Atlassian acquires Loom in A$1.5b deal 

Hey Superheroes,

The week began with markets finally seeing green, but sentiment soured towards the weekend as U.S. inflation remained a touch too high. 

Well – it’s either that or because it’s Friday the 13th today.  👻

Aside from the U.S. quarterly earnings season kicking off, here are this week’s top stories.

Atlassian acquires Loom in record A$1.5b deal 

Gotta hand it to Atlassian to do a big shop! 

The Australian-founded software company is using up nearly half its cash balance to fund its biggest acquisition yet – a video collaboration tool called Loom. 

The deal is worth as much as Atlassian’s previous 20 acquisitions combined. 🫣

🖥️ Introducing Loom: A video messaging platform 

Founded in 2016, Loom is now used by over 200,000 customers and is considered a tech “unicorn.” 

Its software allows users to instantly record videos from their screens and share them with co-workers. You might have seen a Loom or two in onboarding videos and tutorials.

The deal highlights Atlassian’s strong belief in the continuity of hybrid and remote working.

💰 What this means for shareholders

Atlassian’s shares dropped 6.5% last night after the news. 

This could be due to the company stating that it expects operating margins to be lower than expected in the next two years as an indirect result of the acquisition.

Additionally, a portion of the deal will be paid for with equity – which means that existing shareholdings may become more diluted. Sigh. 

Here’s hoping that Loom will provide a good long-term return for investors.

Domino’s delicious earnings results

The world’s largest pizza company has kicked off the U.S. earnings season with deliciously scrumptious results!

While Q3 2023 revenue declined nearly 4% compared to the same time period last year, Domino’s made a loootttt more dough in the end. Net income was up 47% over the same period. 

🇷🇺 Goodbye, Domino’s Russia

Sadly not all news is good news.

The pizza company’s master franchisee in Russia is expected to file for bankruptcy. This means that Domino’s will no longer have a presence in the country, noting that the comapany has not received royalties or fees from the Russian market since February 2022.

🔦  Some other things we’re shining the Spotlight on:

RED HOT INFLATION: U.S. inflation remains sticky at 3.7% for the twelve months to September, slightly above expectations of 3.6%. This was followed by yesterday’s sell-off in the broader U.S. markets. Investors strapped up for the higher likelihood of a Fed rate hike on November 1.

BIRKENSTOCK FLIP “FLOPS”: Birkenstock debuted on the U.S. markets on Wednesday. Despite strong interest in its IPO, its reception in the public markets has been deemed a “flop.” NYSE:BIRK closed its second trading day 18% lower than its IPO price of US$46.

MARRIOTT’S BIG W: Marriott celebrated a big win this week as it finally opened the doors to the world’s biggest W hotel in the heart of Sydney. The 588-room luxury hotel has faced its fair share of issues. Its original scheduled opening date (cough 2020) was delayed for a number of reasons – the pandemic, builders entering into administration and more.

That’s all for this week’s Spotlight! 

Next week is expected to be eventful with big tech disruptors, Tesla and Netflix, reporting on Wednesday.

The U.S. financial sector is also sitting tight, with earnings from JP Morgan, Bank of New York and Bank of America all slotted for a Tuesday release. 

If you’d like to keep up to date with the reporting calendar and key company results, chuck us a follow on our Instagram page, @superheroau!

Thanks to all of you for being here and reading!