FIS - Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: Instagram's Threads

2023-07-05 06:37:55 ET

Summary

• Instagram's new app, Threads, is set to launch on July 6th, facing criticism for the amount of data it collects, including browsing and search history.
• Illumina may face a record fine from the EU for completing its purchase of cancer-screening company Grail without antitrust regulator approval, potentially costing up to $453 million.
• Private equity firm GTCR is reportedly in advanced discussions to purchase a majority stake in Fidelity National Information's Worldpay business, valuing it between $15 billion and $20 billion.

Listen below or on the go on Apple Podcasts and Spotify Instagram ( META ) puts Twitter rival app Threads on App Store with launch imminent (00:29). Illumina ( ILMN ) faces record European Union fine over Grail deal next week - report (01:42). GTCR in advanced talks to buy Fidelity National Information Services ( FIS ) Worldpay stake for as much as $20B - report (02:24).

This is an abridged transcript of the podcast.

Threads is a new app in Apple’s App store. It’s Instagram’s (NASDAQ: META ) answer to Twitter ( TWTR ).

In the app store the description says it’s coming soon and it’s expected July 6th. Yes, tomorrow.

Threads is described as a place “where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow."

But, Twitter's rival app is taking some heat…on where else…Twitter. Users have been pointing out the amount of data that is up for grabs by Meta including your browsing and search history.

Instagram also dropped an Easter egg about the new app. If you search Threads on Instagram, you’ll get a countdown with a personalized ticket.

Recent technical changes at Twitter ( TWTR ) from owner Elon Musk have frustrated some longtime users of the platform.

Monday, we told you here on Wall Street Breakfast about a rate-limit feature restricting how many posts users could view on Twitter.

This is also ahead of an apparent physical face-off between Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Elon Musk. If you checked out Monday's edition of Wall Street Lunch, our host Kim Khan told you the cage match could happen as soon as August.

Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN ) faces a record fine from the European Union as early as next week after completing its purchase of cancer-screening company Grail without the antitrust regulator's approval.

According to a Financial Times report on Tuesday, which cited people familiar with the matter, the fine may be as much as $453 million, or 10% of the company's revenue.

Illumina told the FT in a statement that they “disagree that the commission has jurisdiction to review the Grail transaction as well as with the premise of the commission imposing a fine." The statement went on to say that Illumina has “appealed the EU’s jurisdiction and will appeal any decision imposing a fine."

Private equity firm GTCR is in advanced discussions to purchase a majority stake in Fidelity National Information's (NYSE: FIS ) Worldpay business.

According to a Reuters report , which cited people familiar with the matter, the acquisition is expected to value the Worldpay business at between $15 billion and $20 billion.

GTCR outbid an offer from rival PE firm Advent International. A deal could be reached in the coming days where FIS would keep a minority stake in the business.

The report comes after FIS rose 6% on Monday after a Financial Times story on Friday that buyout firms were exploring purchasing a majority stake in its Worldpay unit at a valuation of more than $15 billion.

Other headlines to look out for on Seeking Alpha:

Microsoft likely to face antitrust investigation from EU over Teams practices

Paycom, Chipotle highlight Goldman's Rule of 10 stock screens

Best and worst performing healthcare IPOs of 2023, so far

Yahoo eyes comeback to public markets - report

Spotlight on Nathan's Famous stock after Hot Dog Eating Contest

U.S. stocks on Monday ended marginally higher to kick off the second half of the year.

Wall Street's major averages opened mixed and then fluctuated through the day, making small moves. The Nasdaq ( COMP.IND ) closed +0.21% while the benchmark S&P 500 ( SP500 ) settled +0.12% higher and the Dow ( DJI ) made a slight advance of 0.03%.

Of the 11 S&P sectors, nine finished trading in the green, led by Consumer Discretionary and Real Estate. Healthcare and Tech were the two losers.

Treasury yields were higher on Monday. The 10-year yield ( US10Y ) was up 4 basis points to 3.86% while the 2-year yield ( US2Y ) was up 6 basis points to 4.94%.

Market participants also received some economic data. May construction spending rose 0.9% on a M/M basis versus the consensus of +0.5%.

Now let’s take a look at the markets as of 6 am. Ahead of the opening bell today, Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are pointing lower. The Dow is down 0.3%, the S&P 500 is down 0.4% and the Nasdaq is down 0.5%. Crude oil is up 0.2% at more than $71 a barrel. Bitcoin is up 1.2%.

In the world markets, the FTSE 100 is down 0.6% and the DAX is down 0.6%.

On today’s economic calendar, there’s an OPEC meeting and at 2pm the latest FOMC minutes will be released.

And finally we’d like to hear from you. What would you like to hear more of? What do you want to hear less about on the podcast?

Let us know on Seeking Alpha, your favorite podcast platform or you can email us at PodcastManagement@seekingalpha.com .

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