Facebook Is Listening

By Hoda Mehr Thu, May 7, 2020

Hey Scoopers,

Retailers are starting to share their reopening plans, and the hope for an economic recovery kept the stock market rather neutral to the negative quarterly earnings news. — More on that in the “Overall Market” section.

Beyond the overall market, the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically increased the demand for digital communications and, practically, halted the selling of brand-new cars. — More on that in the “What’s Up?” and “What’s Down?” sections.

Oh, by the way, it seems that Facebook has started to listen to its users, in a good way. — More on that in the “Water Cooler” section.

But, first, here is a recap of what happened in the market yesterday:

Market Recap

• U.S. markets: The stock market indices didn’t agree on the direction but also didn’t move too much. Scroll down to the “Overall Market” section to read more.
• Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin’s price surpassed the $9,000 level. It seems that there is no stopping the price despite reaching the lowest number of node counts in the Bitcoin network, which can be an indicator of a lower adoption of the currency.

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Retailers’ Reopening Plans Are Emerging.

The stock market indices took the opposite direction, as the Nasdaq index ended the day in the green zone, and the other two indices finished it in red.

Another million-figure new unemployment claims report is due on Thursday. However, the talk of reopening the economy, and the reopening plans by big retailers continue to keep the hopes up.

Connecting The World Pays Off.

So, what happened?

Shares of Twilio (Ticker: TWLO) were up more than 28% on Wednesday after hours. The company “allows software developers to integrate messaging and communications functionality into existing or new applications,” and it announced its latest quarterly earnings report. It’s not surprising to see the staggering impact of the COVID-19 on the company’s performance, as digital communications are what keep the world connected.

The revenue was up more than 57% in the quarter, and the number of active customer accounts was up more than 23%. It’s noteworthy that the company is still not profitable, and it doesn’t generate free cash flow. However, the company’s solid performance and the transition to digital life has given investors double confidence in the future of Twilio.

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No One Buys A Car.

So, what happened?

Shares of Hyundai Motor Co (Ticker: HYMTF) were down more than 23% on Wednesday. The company announced its April sales results, and the number of cars sold in international markets painted a grim picture. International car sales were down by more than 62% compared to March, and by more than 70% compared to a year ago. The stock price decline is justified because investors can do the math and realize the staggering revenue loss figures that any car manufacturer has to deal with. No one buys a new car during a pandemic.

Facebook Is Listening, In A Good Way.

So what happened here?

At least, Facebook (Ticker: FB) is listening to people. Not in that creepy way that we are all scared of. Instead, the company has put in place and funded an independent board and will listen to its recommendations. The board that is co-chaired by law professors will review the company’s responsibility to remove certain types of content if they are tagged and reported by members.

This is very promising news. It looks like Facebook is slowly but surely moving toward creating a better digital village where there is some common sense governing the flow of information.

If you have any Facebook related comments, email us at members@tradestocks.com.

About the Author

The authors of this Scoop are the editorial team at Stock Card, led by Hoda Mehr. Hoda Mehr is CEO and Co-founder of Stock Card and the host of Renegade Investors podcast. She runs a community of 40,000 stock market investors and manages Stock Card's successful flagship portfolio, Roll with Our CEO, on Stock Card Portfolio Store. Hoda is an Economist with an MBA from Concordia, John Molson School of Business. She applies behavioral economics, data journalism, and storytelling to all aspects of her work. Before starting Stock Card, Hoda worked as a strategy and insights lead at technology companies including Symantec, Aimia and Sony. Create a free account to do your stock market research easily and mistake-free: Stock Card Stock Card