Finance

Fans gather at the Netflix booth at a trade show.
Mike Blake | Reuters

Check out the companies making headlines after the bell: 
Netflix — Shares of the streaming giant plummeted 25% after reporting a loss of 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter. It marked the first time Netflix reported a loss in subscribers in over a decade. The company also reported a beat on earnings but a miss on revenues.

IBM — IBM’s stock rose 3% during extended trading after reporting a beat on the top and bottom lines in the first quarter. The technology services company reported adjusted earnings of $1.40 per share on $14.2 billion in revenue. Analysts expected earnings of $1.38 a share on revenues of $13.85 billion.
Streaming companies — Shares of Disney, Roku, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount dipped 5%, 7%, 2.8% and 5.2%, respectively, in extended trading. The moves came as Netflix reported a loss of 200,000 subscribers in its recent quarter.
Interactive Brokers — Interactive Brokers’ stock dipped in extended trading after reporting earnings for the recent quarter. The company reported a miss on revenue but saw earnings per share of 82 cents, which fell in line with analysts’ estimates.
Omnicom Group — Shares of the marketing and advertising company rose more than 1% after reporting a beat on earnings estimates in the first quarter. Meanwhile, Omnicom saw revenue decline from the year-ago quarter.

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Robinhood has agreed to buy Ziglu, a London-based fintech app that allows users to trade bitcoin and several other cryptocurrencies.
The announcement comes nearly two years after Robinhood halted plans to launch in Britain.
Ziglu is one of the few crypto companies that has secured approval from the country’s Financial Conduct Authority

A woman holds a smartphone with the Robinhood logo in the background.
Rafael Henrique | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Robinhood said Tuesday it has agreed to buy Ziglu, a London-based fintech app that allows users to trade bitcoin and several other cryptocurrencies. The acquisition will help in its expansion plans in the U.K. and Europe, the company said.
The announcement comes nearly two years after Robinhood halted plans to launch in the U.K. At the time, the company said it was prioritizing its business at home over international expansion.

Shares of Robinhood climbed more than 5% Tuesday.
The deal could provide a crucial boost to growth prospects for Robinhood, whose performance has weakened since the GameStop trading frenzy last year.
Robinhood reported a drop in monthly active users in the fourth quarter of 2021 — to 17.3 million from 18.9 million in the previous quarter — and said it expects first-quarter 2022 revenue of less than $340 million, down 35% from the year-earlier period. The company has lost roughly two-thirds of its market value since debuting on the Nasdaq last summer.
Vlad Tenev, Robinhood’s CEO and co-founder, said the purchase of Ziglu “will help us accelerate our global expansion efforts.”
“Together with the Ziglu team, we’ll work to leverage the best of both companies, exploring new ways to innovate and break down barriers for customers across the UK and Europe,” Tenev said in a blog post.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, Robinhood said.
Founded in 2018, Ziglu allows users to make payments, invest in a range of cryptocurrencies and earn interest on holdings of bitcoin and British pounds sterling.
The company has raised a total of £17.5 million ($22.8 million) to date, including £13.4 million from retail investors through the equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs. It was last valued at £85 million.
It is one of the few crypto concerns that has managed to register with the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority. Registration is a key requirement for digital asset firms looking to operate in the country.
The regulator recently extended a deadline for firms to make the cut after numerous companies withdrew their applications.
Mark Hipperson, Ziglu’s CEO, was previously a co-founder of British digital bank Starling. Ziglu and Robinhood “share a common set of goals,” he said.
“As part of Robinhood, we’ll supercharge Robinhood’s expansion across Europe and bring better access to crypto and its benefits to millions more customers,” Hipperson said.

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Lee Jimenez, a teacher at Indian Hill Elementary School in Cincinnati, Ohio, discusses credit cards and methods of payments with his 3rd grade class using online financial education curriculum SmartPath.

There’s momentum for personal finance education becoming law in many states across the country.
Nearly half the states already mandate such instruction, and more states could pass legislation this year to make sure students, particularly those at the high school level, have it before they graduate.

