What the Flux

The Reserve Bank of Australia has paused the cash rate at 3.60% in its final meeting of the year…after inflation reared its ugly ugly head once again. Paramount has crashed the Hollywood party with a $108 billion USD hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery. Airwallex has pulled off Australia’s second-largest VC raise ever with a $US330 million raise… but it’s not without it...

The company behind Smiggle and Peter Alexander copped a 12% share price drop because school students aren’t digging its colourful stationery anymore. Spotify has just delivered its biggest ever Wrapped launch, with more than 200 million users jumping in within 24 hours. Lululemon’s founder is trolling the current CEO as he claims the company he started has lost its cool factor. _ Downl...

H&M Australia is facing a $35 million bill for unpaid wages to Australian staff as it starts to quietly shut down its underperforming stores. Australia’s top electric vehicles have all failed in real-world testing, with some models driving up to 30% less than their advertised battery range. The Magnum Ice Cream Company is demerging from its parent company Unilever and will officially be...

Metcash has seen its shares fall more than 9% after illegal tobacco casues a $345 million knock in sales. The owner of KFC Australia stores has upgraded its full-year profit guidance after Aussies get stuck into Zinger burgers. Shopify saw its shares plummet 5% after its suffered major outages on Cyber Monday. _ Download the free app (App Store):  http://bit.ly/FluxAppStore Download the free...

El Jannah, the cult-favourite charcoal chicken chain, is set to be snapped up for almost $1 billion by US private equity giant General Atlantic. Google is taking it up to Nvidia in the chip wars as it looks to sell its own proprietary chips to Meta and its share rose 4% on the news. Harvey Norman has seen its sales jump 9% in the last quarter as its international growth pushes the business forward...

Temple and Webster shares have crashed over 30% even though it saw strong revenue growth and record customer numbers. Aware Super, one of Australia’s biggest super funds has spent nearly $50 million on marketing its industry super fund last year as the race for super dollars heats up. SkinKandy, the Australian body piercing and jewellery business is prepping for a $400 million IPO… bu...

Tiktok has bought the naming rights to rebrand a major Sydney venue as the ‘Tiktok Entertainment Centre’. Two Aussie tech founders just sold their software monitoring startup for more than $5 billion. The owner of the Daily Mail is dropping £500 million to buy The Daily Telegraph and bring it into its media empire. _ Download the free app (App Store):  http://bit.ly/FluxAppS...

The Execs at Reece, the plumbing wizards, have copped a second strike on their pay after shareholders have lost their patience. The owner of Ladbrokes and Neds in Australia is cutting jobs and winding back perks as it tries to stabilise its struggling Aussie business. Monash IVF has reported weaker than expected performance after it feels the after-effects of its embryo transfer mix ups _ Download...

Qantas is taking the loyalty battle to Virgin Australia head-on… with a new membership program for Jetstar. Nvidia keeps the AI boom alive as it outperforms the VERY lofty expectations of investor… and the whole market rises on the news. Adobe has dropped almost $2 billion USD to buy Semrush so it can beef up its marketing and AI tools. _ Download the free app (App Store):  http...

Airtasker has raised more than $7.5 million from iHeartMedia as part of its plan to expand into the US and UK… but it’s share price got whacked on the news. OpenAI has launched a brand new group chat feature for ChatGPT as it quietly tiptoes towards becoming… a social platform. Breaking Rust has just hit #1 on the US country charts with their song “Walk my Walk”......

Xero has seen its half-year profit jump 42% but its shares still fell 9% on the news... as investors worry about the its big US push. Google has released a huge batch of new AI shopping tools that are planning to make your online browsing a whole lot easier. VISA has launched a pilot program that allows businesses to payout stablecoins straight into digital wallets. _ Download the free app (App St...

Menulog has announced it will close its Australian operations after tough competition from global giants has crushed its local market share  ASX-listed DroneShield has seen its shares plummet by 30% after a major sell-down from its leadership team Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand Skims has just raised fresh capital at a $5 billion USD valuation  _ Download the free app (App Store):...

