Connect with us

What Stocks To Buy Today? 3 FAANG Stocks For Your November Watchlist

FAANG stocks to know amid Facebook’s rebranding efforts.
The post What Stocks To Buy Today? 3 FAANG Stocks For Your November Watchlist appeared first on Stock Market News, Quotes, Charts and Financial Information | StockMarket.com.

Published

on

Are These The Best FAANG Stocks To Invest In This Week?

For investors eyeing the stock market this week, FAANG stocks could be an interesting play. After all, this group of stocks represents some of the biggest hitters in the consumer tech industry today. In essence, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google make up the acronym. Even as the press around Big Tech may be less than ideal, there is no shortage of coverage when it comes to these stocks now. This would especially be the case seeing as all the five companies have posted their latest quarterly earnings results.

To begin with, the biggest piece of news surrounding the FAANG stocks now would be about Facebook (NASDAQ: FB). The social media titan is reportedly changing its name to Meta. Accordingly, this would reflect the company’s increasing focus on building the metaverse, a virtual space for all manner of interactions. Subsequently, its stock ticker will also change from FB to MVRS on December 1. Because of all this, investor focus on metaverse stocks continues to rise and Meta appears to be leading the charge.

At the same time, we could take a look at Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). Now, the company fell short of analyst expectations in its third-quarter earnings report last week. However, the company does not have all its eggs in one basket. Aside from its industry-leading cloud computing arm, Amazon also reportedly holds a 20% stake in Rivian. For the uninitiated, Rivian is an upcoming player in the growing electric vehicle (EV) industry today. By and large, the FAANG stocks continue to make aggressive plays to further expand their long-term growth potential. With that in mind, could one of these three be top picks in the stock market today?

Top FAANG Stocks To Buy [Or Sell] Right Now

Apple 

Apple would be a key name to note among the FAANG stocks now. For starters, the company’s consumer tech empire continues to grow by the day. This is thanks to its comprehensive suite of devices working with its deeply integrated ecosystem of related services. For one thing, when it comes to consumer tech, most would agree that Apple is at the forefront. Even so, AAPL stock appears to be in an interesting position now.

To highlight, this would be due to the company’s latest quarterly earnings report. In it, Apple fell slightly short of analysts’ estimates for the quarter. The company posted an earnings per share of $1.24 on revenue of $83.36 billion. For some perspective, this is against projections of $1.24 and $84.85 billion respectively. Regardless of all this, the company did deliver solid figures overall. In detail, its iPhone revenue soared by 47% year-over-year while total revenue gained by 29% over the same time. All this alongside positive growth across the rest of its product categories suggests that Apple continues to press forward, albeit at a slower than anticipated pace.

According to CEO Tim Cook, the growing supply chain constraints remain a hindrance to Apple’s operations. Cook also noted that this would continue to be an issue in the coming quarter even as “Covid related manufacturing disruptions have improved greatly”. Nevertheless, Apple remains confident that it remains on track to have one of the largest quarters in its history, in terms of revenue. Overall, I could understand if investors are eyeing AAPL stock now as it faces short to mid-term headwinds.

NASDAQ: AAPL
Source: TD Ameritrade TOS

[Read More] Best Lithium Battery Stocks To Buy Now? 4 To Know

Netflix 

Following that is video streaming giant Netflix. As most would know, the company offers consumers across the globe access to streaming content. Through its subscription-based model, the customers have access to Netflix’s award-winning portfolio of programming. The likes of which include a healthy mix of its homegrown content and the hottest series globally. Notably, Netflix has and continues to appeal to the masses throughout the pandemic. This is especially evident given its recent hot streak with foreign language-based series.

Among its latest hits would be Squid Game, a South Korean dystopian show. To begin with, it is now Netflix’s largest show to date in terms of viewership. Within the first four weeks since its launch, over 142-million-member households have watched Squid Game, according to Netflix. Not to mention, the series has and continues to be a subject of focus in pop culture today. So much so that there is now an independently established Squid Game cryptocurrency that goes by the ticker SQUID. All this alongside the company’s increasingly relevant services amidst cord-cutting trends continues to drive hype around Netflix across the board. Evidently, NFLX stock appears to be trading towards record heights thanks to the company’s latest quarterly results among other things.

