WEBVTT - BlackRock’s GIP Buys Aligned Data Centers in $40 Billion Bet 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:10.600 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. You're listening to the 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:14.600 Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast. Catch us live weekdays at ten am 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:17.880 Eastern on Apple, Cocklay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:21.080 Business App. Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts, 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:23.120 or watch us live on YouTube. 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:27.000 It's yet another day of data center deals. 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:29.680 I feel like this is a never ending story here, 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:31.800 and it continues to propel the stock market higher. 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:32.960 And that's kind of what's happening here. 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:35.400 The nazak up one point three percent, the SMP five 0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:37.879 hundred up one point one percent. So we need to 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:41.800 bring Caroline Hide, our BTech co anchor, in to our 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:44.519 New York studios here to kind of walk us through 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:46.440 some of the big stories. And I guess let's start 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:48.960 on the one that became official, which is black Rocks 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:51.960 GIP buying aligned data centers. 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:54.080 This is a forty billion dollar AI. 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:56.880 Bet, and to be fair, it's a lot more than Blackrock. 0:00:57.160 --> 0:00:59.959 You've got Blackrock, but you've got MGX, which is Mamdala 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:03.880 AI investment company, part of that sovereign wealth fund focus 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:06.360 on AI. But you've got Microsoft in the mix, You've 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:08.399 got in video in the mix, You've got XAI in 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:12.480 the mix. Basically, anyone who likes financing data centers, or 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:15.280 needs access to data centers, or has some gpused to 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:18.080 put inside data centers seemingly wanted in on what was 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:21.360 the one hundred billion dollar get together pool of capital, 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:23.160 and this is their first chunk of change, forty billion 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:26.000 being committed to ALIGN data centers. It's over in Texas 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:29.280 and this was actually owned by mcquarie, a big Australian 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:32.880 infrastructure player, and they are now managing to sell off. 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:36.760 It's a huge campus you're thinking about operating in US 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:39.840 and indeed in South America Aligned they've got fifty campuses, 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:41.360 They've got seventy eight data centers. 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:43.679 But all of this is as we seem to have. 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:47.319 Insatiable demand for compute and therefore values go skyrocketing. 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:51.080 So your tech beek Caroline is always front center for 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:54.120 this market. It's even more so, certainly the last two 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:56.120 years with AI. It's even worse in the last two 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:58.040 weeks with a lot of these. 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:00.280 Circular deals that have been referred to circular. 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:03.920 Where people are investing in each other's companies and things 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:06.280 like that, and the dollar amounts are so huge. Are 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:09.400 your sources are they saying this feels a little frothy? 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:10.320 What are your sources help? 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:12.440 I think a lot of people are starting to put 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:15.400 the word bubble in the context of AI in infrastructure 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:18.000 right now. Look, you even have the CFO of City 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:21.120 Group yesterday talking about his anxiety when it comes to 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:24.480 potential frothiness in the AI market. You've had the global 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:27.960 certain manager's survey coming from Bank of America yesterday more 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:30.760 the most we've ever seen in terms of majority thinking 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:34.399 that these AI players are too highly valued. So certainly 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:37.240 the circularityuse people pause. We had a great fan manager 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:39.799 on just yesterday really saying, look, even though they think 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:41.840 in video is a bit even though today HSBC has 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:44.680 raised the price target on video to maybe putting this 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:47.760 at an eight trillion dollar company in the next twelve months, 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:50.320 but people do have pause when they're putting one hundred 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:53.560 billion dollars in equity investment into open Ai, basically so 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:56.239 that open ai can keep buying its own GPUs. You 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:58.640 see that happening over in Europe. Another key player that 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:00.000 we've got to keep an eye on is end Scale. 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:03.639 Letters is currently a private AI data center builder Outer 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:06.160 I might add they've never built one single AI data center. 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:09.280 But they were a cryptomnor that's pivoted and now they're 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:12.640 committing to doing four data center projects with Microsoft. But 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:15.680 n Scale of course got the tap the anointment from 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:18.200 Jensen when he went over to London saying I want 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:20.920 to back you in my equity because guess what, two 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:22.919 thousand GPUs are going to be offered in those. 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:24.440 Four projects to Microsoft. 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:27.519 So it just keeps on being this idea that ultimately 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:29.720 where are we getting the money from at the moment, 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:32.200 build it and they will come. Is a mentality we 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:34.720 need the infrastructure before you can really get the productivity games. 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:36.200 So in videos putting its cash to work. 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:39.240 Okay, So circular funding and yet another example of that. 