DJ Tech, Media & Telecom Roundup: Market Talk

The latest Market Talks covering Technology, Media and Telecom. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.

1609 ET - Facebook hits the pause button on plans to make a version of Instagram for kids, but state attorneys general who have criticized the concept are not satisfied. "If you make a product that causes a problem, and the way you solve that problem is putting another product out there, it seems like you're doubling down on the problem you created," Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey tells WSJ. Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson says Facebook should have not just paused the plan but abandoned it entirely. "A pause, to me, sounds like a social-media platform trying to somehow win favor in the public eye. But it really means no material change," Peterson tells WSJ. ( matt.grossman@wsj.com, @mattgrossman)

1314 ET - MoviePass owes theater chain Landmark roughly $15.5M for failing to sell a minimum number of movie tickets before the subscription service went out of business, a bankruptcy judge said Friday. Judge Robert Drain of the US Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, NY, ruled against a bankruptcy trustee liquidating MoviePass who sought to wipe out the company's bill to Landmark. Before the subscription service went out of business, Landmark agreed to make discounted tickets available for MoviePass subscribers. In exchange, MoviePass agreed to sell a certain amount of tickets and offered to cover shortfalls if it failed to meet a minimum sales threshold. Judge Drain ruled Landmark has a valid basis to seek repayment from MoviePass. In general, creditors like Landmark involved in a bankruptcy liquidation recover pennies on the dollar, if anything, from failed companies for debt they're owed. (jonathan.randles@wsj.com)

1225 ET - The IMAX Corp. on Monday said a multiplex theater in Leonberg, Germany, will be home to the world's largest IMAX screen. The company said the screen at the Traumpalast Multiplex would measure 21.03 meters high and 38.16 meters wide and is "wider than a Boeing 737 airliner." The screen will open Sept. 30 showing the latest James Bond film, "No Time to Die," IMAX said. The company also said with this latest addition, it now has screens in eight theaters in Germany. (stephen.nakrosis@wsj.com)

1202 ET - Small-satellite company Terran Orbital will invest $300M to open a satellite-manufacturing facility near the Kennedy Space Center, according to Florida Gov. DeSantis' office. CEO Marc Bell says the company will be able to make more than 1,000 satellites annually at the facility, including for its own grouping of satellites that use radar to track activity on the surface of the Earth. In 2017, Lockheed Martin's venture arm said it made a strategic investment in Terran. (micah.maidenberg@wsj.com; @MicahMaidenberg)

1136 ET - Hong Kong-based containership leasing company Seaspan Corp. signs an order for 10 new ships that can move 7,000 containers each, as demand for smaller boxships that can be hired by a single or a couple of customers and sail directly to a single destination without stopping to other ports continues to grow. The order brings Seaspan's active order book at 70 ships that are backed by long-term leasing contracts with big liner operators. (costas.paris@wsj.com)

1041 ET - Cryptocurrency prices fluctuated Monday after falling hard Friday following declarations from China that all crypto-related transactions were illegal and must be banned. Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, rising less than 1% Monday to $43,557, while Ethereum, the second biggest, up 2.76% to $3,080. Smaller coins such as Cardano and Dogecoin, however, declined. Crypto prices were sent tumbling Friday after the People's Bank of China said crypto-related transactions were illegal. Online crypto services to Chinese residents provided by overseas virtual currency exchanges also were considered illegal financial activity. China's crypto ban prompted Huobi Global and Binance, two of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges, to halt new registrations for Chinese users. Shares of Huobi Technology Holdings Ltd., a unit of Huobi Global that manufactures electronic products and operates a virtual-asset service platform, tumbled 21.5% on Monday. (joseph.woelfel@barrons.com)

1027 ET - 1Spatial's multi-year contract win highlights the success of its management's growth strategy, Liberum says, upgrading its forecasts for the geospatial software company as a result. The contract closely follows another win announced earlier this month. 1Spatial's management has put a lot of focus on creating valuable partnerships within each of its three core markets, and these wins are examples of how its strategy of developing partnerships is paying off, the U.K. brokerage says. Liberum raises its revenue forecasts for 2022 to GBP26.4 million, from GBP26.2 million previously, and by 3% to GBP29.8 million for 2023. "This is 1Spatial's largest ever contract win by value and will significantly increase 1Spatial's recurring revenue base," it says. Liberum rates the stock buy. (anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com)

0945 ET - Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' space enterprise, says it will take four people to the edge of space and bring them back Oct. 12. Those on board will include Chris Boshuizen, a co-founder of Earth observation company Planet Labs, and Glen de Vries, co-founder of clinical-research company Medidata Solutions, Blue Origin says. After he visited the edge of space on Blue Origin's New Shepard space vehicle in July, Bezos said the company planned two more crewed flights this year as it approached $100M in private-astronaut sales. (micah.maidenberg@wsj.com; @MicahMaidenberg)

0657 ET - Swedish electric-vehicle maker Polestar has agreed to go public through a combination with special-purpose acquisition company Gores Guggenheim, a deal that would give the combined company an enterprise value of about $20B. WSJ on Sunday reported that the companies were nearing a deal. Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath says the company is seeking to expand to 30 markets by 2023 from its current 14 active markets in three continents. Polestar is owned by Chinese car maker Zhejiang Geely Holding, focuses on high-performance electric cars, positioning itself as a rival to Tesla. and Lucid Group. (dave.sebastian@wsj.com; @depsebastian)

2025 ET - Fixed-wireless internet service provider Swoop should grow into what is currently a rather full valuation multiple through material and highly accretive acquisitions, Morgans says. The broker initiates coverage on the stock with a hold rating and A$2.43 target price, but warns that it looks expensive trading at 40X Ebitda. Material acquisitions are likely, but carry execution and integration risk, and are not guaranteed, Morgans says. The stock is down 4.6% at A$2.09. (stuart.condie@wsj.com; @StuartLCondie)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 27, 2021 16:50 ET (20:50 GMT)

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