“It’s been a huge change,” said John Pelletier, director of the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, progress on personal financial education had stagnated, he said. But amid pandemic layoffs and the ensuing recession, it became clear that financial literacy is extremely important for students.
“What seems to propel these bills forward is a catastrophe,” Pelletier said.

Who is next  
Georgia will likely be the next state to pass a personal finance education requirement, according to Next Gen Personal Finance, a nonprofit organization.
Both chambers of the state’s general assembly have passed a bill, SB 220, that would require all high school students to take at least a half-credit financial literacy course in order to graduate, starting with the 2024-25 school year. The bill is awaiting the governor’s signature to become law.

South Carolina also may soon pass legislation mandating personal finance education. The state has a bill, S16, that’s currently in conference committee. Once Georgia’s bill is signed into law, South Carolina will be the only state in the Southeast that doesn’t require personal finance coursework, according to Tim Ranzetta, co-founder of Next Gen Personal Finance.
“I think there’s an element of [fear of missing out] happening between the states,” said Ranzetta. “That’s why we’re seeing the trend there.”
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Michigan could also advance legislation in the coming months. A bill that would require a half-credit personal finance course for high school graduation passed the state House of Representatives in December and is expected to be taken up by the state Senate in May.
In Minnesota, an omnibus education bill would mandate that high school freshman starting in the 2023-24 school year take at least a half-credit personal finance course to graduate. And, in New Hampshire, an education bill includes personal finance on a list of things that constitute an adequate education.
Overall, 23 states in the U.S. have some sort of personal finance education mandate, according to the 2022 Survey of the States from the Council for Economic Education. And 47 states include language about personal finance in their state education standards, though many don’t have required courses.
Next Gen Personal Finance said that, so far, 12 states meet its gold standard of personal finance education, meaning that they require or will soon require at least a half-credit, standalone personal finance course for high school graduation.
A popular course of study
Data shows that students and their parents want increased personal financial education available in public schools.  
In California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan and South Carolina, 80% or more of those surveyed supported having financial literacy courses, according to Next Gen Personal Finance.
In many states, legislation has also been passed with bipartisan support, often overwhelmingly from both sides of the political aisle. In Florida, for example, the bipartisan legislation was passed unanimously in March.
“It’s one of those common sense issues that cuts across political parties,” said Ranzetta.
What’s next
Some parents say it is their responsibility, not the schools’, to teach their kids about money. But few are doing the work, and many parents have not had sufficient personal finance education themselves.
That leaves it up to state education boards to include personal finance education in laws.
So far in 2022, 61 bills about personal finance education have been proposed in 26 states, according to Next Gen Personal Finance. Of those, 47 bills across 20 states are still alive, meaning they could someday become law.
In addition to encouraging legislation mandating financial literacy courses, advocates are looking at the quality of each bill proposed and whether they include teacher training. This is an important piece of the puzzle, as students need confident, qualified teachers who can explain finance.

“Teachers want to be trained in personal finance so they can give their students the best,” said Michael Sheffer, director of education at FoolProof Foundation, which provides free financial education curriculum for students and teachers.
The increased appetite for personal finance courses has helped get more quality education to teachers, a trend that is likely to continue, he said.
They’re well on the way to making that a reality, according to Sheffer.
“This is a snowball running downhill now, and it’s getting bigger and bigger,” he said.
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Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket:
Netgear (NTGR) – Netgear tumbled 10.6% in premarket trading after the networking equipment maker reported weaker-than-expected preliminary results for the quarter that ended April 3. Netgear also cut its current-quarter revenue forecast, pointing to a weaker U.S. market for WiFi equipment.