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:43.080 So what I'm confused about is how some companies that 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:45.560 had indicated things would be kind of rough just a 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:47.760 few months ago had now turned around and are seeing 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:52.120 a completely different tune. ASML, which is a Dutch semiconductor 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:56.000 equipment maker, had warned that the the trade war the 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.560 terraf Sun China was going to be hurtful towards business. 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:01.880 Now it's completely like turn around and said, you know 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:03.480 what demands great. 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:06.520 Maybe they'll be able to eke out growth in twenty 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:10.360 twenty six. I think it's also our expectations for ASML 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:12.360 came down some. If you're looking at a quarter on 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:16.120 quarter basis, the sales and the bookings fell, it's because 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:20.360 China is so outsized in their revenue stream, and China's 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:22.440 going to start dialing back in twenty twenty six because 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:25.080 of the geopolitical issues and the fact that the US 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:28.280 is asking its neighbors and allies to stop allowing such 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:29.960 semiconductor equipment. 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:30.200 Into the nation. 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.960 And you just had the House China Committee saying once again, 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:36.719 we're worried about ASML, but also KLA and some of 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:39.599 the other US players. So I think that we are seeing, yes, 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:43.360 ASML managing to calm anxiety, that they will still see 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:46.480 growth from other pockets for these euv This is extreme 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:47.920 ultra violet lithography. 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:50.000 They're the only people that make. 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:54.359 This particular sophisticated equipment that is making your leading edge 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:57.520 chips that are going to be fueling our AI consumption. 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:00.360 So if they're the only player, well they've got really 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:04.000 it's sort of an built in demand pool. But China 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:05.560 is going to be diving back, and the market wanted 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:07.240 to hear that others were going to step in, and 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:08.480 it seems as though they are going to. 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:13.279 Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Intelligence coming up after this. 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:20.640 You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence podcast. Catch us live 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:23.799 weekdays at ten am Eastern on Apple, Cocklay and Android 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:27.120 Auto with the Bloomberg Business App. Listen on demand wherever 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:30.719 you get your podcasts, or watch us live on YouTube. 0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:34.520 LBMA shares are higher right now after a surprise return 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:37.560 to sales growth. So maybe that is leading to folks 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:40.640 saying perhaps the downturn we saw in luxury is over. 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:43.359 Let's get some perspective from Debrah Aikn. 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:47.240 She has Bloomberg Intelligence Luxury Goods analyst deb Good to 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:49.799 speak with you. What are you thinking when it comes 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:53.560 to LVMH's results on what it signals about whether luxury 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:54.400 is back. 0:05:56.240 --> 0:06:02.080 Hike? Yeah, so really a very big sentiment indicator. The 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:06.200 comments from the company late last night out of Paris 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:11.080 were more positive than the market anticipated. When we look 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:14.000 at the numbers in terms of the organic sales growth, 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:16.560 the market expected around minus one. We came in a 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:20.719 plus one. But it's about the sequential improvement from Q 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:24.279 two to Q three and the fact that all five 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:28.200 of the business units are improved versus Q two and 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:31.719 more than that. China is mid to high single digit 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:33.200 growth versus a year ago. 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:35.040 The US is robust. 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:39.279 Europe is doing the same as it did across the board, 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:42.760 doing okay but missing out on tourism and Asia. Extrapan 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:47.159 is positive. We know four q US will face a 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:49.440 bit more of a difficult comp after they spent in 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:53.960 last year beyond the election and the Trump win. But 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:56.799 into the first half of twenty twenty six, the market 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:59.440 is looking more positive and it's certainly rallied the whole 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:02.360 of the second This morning and this afternoon. 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:06.080 Hey, dev, what's the correlation between luxury spending and just 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:09.320 kind of the broader stock market around the world. Because 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:12.400 markets are really performing well, how does that correlate to 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:13.600 just luxury spending? 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:15.400 You know? 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:17.560 The big thing, The big thing on luxury spend has 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:23.520 been that the very high end has done well. So 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:28.239 EMMS Brunella Cucinelli, where they work with a restricted volume 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:32.440 operating model, they've done well in terms of their top 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:36.520 line growth. But when I think about an LVMH, you 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:38.880 know they're given how big they are, they need a 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:42.560 big volume there. Even with some price in to manage 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:46.239 growth in this category, and instead what we saw last 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:48.880 year and the beginning of this year was maybe a 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:52.080 little bit of trading down. So brands like Tapestry's Coach 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:56.640 Ralph Lauren, they became really so popular, not only in 0:07:56.640 --> 0:08:00.320 the US, but more on a globalized basis too. And 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:03.840 so the view has been that the sentiment around the 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:07.760 share prices has very much been opposed and opposite to 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:11.200 what's been happening on the stock market. But with the 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:14.320 exception of the mid range and the mid range have 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:19.040 done better because the view in the investor mindset has 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:23.480 been that the luxury buyer will trade down. They've done 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:26.440 that in some brands, but not all brands, in some categories, 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:29.680 not all categories, and generally we expect the biggest and 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:31.040 the best to come back first. 