To recap, Netflix posted a quarterly earnings per share of $3.19, smashing Wall Street’s consensus estimates of $2.56. Aside from that, the company also raked in a cool 4.4 million new subscribers in the quarter, ahead of projections of 3.84 million. All in all, Netflix continues to power through concerns of subscriber growth slowing amidst the economy reopening. Could all this make NFLX stock a top buy for you this week?

NASDAQ NFLX
Source: TD Ameritrade TOS

[Read More] Top Reddit Stocks To Buy Right Now? 5 For Your Late 2021 Watchlist

Alphabet 

Next, we will be taking a look at Alphabet. Precisely, the company’s subsidiary Google is the main focus for today. Among its FAANG stock peers, GOOGL stock continues to lead the pack in terms of year-to-date gains. Accordingly, this is thanks to its wide array of mostly software-related services. Hence, explaining why its overall results are mostly unaffected by the ongoing global supply chain bottlenecks.

Last week, the company posted stellar figures in its third-quarter earnings report. In it, Google saw an earnings per share of $27.99 on revenue of $65.12 billion. More importantly, it exceeded analyst projections of $23.48 and $63.34 billion respectively by a fair amount. In terms of year-over-year growth, Google saw its net income soar 68%.

Namely, the company cited continued strength in its core advertisement division as a core growth driver for the quarter. For a sense of scale, Google’s ad revenue for the quarter came in at a whopping $53.13 billion. This marks a solid 43% year-over-year increase. Given Google’s current momentum, will you be adding GOOGL stock to your portfolio now?

NASDAQ GOOGL
Source: TD Ameritrade TOS


The post What Stocks To Buy Today? 3 FAANG Stocks For Your November Watchlist appeared first on Stock Market News, Quotes, Charts and Financial Information | StockMarket.com.

Read More

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

Pharma industry reputation remains steady at a ‘new normal’ after Covid, Harris Poll finds

The pharma industry is hanging on to reputation gains notched during the Covid-19 pandemic. Positive perception of the pharma industry is steady at 45%…

Published

on

The pharma industry is hanging on to reputation gains notched during the Covid-19 pandemic. Positive perception of the pharma industry is steady at 45% of US respondents in 2023, according to the latest Harris Poll data. That’s exactly the same as the previous year.

Pharma’s highest point was in February 2021 — as Covid vaccines began to roll out — with a 62% positive US perception, and helping the industry land at an average 55% positive sentiment at the end of the year in Harris’ 2021 annual assessment of industries. The pharma industry’s reputation hit its most recent low at 32% in 2019, but it had hovered around 30% for more than a decade prior.

Rob Jekielek

“Pharma has sustained a lot of the gains, now basically one and half times higher than pre-Covid,” said Harris Poll managing director Rob Jekielek. “There is a question mark around how sustained it will be, but right now it feels like a new normal.”

The Harris survey spans 11 global markets and covers 13 industries. Pharma perception is even better abroad, with an average 58% of respondents notching favorable sentiments in 2023, just a slight slip from 60% in each of the two previous years.

Pharma’s solid global reputation puts it in the middle of the pack among international industries, ranking higher than government at 37% positive, insurance at 48%, financial services at 51% and health insurance at 52%. Pharma ranks just behind automotive (62%), manufacturing (63%) and consumer products (63%), although it lags behind leading industries like tech at 75% positive in the first spot, followed by grocery at 67%.

The bright spotlight on the pharma industry during Covid vaccine and drug development boosted its reputation, but Jekielek said there’s maybe an argument to be made that pharma is continuing to develop innovative drugs outside that spotlight.

“When you look at pharma reputation during Covid, you have clear sense of a very dynamic industry working very quickly and getting therapies and products to market. If you’re looking at things happening now, you could argue that pharma still probably doesn’t get enough credit for its advances, for example, in oncology treatments,” he said.

Read More

Continue Reading

Spread & Containment

I created a ‘cosy game’ – and learned how they can change players’ lives

Cosy, personal games, as I discovered, can change the lives of the people who make them and those who play them.