Zendesk (ZEN) – Zendesk jumped 6.1% in premarket trading following a Bloomberg report that the customer service software developer is exploring a possible sale. Zendesk is said to have hired adviser Qatalyst Partners to assist in the process.
WeWork (WE) – WeWork rallied 5.4% in the premarket after the office-sharing company’s stock was rated “overweight” in new coverage at Piper Sandler. The firm points to confidence in WeWork’s path to profitability and how well the flexible office model fits a post-Covid world.
Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) – Acadia Pharmaceuticals slid 7.7% in premarket action after the drugmaker said its experimental drug to treat post-operative pain did not meet its primary goal in a Phase 2 study.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) – Johnson & Johnson beat estimates by 11 cents a share, with quarterly earnings of $2.67 per share. Revenue came in slightly below forecasts. J&J also suspended sales guidance for its Covid-19 vaccine due to a global supply surplus, and announced a 6.6% dividend hike. Shares initially fell more than 3% in the premarket but subsequently erased those losses.
Travelers (TRV) – Travelers’ shares were volatile in premarket trading, moving between gains and losses after the insurance company beat estimates on the top and bottom lines for its latest quarter. Travelers earned $4.22 per share compared to the $3.57 a share consensus forecast, helped by lower catastrophe losses. Travelers also announced a 5.7% dividend increase.

Plug Power (PLUG) – The hydrogen fuel cell company’s stock jumped 6.6% in premarket action after it announced an agreement to supply liquid green hydrogen to Walmart (WMT).
Halliburton (HAL) – Halliburton fell 2.7% in premarket trading despite beating estimates for its latest quarter. Halliburton earned 35 cents per share, a penny a share above estimates as demand for oilfield services equipment remained high. Halliburton shares had closed at a 3 1/2 year high Monday.
American Campus Communities (ACC) – The student housing real estate investment trust agreed to be bought by Blackstone (BX) in a deal worth $12.8 billion, including debt. American Campus Communities leaped 12.9% in the premarket.
Twitter (TWTR) – Apollo Global Management (APO) may be willing to provide financing for a Twitter buyout, according to sources who spoke to CNBC. The private-equity firm isn’t interested in joining other firms in a buyout bid, however.
JB Hunt Transport (JBHT) – JB Hunt reported quarterly profit of $2.29 per share, beating the $1.94 a share consensus estimate. Revenue also topped Street forecasts. The transportation company said it faced labor challenges due to Covid-19, but added that it overcame that obstacle and that business improved as the quarter progressed. JB Hunt added 1.5% in premarket trading.

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Seon, a London-based start-up that helps fintech firms like Revolut tackle online fraud, has raised $94 million in a funding round.
The company will use the cash to develop new tools for fighting Russian sanctions evasion amid the Ukraine war.
The funds will also go toward helping Seon expand in the United States, as well as Latin America and Asia.

Fintechs have come under increased pressure to address Russian sanctions evasion, particularly amid concerns that their controls may be more lax than that of banks.
Kirill Kudryavtsev | Afp | Getty Images

LONDON — Seon, a start-up that helps fintech companies like Revolut tackle online fraud, has raised $94 million to develop new tools for preventing sanctions evasion by Russia.
The London-based company raised the fresh cash in a funding round led by IVP, the Silicon Valley investment firm that has backed the likes of Netflix and Twitter. IVP Partner Michael Miao has also joined Seon’s board.

Existing investors Creandum, an early Spotify backer, and PortfoLion, also invested, as did numerous angel investors, including Coinbase Chief Operating Officer Emilie Choi and UiPath Chief Executive Daniel Dines.
Seon, which counts the likes of Revolut, Afterpay and Nubank as customers, said its technology is designed to make it easier for firms of all stripes to combat fraud.
Its software analyzes a consumer’s email address, phone number and other data to build up a “digital footprint,” and uses machine learning to determine whether they’re genuine or suspicious.

The Seon team.

The firm is now valued at $500 million after its latest funding round, according to two people familiar with the matter, who preferred to remain anonymous discussing private information.

Stopping Russian sanctions evasion

Tamas Kadar, Seon’s CEO and co-founder, said his company has seen heightened demand for tools that root out transactions from sanctioned individuals and entities and “politically exposed persons” amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Part of the cash will be used to address the possible use of fintech apps for money laundering and sanctions evasion.
“We are working on an arm to support this need from our client base,” Kadar told CNBC.
Fintechs have come under increased pressure to address Russian sanctions evasion, particularly amid concerns that their controls may be more lax than that of banks. In February, PayPal said it removed more than 4 million accounts after finding they were “illegitimate.”