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:36.280 What about LVMH's wines and spirits division. We've been hearing 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:40.360 from Constellation Brands and other spirits companies that you know, 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:44.480 there's been this massive shift in consumer tastes away from alcohol, 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:49.760 certainly the younger generation. Does that affect a company like LVMH. 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:53.240 So a different kind of thing with LVMH. I think 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:56.240 at the very high end we had some US weakness, 0:08:56.400 --> 0:09:02.679 so they operate in wines, fine mine, high end champagnes, cognacs, 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:06.760 and others. Champagne is doing well and is back to 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:11.240 growth in the US. Rose wine is doing very very well, 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:15.680 but some of the spirit side is still struggling a 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:19.120 little bit, and I think that's because we've seen some 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:23.800 trading down. So we had China very heavily stocked and 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:26.720 the US not so solid through the first half the year. 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:29.040 But there are signs of that coming back. If I 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:31.280 look at the numbers on the Q three for wines 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:33.960 and spirits, they're at plus one and they were at 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:36.880 minus four for Q two and minus nine for Q one, 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:40.720 So it seems as though inventory is leveled out and 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:42.720 we're starting to see some selling. 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:46.520 Deba I learned from you long ago, and looking at luxury, 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:48.280 you have to also pay attention to what's happening in 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:51.800 China and the Chinese consumer. Are the Chinese spending either 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:55.680 in China or are they traveling to the London Parish, 0:09:55.679 --> 0:09:56.960 New York Milan type thing? 0:09:57.280 --> 0:09:57.839 What are you seeing? 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:02.360 Yeah, still we're seeing a lot of the spend. We're 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:05.120 getting mid thigh single digit growth in that Q three 0:10:05.160 --> 0:10:10.040 from Alvia Maitia on your is on localized spending. We 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:14.120 are seeing pockets of growth on the tourism side, so 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:17.600 there is a more positive view and mixed linked into 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:21.520 the commentary from these results, but overall we are still 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:28.320 absolutely missing Asian tourist, Chinese tourists from Europe, and also 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:31.480 in Europe, we're missing the strength of the dollar having 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:35.719 swung over last year with US purchases here and you 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:39.000 are seeing some but not as many in terms of 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:42.400 full recovery versus twenty nineteen. There's growth year on year, 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:45.800 but not versus twenty nineteen into the USI. But when 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:48.880 it comes to the Chinese tourists, we used to say 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:53.320 a third of luxury goods just over we're on the work. 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:57.040 We're from the Chinese cohort, and that would include on 0:10:57.200 --> 0:10:59.600 land and traveling right and we still think there's a 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:03.240 way for that to go, but certainly on land and 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:05.160 locally they're doing better than they were. 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:09.160 Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Intelligence coming up after this. 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:16.760 You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence podcast. Catch us live 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:19.920 weekdays at ten am Eastern on Apple, Cocklay and Android 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:23.240 Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. Listen on demand wherever 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:26.920 you get your podcasts, or watch us live on YouTube. 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:30.440 Paul, it feels very two thousand and seven ish with 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:32.720 the deal making taking place, with the banks reporting these 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:36.760 incredible numbers, a lot of companies saying they may go private. 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:39.839 We're hearing a lot of speculation about that. 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:42.920 The latest is Grinder, and in this case, the dating 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:45.120 app has confirmed that it received a letter from its 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:49.600 largest shareholders interested in exploring a take private transaction. So 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:54.320 let's bring in our Bloomberg Intelligence Internet analysts, software and 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:57.400 Internet analysts with us, Nicole Desuza to give us a 0:11:57.440 --> 0:12:00.840 little bit more here. So, Nicole, Grind, this dating app 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:04.480 that's focused on the LGBT community, does not actually have 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:07.800 a proposal to evaluate. It's just telling everyone, Hey, this 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:10.360 is happening, and there's percolations of this happening. 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:11.120 Correct. 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:13.360 So, as of right now, what we know what's been 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:16.800 reported is there are two investors, Raymond's Age and James 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:20.040 lou who together control about sixty percent of Grinder. They 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:24.200 are in talks with Fortress Investment Group to secure debt 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:27.720 financing to take the company private. There has been no 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:30.840 direct proposal at this time, but discussions seem to be 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:33.880 around a fifteen dollars share price, which would value Grinder 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:35.240 at around three billion dollars. 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:38.199 Talk to us about this company. How has it performed 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:40.120 as a publicly traded company. 