Netflix Diversifies into Gaming and Microsoft Teams Up with Epic Games

Goodbye September! Hello October and pumpkin spiced everything. So far for 2021, September seems to be the worst performing month with the S&P 500 down 4.7% from the close on August 31, 2021.

Netflix (NFLX) Acquired a Game Studio

Netflix acquired Night School Studio this week for an undisclosed sum. Night School Studio is known for popular games Oxenfree and Afterparty. Netflix has been looking for ways to diversify its revenue stream and leverage its Intellectual Property. In a blog post, Mike Verdu, head of games at Netflix stated, “We’re in the early stages of creating a great gaming experience for our members around the world. So we’re excited to announce today, Night School Studio is joining Netflix.” Netflix hopes these moves will make clients more “sticky” and will spend more time on their platform. Netflix also announced that five mobile games would be available in select European markets. Netflix shares were up over 2.5% on Wednesday after making this announcement.  

Microsoft ($MSFT) to Allow Epic Games Storefront in the Microsoft Store

Microsoft seems to be taking the exact opposite approach that Apple ($AAPL) took in dealing with Epic Games. This week, Microsoft announced a slew of updates to the Microsoft Store. One of those updates was that Microsoft will bring the Epic Games storefront to the Microsoft Store. Epic won’t have to pay any commissions to Microsoft as long as Epic has a payment system in place. We covered the court case between Epic Games and Apple in our market update two weeks ago.

Microsoft said in a statement, “It’s also about making sure our business terms are fair and help promote innovation.” The changes Microsoft proposed seem to be very consumer-centric.  

Lucid Motors ($LCID) to Deliver First Electric Vehicles in October

Lucid Motors said on Tuesday after the close that it will begin shipments of electric vehicles in October. Lucid went public via a SPAC in July 2021. There are several interesting facts around Lucid’s planned delivery of vehicles.

Firstly, most automobile companies are having to halt production of some vehicles due to the global semiconductor shortage.

Secondly, Lucid’s high end model the “Air Dream Edition” gets more miles on a single charge than the Tesla model S. The Air Dream Edition received a range rating of 520 miles from the EPA. That’s approximately 100 miles less than the Tesla Model S. The Air Dream Edition is priced at $169,000. Shares of Lucid were up over 7% on Wednesday.  

Micron ($MU) Warned on Current Quarter Revenue

On Tuesday, Micron Technologies warned that current quarter revenue will be below analysts expectations. Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra told analysts, “Some PC customers are adjusting their memory and storage purchases due to shortages of non-memory components that are needed to complete PC bills.”  

Analysts estimated current quarter revenue to come in at $8.57 billion while the company guided $7.65 billion, plus or minus $200 million. Cowen cut their price target on Micron to $80 from a previous target of $90. Shares were down 2% on Wednesday.  

US Debt Crisis Looms, Treasury Yields Rise

On Tuesday, Janet Yellen stated that the Treasury would run out of money on October 18 unless Congress suspends or increases the debt ceiling. Ten year Treasury yields moved above 1.5% on Monday and then moved even higher on Tuesday to over 1.55%. The move up in yields, combined with deadlock in Congress on the debt ceiling, caused a sharp selloff in risk assets on Tuesday and the Nasdaq 100 index was down 2.8% on Tuesday, the worst daily performance since March.

About the Writer

My name is Allen Spence and I have been working in the retail brokerage industry for over 16 years. I joined Alpaca in March of 2021 as a Brokerage Operations Consultant. Before joining Alpaca I have worked in a retail branch environment, call center for active traders, and spent over seven and a half years as the team lead on an equity trading desk for a large regional broker dealer. I’m excited to be at Alpaca helping bring the markets to investors worldwide. I live in Florida and enjoy traveling and spending time with my family.

About Alpaca

Alpaca is a globally distributed financial technology company that is democratizing global access to financial markets starting with our API-first stock brokerage. Alpaca offers commission-free stock trading via API, a suite of developer APIs for brokerages, advisors, and startups, as well as a market data API.

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