Seon is also working on a function that will verify businesses online and see if their shareholders are on any sanctions lists.
Such tools could identify whether someone is “just creating shell companies to launder money,” or “as a fake identity to hide their assets,” Kadar said. Seon has “prioritized this feature to be added in the next quarter,” he added.
Russia’s war against Ukraine means “there has arguably never been a more challenging time for international financial institutions,” according to Charles Delingpole, CEO of anti-money laundering platform ComplyAdvantage, and an early investor in Seon.
“The pandemic saw a rapid shift to online-only activity away from branches, which saw fraudsters gain many more opportunities to perpetuate fraud,” Delingpole told CNBC.

U.S. expansion

The funds will also go toward helping Seon expand in the United States, as well as Latin America and Asia.
“We’re going to be scaling up our U.S. team massively,” Bence Jendruszak, Seon’s chief operating officer, told CNBC. “Online fraud is a major issue in the U.S.”
Last year, the company opened new offices in Austin, Texas, and Jakarta, Indonesia, and quadrupled its workforce to 200. Seon expects to roughly double its headcount in the next 12 months.
The company says its annual recurring revenue roughly tripled in 2021, while its customer base more than doubled, to 250 from 100.
Kadar and Jendruszak founded Seon in Budapest, Hungary, in 2017 after completing their university studies. Kadar has since moved the company’s headquarters to the U.K. Seon competes with a number of start-ups, including Israeli firm Riskified and U.S.-based Arkose Labs.

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While the first quarter ended with more than $20 billion in net inflows to mainland Chinese stocks, the bulk occurred in January, and the pace of buying dropped sharply as the quarter progressed, data from EPFR Global showed.
“Anything that relates to China we can find in causality and reasoning from either Russia or [the] U.S. right now,” said Steven Shen, manager of quantitative strategies at EPFR.
There’s been “sizeable outflows from China equities since last year, reflecting a notable de-risking on China,” according to Max Luo, director of China asset allocation at UBS Asset Management.

While mainland Chinese stock fund held onto inflows, European stock funds saw billions of dollars in net outflows in the first quarter, with declines in Japanese stock funds as well, according to EPFR.
Marc Fernandes | Nurphoto | Getty Images

BEIJING — Investors turned increasingly cautious on Chinese stocks, especially those listed overseas, in the first quarter of the year that was rocked by geopolitical tensions and worries about growth.
That’s according to data from research firm EPFR Global.

While the period ended with more than $20 billion in net inflows to mainland Chinese stocks, the bulk occurred in January, and the pace of buying dropped sharply as the quarter progressed, the data showed.
The first three months of the year saw the U.S. and Europe sanction Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, while China pursued a more neutral position. The quarter also saw growing worries about forced delisting of Chinese stocks from U.S. markets amid a flurry of announcements from both countries’ securities regulators.
“Anything that relates to China we can find in causality and reasoning from either Russia or [the] U.S. right now,” said Steven Shen, manager of quantitative strategies at EPFR. The firm says it tracks fund flows across $52 trillion in assets worldwide.

ESG investment flows

Chinese stock funds focused on ESG — environmental, social and governance factors — saw inflows until mid-February, when they began seeing outflows instead, Shen said.
In contrast, global ESG stock funds saw “very consistent” inflows over the first three months of the year, he said.

The firm did not share specific reasons for the divergence.

Heading into the second quarter there continues to be many uncertainties about China’s Covid response.

David Chao
global market strategist for APAC ex-Japan, Invesco

ESG-related concerns drove other investment allocation changes.
Among the headlines of the first quarter, Norges Bank Investment Management — an investment arm of Norway’s central bank which manages the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund — announced it will exclude shares of Chinese sportswear company Li Ning “due to unacceptable risk that the company contributes to serious human rights violations.”
When contacted by CNBC in late March, the fund declined to elaborate further, but noted the Norwegian government asked the fund to freeze investments in Russia and prepare a plan for divesting from the country. The fund had a market value of more than $1.2 trillion as of Monday.
Li Ning did not respond to a CNBC request for comment.