Published

on

By

Cosy games exploded in popularity during the pandemic. Takoyaki Tech/Shutterstock

The COVID pandemic transformed our lives in ways many of us are still experiencing, four years later. One of these changes was the significant uptake in gaming as a hobby, chief among them being “cosy games” like Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020).

Players sought comfort in these wholesome virtual worlds, many of which allowed them to socialise from the safety of their homes. Cosy games, with their comforting atmospheres, absence of winning or losing, simple gameplay, and often heartwarming storylines provided a perfect entry point for a new hobby. They also offered predictability and certainty at a time when there wasn’t much to go around.

Cosy games are often made by small, independent developers. “Indie games” have long been evangelised as the purest form of game development – something anyone can do, given enough perseverance. This means they can provide an entry point for creators who hadn’t made games before, but were nevertheless interested in it, enabling a new array of diverse voices and stories to be heard.

In May 2020, near the start of the pandemic, the small poetry game A Solitary Spacecraft, which was about its developer’s experience of their first few months in lockdown, was lauded as particularly poignant. Such games showcase a potential angle for effective cosy game development: a personal one.

Personal themes are often explored through cosy games. For instance, Chicory and Venba (both released in 2023) tackle difficult topics like depression and immigration, despite their gorgeous aesthetics. This showcases the diversity of experiences on display within the medium.

However, as the world emerges from the pandemic’s shadow, the games industry is facing significant challenges. Economic downturns and acquisitions have caused large layoffs across the sector.

Historically, restructurings like these, or discontent with working conditions, have led talented laid-off developers to create their own companies and explore indie development. In the wake of the pandemic and the cosy game boom, these developers may have more personal stories to tell.

Making my own cosy game

I developed my own cosy and personal game during the pandemic and quickly discovered that creating these games in a post-lockdown landscape is no mean feat.

What We Take With Us (2023) merges reality and gameplay across various digital formats: a website, a Discord server that housed an online alternate reality game and a physical escape room. I created the game during the pandemic as a way to reflect on my journey through it, told through the videos of game character Ana Kirlitz.

The trailer for my game, What We Take With Us.

Players would follow in Ana’s footsteps by completing a series of ten tasks in their real-world space, all centred on improving wellbeing – something I and many others desperately needed during the pandemic.

But creating What We Take With Us was far from straightforward. There were pandemic hurdles like creating a physical space for an escape room amid social distancing guidelines. And, of course, the emotional difficulties of wrestling with my pandemic journey through the game’s narrative.

The release fared poorly, and the game only garnered a small player base – a problem emblematic of the modern games industry.

These struggles were starkly contrasted by the feedback I received from players who played the game, however.

This is a crucial lesson for indie developers: the creator’s journey and the player’s experience are often worlds apart. Cosy, personal games, as I discovered, can change the lives of those who play them, no matter how few they reach. They can fundamentally change the way we think about games, allow us to reconnect with old friends, or even inspire us to change careers – all real player stories.

Lessons in cosy game development

I learned so much about how cosy game development can be made more sustainable for creators navigating the precarious post-lockdown landscape. This is my advice for other creators.

First, collaboration is key. Even though many cosy or personal games (like Stardew Valley) are made by solo creators, having a team can help share the often emotional load. Making games can be taxing, so practising self-care and establishing team-wide support protocols is crucial. Share your successes and failures with other developers and players. Fostering a supportive community is key to success in the indie game landscape.

Second, remember that your game, however personal, is a product – not a reflection of you or your team. Making this distinction will help you manage expectations and cope with feedback.

Third, while deeply considering your audience may seem antithetical to personal projects, your game will ultimately be played by others. Understanding them will help you make better games.

The pandemic reignited the interest in cosy games, but subsequent industry-wide troubles may change games, and the way we make them, forever. Understanding how we make game creation more sustainable in a post-lockdown, post-layoff world is critical for developers and players alike.

For developers, it’s a reminder that their stories, no matter how harrowing, can still meaningfully connect with people. For players, it’s an invitation to embrace the potential for games to tell such stories, fostering empathy and understanding in a world that greatly needs it.


Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.