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:43.880 So you're to date this shares are down around twenty 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:47.440 nine percent. That being said, Grinder is one of the 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:50.840 few dating apps that is still growing paying users, so 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:51.400 we've seen so. 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:53.560 They're growing, They're still growing users. 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:55.720 Yes, okay, and that at this point right now is 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:57.600 a little bit rare for dating apps. Right We've seen 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:01.520 Tender lose users, We've seen bumble looos lot of users. Grinder, 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:03.560 because of their niche user base, has been able to 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:06.000 hang on to a good amount of their users and 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:07.040 grow users every year. 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:10.000 What is their strategy going forward? 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:12.000 Because they did read something about how they have this 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:15.120 three year plan where they're targeting some pretty aggressive growth 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:17.640 and the fact that they're growing users is a good sign. 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:20.360 But the dating app business doesn't seem to be that 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:21.160 great right now. 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:22.520 Yes, So they have. 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:24.640 A couple of different levers that they can pull. The 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:26.880 first one is raising prices. They've talked for the first 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:29.800 time about raising prices. They haven't raised prices since twenty eighteen, 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:34.920 so they're looking now at potentially raising prices introducing a 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:38.400 new premium tier. Right now, they get around twenty four 0:13:38.440 --> 0:13:40.920 dollars per paying user, so there is a little bit 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:42.839 of room for growth. They only have about eight percent 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:45.720 of their total user base of fifteen million users who 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:48.319 actually pay for the app, so there is room there. 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:51.679 They're also growing advertising revenue. Grinder is one of the 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:54.680 few dating apps that does have a pretty solid ad platform. 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:58.320 They grew AD revenue around forty percent last quarter, which 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:01.400 was a big step up. Expect that to continue. They're 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:04.079 looking at new ad units, they're looking at better targeting, 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:06.960 so we do think there are there's a room for 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:08.640 ad revenue to really grow from here. 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:11.120 I mean, so you step back for the digital ad story, 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:14.880 it's still a very bullish story for digital advertising. I 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:19.000 mean there's still that big macro call of digital advertising. 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:20.880 Whether it's a big ones like Facebook or the smaller 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:24.760 ones like grind. You're taking dollars away from traditional analog media. 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:26.120 Is that story still in play and if so, how 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:27.160 long do you think it goes for? 0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:29.560 I think it is still in play. I mean, we 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:32.920 do still see some ad dollars going to more traditional sources. 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:36.720 So you know, obviously, digital advertising is much better targeting. 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:39.680 You can do things like direct response advertising where users 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:42.480 are taken directly to a website to make a purchase. 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:44.000 It's a good use of ad. 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:48.160 Dollars for companies. Grinder has a really unique user base. 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:52.280 Their user base is more affluent, they have higher discression 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:54.520 or income, they tend to be higher educated. So it 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:56.320 could be a really great platform for a lot of 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:59.640 advertisers who are looking to advertise to that base. 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.880 Also, gen Z pretty heavy as well, so talk a 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:05.720 little bit about how that is very appealing to advertisers. 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:06.280 Yeah. 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:09.480 So, actually it's funny because Grinder is one of the 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:12.320 only dating apps really who isn't necessarily seeing an issue 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:15.560 attracting gen Z users. They've talked a lot about how 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:18.360 the issues that other dating apps are facing they don't 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:21.000 really face because it's such a unique user base and 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:24.600 because people come to Grinder not just for romantic connection 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:26.600 but also just to meet people, to make friends, to 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:29.800 have a community. So Grinder has done a great job 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:32.160 of attracting these users of holding on to them, and 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:35.160 again it could be a great place for advertisers to reach. 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:38.080 Gen Z thirty seconds stuff and why was this stock 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:41.840 down or is down forty some unpercented, so they have they. 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:44.200 Have missed on a few revenue metrics. They were a 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:46.520 little bit light on revenue last quarter, a little bit 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:47.320 light on ebita. 0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:49.640 But again we think, you know. 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:52.160 The long term growth perspective for this company is really strong. 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:56.280 They have been growing users, which is unique for dating apps. 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:59.200 So we're very comfortable with the twenty to twenty five 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:01.000 percent revenue growth through twenty twenty seven. 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:05.400 Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Intelligence coming up after this. 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:12.600 You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence podcast. Catch us live 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:15.760 weekdays at ten am Eastern on Apple, Cocklay, and Android 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:19.080 Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. Listen on demand wherever 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:22.680 you get your podcasts, or watch us live on YouTube. 