Swapping U.S. shares for Hong Kong ones

While mainland Chinese stock funds held onto inflows, European stock funds saw billions of dollars in net outflows in the first quarter, according to EPFR.
Japanese stock funds saw declines as well, the data showed. It also showed U.S. stock funds retained strong net inflows, for a total of more than $100 billion in the first quarter.
For Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong and the U.S., Shen noted a “consistent decrease” in funds’ exposure.
Beginning late 2021, fund managers began to sell U.S.-listed shares of a Chinese company for those traded in Hong Kong, which has contributed to declines in those share prices, Shen said. The process for exchange-traded funds typically takes three to six months, he said.

Many Chinese companies have offered shares in Hong Kong as political pressure in both the U.S. and China increased the risk of a New York delisting.
“Moves by the US regulator on ADRs and the Russia-Ukraine conflicts have further complicated the situations and caused substantive market swings this year,” Max Luo, director of China asset allocation at UBS Asset Management, said in a statement. “We noted sizeable outflows from China equities since last year, reflecting a notable de-risking on China.”
ADRs are American Depositary Receipts, which refer to shares of non-U.S. companies that are traded on U.S. exchanges.
“We have turned more conservative toward equity overall as the Russia-Ukraine conflicts flare up amid an uncomfortably high inflation level,” Luo said. However, he said his firm has “become more constructive on Chinese equities” due to government policy support.

Worries about growth

Mainland Chinese stocks saw a surge of buying at a level not seen since January 2019, Shen said.
He pointed out that it took place when index company MSCI added the mainland Chinese shares to a benchmark, which forced fund managers tracking the index to buy the mainland shares.
But the Shanghai composite remains more than 12% lower for the year so far.
That’s despite a mid-March lift to stocks after state media reports of comments from Vice Premier Liu He eased worries about Beijing’s crackdown on tech and real estate, and overseas IPOs.
Many investment banks had turned positive on mainland Chinese stocks as 2022 kicked off, despite poor domestic market sentiment.
“The macroeconomic backdrop appeared to improve at the end of last year,” David Chao, global market strategist, Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) at Invesco, told CNBC in early April.
“But I think expectations have gotten ahead of themselves” especially since the property market hasn’t found a bottom yet, he said. “Market sentiment seems to be impacted by a property market downturn.”
Real estate and related industries account for about 25% of China’s GDP, according to Moody’s.

Read more about China from CNBC Pro

On Monday, China reported first quarter GDP rose 4.8% compared to the previous year, topping expectations of a 4.4% increase.
While economic data for January and February beat expectations, those released so far for March have started to show the impact of Covid-related lockdowns in major economic centers like Shanghai.
“Heading into the second quarter there continues to be many uncertainties about China’s Covid response,” Invesco’s Chao said. “And that will be the most significant variable for the current quarter, whether their pandemic policies evolve or not.”

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The market slump may be in its final innings.
According to Evercore ISI’s Julian Emanuel, stocks should start grinding higher due to peaking inflation.

He cites a positive trend going back to the last time stocks and bonds fell together: 1994.
“The market just sort of digested it, and there was a lot of sideways chop,” the firm’s senior managing director told CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Monday. “There was a lot of bearishness.”
It paved the way for an epic market breakout over the next four years.
“At the end of the day, earnings carried the day,” noted Emanuel. “That’s what we see when we think about ’22 and ’23 because we don’t think there’s going to be a recession.”
Emanuel sees the benchmark 10-year Treasury Note yield ending this year at 3.25%. The yield kicked off the week at 2.85%, touching the highest level since December 2018.

The market bull expects strong consumer spending to buoy the economy.
“Margins on balance haven’t contracted because the pricing power has been there,” said Emanuel.
Yet, Wall Street optimism is at a 30-year low.
Emanuel alludes to the latest AAII Investor Sentiment Survey. In the week ending April 13, bears outnumbered the bulls by about three to one. Emanuel sees the results as a key contrary indicator.

