Investment Week (March 28)
Global dealmaking has dropped “to its lowest level since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic…. Just over $1trn of deals were struck in the first quarter of 2022, nearly a quarter less than the same period last year.” Primary factors behind slowing M&A activity appear to be “tougher regulations on both sides of the Atlantic, soaring inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
Tags: 2022, COVID-19, Dealmaking, Global, Inflation, M&A, Outbreak, Pandemic, Q1, Regulation, Russia, Slowing, Soaring, Tougher, Ukraine, War
Wall Street Journal (April 27)
“With the comeback in financial markets this year, we probably should have seen it coming. But the headline rebound in first quarter growth to 3.2% reported Friday is still a pleasant surprise that shows again that the U.S. economy is remarkably resilient when government doesn’t get in the way.”
Tags: Comeback, Economy, Financial markets, Government, Q1, Rebound, Resilient, U.S.
Reuters (April 28)
“Global shipments of smartphones shrank 3 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier in the market’s first year-on-year contraction on record…reflecting growing strains on the industry.” Q1 shipments dropped to 334.6 million devices from 345 million in 2015.
Tags: Contraction, Industry, Q1, Record, Shipments, Shrank, Smartphones, Strains
Financial Times (April 27)
While Japanese companies benefit from currency gains on overseas sales, U.S. companies are feeling the heat. “A surge in the US dollar has already wiped more than $20bn from first quarter sales at the largest US companies, a sum larger than revenues generated by Intel, Caterpillar or Goldman Sachs in the first three months of the year.” The figure could potentially double as Q1 reporting in the U.S. was still near the halfway mark.
Tags: Caterpillar, Currency gains, Dollar, Goldman Sachs, Intel, Japan, Overseas sales, Q1, U.S.
