Tech Roundup: Elon Musk keeps the Twitter drama raging
Scott Olson
October has just gotten underway, and leave it to Elon Musk to kick this off in an inimitable, and unexpected fashion and grab the headlines unlike anyone else.
Just when it seemed like the trial between Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) and Musk over his attempt to get out of his $44B acquisition of the social-media company was headed straight for its October 17 start date, Musk brought out a curveball that no one saw coming when, on Tuesday, he sent a letter to Twitter (TWTR) proposing to go forward and complete his acquisition of the company based upon their previously agreed-upon terms.
Needless to say, investors loved the idea of Musk and Twitter (TWTR) making peace, and sent the company's shares up by more than 22% by Tuesday's market close.
However, you didn't really expect things to resolve themselves that easily, did you?
By Wednesday, Delaware Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick said that the trial was still on as neither Musk, nor Twitter (TWTR) had filed for a stay in the case. And on Thursday, Twitter (TWTR) shares dipped into the red as lawyers were said to be talking with Musk about terms of the deal and ways to reach a resolution of the matter.
Meanwhile, analysts weighed in on the matter, saying everything from Musk probably won't spend too much time around Twitter's (TWTR) San Francisco headquarters, to Twitter (TWTR) is playing "a high-stakes game of poker" with regards to delaying a deal with Musk.
And then Musk late Thursday filed to stay the legal action in the case with Twitter (TWTR), with an October 28 target date for closing the deal.
While all the Twitter (TWTR) drama was enough to keep most investors busy, there were actual other notable events going on across the tech sector this week.
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (GOOGL) made a move to try to steal some of Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 14 thunder, as it held an event to show off its new Pixel 7 phones, as well as the new Pixel Watch. The Pixel 7 will start at $599, while the Pixel Watch comes with an initial price tag of $350.
Microsoft's (MSFT) ongoing process of acquiring Activision Blizzard for $69B continued to get more scrutiny from European regulators who gathered comments and information from rival videogame developers.
Facebook parent company Meta Platforms (META) was reportedly looking at reducing offices space in some of its business locations due to more employees continuing to work from home.
Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) decided to get some bad news out of the way early, as the company released preliminary third-quarter results weeks before expected. AMD (AMD) said that its sales will come in more than $1B less than forecast due to factors such as inventory corrections and weakness in the PC market.
AMD's (AMD) shares declined following its preliminary results. With earnings season set to kick into gear this month, numerous tech bellwethers, including Microsoft (MSFT), Intel (INTC) and Nvidia (NVDA) will all be delivering their quarterly results shortly after falling to 52-week-low points.