Arrows pointing outwards

‘It’s a question of can you manage through what’s already in the price from an asset market perspective,” Emanuel said. “As difficult as the external circumstances have been abroad and certainly slowing down in China now, the U.S. consumer is still intact.”
As the Street gets deeper into earnings season, he doubts corporate America will give inflation outlooks.
“You’re not going to hear that from companies. They don’t need to take that risk guidance-wise,” Emanuel said. “We don’t think they’re going to be very, very cautionary because they really haven’t seen the evidence concretely themselves.”
Emanuel has a 4,800 year-end target on the S&P 500, a 9% jump from Monday’s close.
Disclaimer

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Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang says the Covid stimulus check experiment isn’t to blame for record inflation — and he’s still all for sending people free cash.
Yang says that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin can function both as a hedge against inflation, as well as a useful tool in rolling out universal basic income, or UBI.

MIAMI — Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang says that Covid stimulus checks are not to blame for the recent inflation spike — and he’s still in favor of sending people free cash as a way to insulate workers from economic shocks and technological disruption.
The universal basic income (UBI) evangelist told CNBC on the sidelines of the Bitcoin Miami conference that stimulus checks comprise “maybe 17%” of the money issued with the CARES Act — a measure passed by Congress to unlock trillions of dollars in stimulus funding to shore up the economy amid worldwide lockdowns.

“Where did the other 83% of the money go? It went to institutions. It went to pipes,” said Yang, who ran for New York City mayor and U.S. president on a platform advocating for guaranteed monthly payments from the government to all citizens age 18 to 64, with no strings attached.
“Money in people’s hands for a couple of months last year — in my mind — was a very, very minor factor, in that most of that money has long since been spent and yet you see inflation continue to rise,” said Yang, who also pointed out that prior to the pandemic and Economic Impact Payments, the primary drivers of inflation were staples such as education, health care and housing, all of which were independent of stimulus checks.
Consumer prices rose 8.5% in March, reflecting increases not seen in the U.S. since 1981. The surge in inflation, according to Yang, has a lot to do with the fact that there aren’t enough goods to go around, so people are experiencing pent-up demand.
“Everyone is concerned about inflation. I’m concerned about the fact that it’s making a lot of Americans’ lives miserable, because it’s a very difficult circumstance when your expenses are climbing, and maybe your income isn’t keeping pace,” said Yang, who has also said that web3 is the most profound opportunity to fight poverty.
The erosion of the dollar’s spending power has led some to make the case for bitcoin as a hedge against inflation.

“I think that the interest level is going to rise as people do seek alternatives in terms of how to store value,” Yang said of bitcoin. “People know if you just have a bank account full of money, unfortunately, that’s losing value right now, unless you’re getting paid above the rate of inflation, which is, what 7%, nowadays,” said Yang.
“Last I checked, savings accounts were still only paying 1% or 2% max.”

Where bitcoin meets UBI

Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin aren’t just an inflation hedge, according to Yang. They could also help realize his grand vision for widespread UBI roll-out.
“The intersection is very significant, because if you’re trying to get buying power in people’s hands, one tool to do so is the U.S. dollar, and I ran for president on making that case, but there’s no reason why it necessarily needs to be in U.S. dollars as opposed to bitcoin, or some other asset class or currency,” said Yang. He thinks we’ll see new currencies emerge from the public sector.
“You can have municipalities and communities experimenting with local currencies that will help drive people to local small businesses and nonprofits that may not be getting the support that they need right now,” he said.
Similar to how Beijing is considering attaching expiration dates and other spending rules to its digital yuan (China’s central bank digital currency which has been in development since 2014), Yang says a similar model could work well in the U.S.
“No one thinks about getting a U.S. dollar, and it’s going to expire, or it can only be used in one place and not another. But these are utilities that we should be experimenting with in different settings right now,” said Yang.
During the pandemic, Mark Cuban suggested doing just that: Sending cash cards that can only be used at locally owned small businesses, where the money expires in two weeks, in order to drive activity. Yang says that those are the kinds of things that “cryptocurrencies very naturally enable that U.S. dollars don’t.” More