our fair value estimate to $51 per share from $38 and retain our Wide Economic Moat Rating. Read more of this post

Taking on the tele-garchs: Just as America bust its trusts a century ago, so Mexico needs to take on its near-monopolies in TV and telecoms

Taking on the tele-garchs: Just as America bust its trusts a century ago, so Mexico needs to take on its near-monopolies in TV and telecoms

Mar 1st 2014 | From the print edition

IN HIS second year in office President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico is admirably keen to develop a reputation as a cartel-killer. In December his reforms stripped Pemex, the state oil firm, of its 75-year monopoly. Last month he sent a bill to Congress raising the maximum jail sentence for anticompetitive behaviour to ten years. (He has even made some headway against the relentless drug cartels, as the capture on February 22nd of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Mexico’s most-wanted kingpin, attests—see article.) Read more of this post