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Luke Kawa

Unity Software craters after Q1 sales and earnings guidance fall short of estimates

Both pillars of Unity Software’s business are under pressure from AI tools and new entrants, and its internal AI capabilities don’t seem to be keeping up.

Shares of the gaming engine and ad tech company are off more than 20% in premarket trading. Its solid Q4 results were overshadowed by weak Q1 guidance, with management calling for revenues to range from $480 million to $490 million with adjusted EBITDA from $105 million to $110 million. Wall Street’s estimates were $494 million and $112 million, respectively.

The company’s outlook suggests “a slower than expected ramp-up in its AI-powered ad-technology tool, Vector,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Mandeep Singh and Nathan Naidu wrote. “Slow uptake of Unity 6 subscriptions, with guidance seeing flat growth in 1Q, could drag on top-line gains.”

Unity was among the stocks that cratered in late January after the release of Google’s Project Genie, which was able to recreate knockoffs of popular games.

Separately, Unity and peer AppLovin have suffered amid fears that their ad divisions will be disrupted by startups utilizing AI agents.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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