Adam Jerrett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Read More

Continue Reading

Government

The SNF Institute for Global Infectious Disease Research announces new advisory board

From identifying the influenza virus that caused the pandemic of 1918 to developing vaccines against pneumococcal pneumonia and bacterial meningitis in…

Published

on

From identifying the influenza virus that caused the pandemic of 1918 to developing vaccines against pneumococcal pneumonia and bacterial meningitis in the 1970s, combating infectious disease has a rich history at Rockefeller. That tradition continues as the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Institute for Global Infectious Disease Research at Rockefeller University (SNFiRU) caps a successful first year with the establishment of a new advisory board.

Credit: Lori Chertoff/The Rockefeller University

From identifying the influenza virus that caused the pandemic of 1918 to developing vaccines against pneumococcal pneumonia and bacterial meningitis in the 1970s, combating infectious disease has a rich history at Rockefeller. That tradition continues as the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Institute for Global Infectious Disease Research at Rockefeller University (SNFiRU) caps a successful first year with the establishment of a new advisory board.

This international advisory board was created in part to give guidance on how to best use SNFiRU’s resources, as well as bring forward innovative ideas concerning new avenues of research, public education, community engagement, and partnership projects.

SNFiRU was established to strengthen readiness for and response to future health crises, building on the scientific advances and international collaborations forged in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Launched with a $75 million grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) as part of its Global Health Initiative (GHI), the institute provides a framework for international scientific collaboration to foster research innovations and turn them into practical health benefits.

SNFiRU’s mission is to better understand the agents that cause infectious disease and to lower barriers to treatment and prevention globally. To speed this work, the institute launched numerous initiatives in its inaugural year. For instance, SNFiRU awarded 31 research projects in 29 different Rockefeller laboratories for over $5 million to help get collaborative new research efforts off the ground. SNFiRU also supports the Rockefeller University Hospital, where clinical studies are conducted, and brought on board its first physician-scientist through Rockefeller’s Clinical Scholars program. “One of the surprises was the scope of interest from Rockefeller scientists in using their talents to tackle important infectious disease problems,” says Charles M. Rice, Maurice R. and Corinne P. Greenberg Professor in Virology at Rockefeller and director of SNFiRU. “The research topics range from the biology of infectious agents to the dynamics of the immune response to pathogens, and also include a number of infectious disease-adjacent studies.”

In the past 12 months, SNFiRU often brought together scientists studying different aspects of infectious disease as a way to spur new collaborations. In addition to hosting its first annual day-long symposium, SNFiRU initiated a Young Scientist Forum for students and post-doctoral fellows to meet regularly, facilitating cross-laboratory thinking. A bimonthly seminar series has also been established on campus.

Another aim of SNFiRU is to develop relationships with community-based organizations, as well as design and participate in community-engaged research, with a focus on low-income and minority communities. To that end, SNFiRU is helping develop a research project on Chagas disease, a tropical parasitic infection prevalent in Latin America that can cause congestive heart failure and gastrointestinal complications if left untreated. The project will bring together clinicians practicing at health centers in New York, Florida, Texas, and California and basic scientists from multiple institutions to help the communities that are most impacted.

“The SNFiRU international advisory board convenes globally recognized leaders with distinguished biomedical expertise, unrivalled experience in pandemic preparedness and response, and a shared commitment to translating scientific advancements into equitably distributed benefits in real-world settings,” says SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos. “The advisory board will advance the institute’s indispensable mission, which SNF is proud to support as a key part of our Global Health Initiative, and we look forward to seeing breakthroughs in the lab drive better outcomes in lives around the globe.”

The new advisory board will hold its first meeting on April 11th, 2024, following the second annual SNF Institute for Global Infectious Disease Research Symposium at Rockefeller.

Its members are: Rafi Ahmed of Emory University School of Medicine, Cori Bargmann of The Rockefeller University, Yasmin Belkaid of the Pasteur Institute, Anthony S. Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Peter Hotez of Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Esper Kallas of of the Butantan Institute, Sharon Lewin of the University of Melbourne Doherty Institue, Carl Nathan of Weill Cornell Medicine, Rino Rappuoli of Fondazione Biotecnopolo di Siena and University of Siena, and Herbert “Skip” Virgin of Washington University School of Medicine and UT Southwestern Medical Center.


Read More

Continue Reading

Trending