 CommBank reported first quarter profits of $2.6 billion with a particular shoutout to their growing home lending and household deposits  Australia's social media ban for children under 16 will officially come into effect from the 10th of December, which will be a massive blow for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube and many more  UNIQLO has defied the competitive retail landscape in Au...

Today on What the Flux: In Conversation, we’re excited to welcome Lee Hatton Lee is Block’s Financial Operations Lead,. Block being the $45 billion USD global fintech giant. It’s the company behind Cash App, Square, music platform TIDAL and of course Afterpay, She started her career in financial services roles across New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and the US before becoming CEO...

Today on What the Flux: In Conversation, we’re excited to welcome Lee Hatton Lee is Block’s Financial Operations Lead,. Block being the $45 billion USD global fintech giant. It’s the company behind Cash App, Square, music platform TIDAL and of course Afterpay, She started her career in financial services roles across New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and the US before becoming CEO...

Today, we have Angad Soin, the Managing Director for Australia & New Zealand and Global Chief Strategy Officer at Xero. Xero is the cloud-based accounting software that started in New Zealand, listed in Australia and now had 4.4 million subscribers globally in over 180 countries. Angad joined Xero back in 2021, he was elevated to lead Xero’s global strategy function in 2023 and late last...

Today on What the Flux: In Conversation, we’re excited to welcome Chris Judd - a name that many of you will associate with greatness on the footy field, but whose also created a second act in investing. Chris played 14 seasons in the AFL, first with West Coast and then Carlton. Over that time he became one of the game’s most decorated players. Captain of both clubs, two Brownlow Medals...

Today on What the Flux: In Conversation, we’re excited to welcome Chris Judd - a name that many of you will associate with greatness on the footy field, but whose also created a second act in investing. Chris played 14 seasons in the AFL, first with West Coast and then Carlton. Over that time he became one of the game’s most decorated players. Captain of both clubs, two Brownlow Medals...

Today, we are joined by Eliza Owen, head of Research at Cotality, formerly known as CoreLogic. And Eliza is the go-to guru when it comes to decoding housing trends, spotting shifts in the market and also helping us understand what all those charts and numbers actually mean for everyday Aussies. For anyone unfamiliar with Cotality, it's the country's leading property, data and analytics company. Th...

Today, we’re excited to be joined by Adam Schwab, co-founder and CEO of Luxury Escapes. Adam has built one of Australia’s most successful travel brands from the ground up - taking a leap from a legal career, surviving some of the most difficult years in travel, and now leading a global business that connects millions to curated luxury getaways. In our conversation today, we’ll go...

Zip Co, the ASX-listed buy now pay later, has seen its total transaction volume jump 34% in the past quarter as its US business takes off. Myer has revamped its Myer One loyalty program to bring younger shoppers back to its stores. Football Australia has a plan that would allegedly make it the most expensive sport for gambling companies in Australia. _ Download the free app (App Store):  http...

CommSec, CommBank’s trading platform, has seen its profits jump 36% as Aussies try to get their hands into volatile stock markets. Rex Airlines, aka Regional Express, has found a buyer in US aviation company after 15 months in administration. Gucci’s parent company Kering has sold its beauty business to L’Oréal for €4 billion to cut debt and refocus on fashion. _ Down...

ASX-listed Mayne Pharma saw its shares spike 14% after a court ruled that its acquirer cannot terminate its $672 million acquisition offer Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica just hit record sales as smart glasses go from nerdy to need one now Nestlé’s new CEO is cutting 16,000 jobs as it looks to trim costs while also speeding up growth _ Download the free app (App Store):  http://bi...

YouTube and Instagram have announced new safety features for kids and teens ahead of Australia’s social media ban. Macquarie Group has sold one of its data centre businesses for $61 billion in the largest global data centre buyout ever. Elon Musk’s AI company xAI has launched two raunchy chatbots Ani and Valentine to drive more engagement on its AI chatbot. _ Download the free app (App...

Treasury Wine Estates’ shares have hit a decade-low after struggling with weak sales and even more challenges in the US. Pop Mart, the retailer responsible for the Labubu craze, has promised store expansion in Australia after the Labubu-love has boomed locally. The newly-merged Paramount Skydance has made a $42 billion USD offer to acquire media behemoth Warner Bros Discovery… with th...