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:25.600 You know, for all the talk of all these companies 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:30.040 involved in AI deals circular deals where they're teaming up 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:32.680 with someone and they're buying something or investing in somebody 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:35.120 and partnering with something to buy their own chips back, 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:39.280 one company is noticeably absent from all these announcements, and 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:39.960 that is a big one. 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:41.400 It's Apple. Yeah, where is it? 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:42.360 I don't know. 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:45.040 They have a lot of cash, they do, I don't know. 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:48.080 I don't know their AI play. That's what I don't know. 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:50.200 Well, their AI doesn't work very well on their phone. 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:52.360 Right now, I can tell you that An A. Grana 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:54.960 is a tech analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence and he joins 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:58.240 US now from Chicago, So An Rag. There are some 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:01.840 headlines here that Apple is looking to beef up its 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:06.159 smart home offerings lesson its dependence on China. This is 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:09.240 something that the President of the United States has been 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:12.040 pushing Apple to do, to bring some of it's manufacturing 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:14.480 back to the US. But Apple's not doing that. It 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:18.320 is beefing up its manufacturing operations in Vietnam. What's going 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:18.919 on with Apple? 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:22.800 See, when you look at it, whether it's accessories or 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:25.280 you know, putting together the phones, you really cannot do 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:27.360 that in the US. We don't have the size, factories 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:30.639 or automation to do that. So you will have to 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:33.840 do that somewhere in Asia. And as they're diversifying away 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:37.800 from China because of the obvious threat between US and 0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:41.440 in China trade wars, Vietnam is a proper location where 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:45.400 they can assemble let's say, some accessories or smaller products 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:47.600 where you know they may cost you one hundred dollars 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:50.359 or fifty dollars, but they have the low cost area 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:52.919 to produce them or I would say assemble them. 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:57.440 So an Uraga, We've spent the last two three four 0:17:57.520 --> 0:18:01.000 weeks speaking with you, speaking with man Deep, speaking with 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:04.399 other tech experts about all these deals around the AI 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:07.879 ecosystem that we've seen ten billion dollars here, one hundred 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:12.040 billion dollars there companies ranging from Microsoft to AMD to 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:15.560 Nvidio to open Ai. We have not talked about Apple 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:18.160 what is and I'm not sure if that's a good 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:19.560 or bad thing. I don't know if these deals are 0:18:19.600 --> 0:18:21.600 good or bad. I just know there a lot of them. 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:24.720 They're coming out of the woodwork. There's big numbers, and 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:27.560 Apple's just conspicuous by its absence. It feels like, how 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:28.280 do you think about it? 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:31.960 Yeah, you know, you could look at it both ways. 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:34.040 One way is you criticize that they're not really at 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:37.080 the forefront of the next generation model out there. But 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:38.840 the other way you can say is, you know, let 0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:41.440 everybody else fight it out. In the end, it will 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:43.719 go to the one that has the best model and 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:47.280 include that in there. Its own distribution channel, which is 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:50.520 basically iOS. We have heard from Olkham and has done 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:53.120 some really good work on this particular aspect of it. 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:56.640 Is the next the next version of CD may have 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:00.520 technology from some of the third body providers, you know, 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:03.760 whether that's Open AI and Tropic or even Gemini. You know, 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:05.840 our bet is that, you know, we hope that they 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:08.080 go with Gemini because they already get a lot of 0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:11.159 money from Google for the search business. Maybe there is 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:14.280 some revenue stating on that part as well, So we 0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:17.080 think eventually, we don't know when they will get it 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:20.240 right when it comes to AI infusing in their product, 0:19:20.240 --> 0:19:23.359 but it's going to come with some third party rather 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:24.639 than in house AI. 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:26.879 So in other words, they're kind of waiting for the 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:30.600 dust to settle, waiting for winners to emerge before picking 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:35.240 their horse and riding it. Is that something other device makers, 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:38.160 handset makers are doing as well. I mean, Alphabet doesn't 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:40.240 have to do that because it has its own AI 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:42.680 business and it makes handsets. 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:47.000 Yeah, and it's very well integrated because it's the Google Gemini, 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:50.080 it's part of Android and then you know Samsung is 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:52.320 going to license that. So they are all set on 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:55.280 that particular aspect of it. But it's possible that Apple 0:19:55.359 --> 0:20:00.320 may choose to work with Gemini, Google itself again get 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:03.000 their technology, infuse it in their products, and you and 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:05.480 I get the same experience we would get, you know, 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:09.040 on on on, like for example, using chat GPD or anthropic. 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:11.720 I think from what we have heard from Marc is 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:14.960 the research right now is they are running parallel chat 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:18.280 pots internally try to see which one has a better output. 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:20.800