Opening Bid

• Okta CEO on Q4 earnings beat and what's driving business: EXCLUSIVE

  Cybersecurity player Okta (OKTA) is ending its reporting year on a high note. Fourth-quarter sales rose 13% from the prior year amid healthy demand for cybersecurity services. Adjusted earnings beat analyst estimates by four cents per share. For 2025, the company targets double-digit percentage profit growth despite economic pressures on small to medium-sized businesses. Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi chats with Okta co-founder and CEO Todd McKinnon about the quarter and road ahead. McKinnon co-founded Okta in 2009 alongside Frederic Kerrest. Today, the company’s market cap stands at more than $15 billion. The company has ambitious innovation goals in identity management, a key plank in corporate tech stacks as AI agents begin to run amok. McKinnon reveals his plans to keep companies safe in the age of AI, and a host of leadership lessons some 16 years into his CEO journey. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid, brings you a high-octane take on the freshest analyst calls, wildest stock moves and shrewdest commentary in the business world. Executive Editor Brian Sozzi puts Wall Street's finest through their paces in this essential conversation for every investor - before the stock market opens. Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid at http://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at [email protected]. 00:00-Todd McKinnon on Opening Bid 02:30-Why AI might create problems in cyber security 07:00-Diving into earnings 9:45-First quarter outlook 14:50-Building Okta's culture 17:30-Going to battle: talking competitors 20:00-HOT TAKE Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is hosted by Brian Sozzi, and produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky. Todd McKinnon is the Co-founder and CEO of cloud security company Okta, previously serving as a vice president at Salesforce. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Inside the big money-making business of music catalogs like Joni Mitchell & John Denver

  Music catalogs remain hot assets for acquisition by those financial powerhouses with the money to purchase them. Look no further than the sale of Bruce Springsteen’s catalog to Sony in 2021 for a reported $500 million. Brian Sozzi sits down on the Opening Bid podcast with Reservoir Media (RSVR) founder and CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi. Khosrowshahi is a veteran in the music industry, spending more than 17 years building up Reservoir through the acquisition of music catalogs and publishing outfits. Today, the company sits at the interaction of music and streaming media with an eye toward continuing to purchase catalog assets and earn royalties. Though risks to the business exist in the form of rising values for catalogs for legendary performers and the shift to AI generated music. Khosrowshahi shares her outlook for the music industry, and also her leadership journey growing up in Iran to running a major company today. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid, brings you a high-octane take on the freshest analyst calls, wildest stock moves and shrewdest commentary in the business world. Executive Editor Brian Sozzi puts Wall Street's finest through their paces in this essential conversation for every investor - before the stock market opens. Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid at http://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at [email protected]. 00:00-Golnar Khosrowshahi on Opening Bid 2:30-What do Joni Mitchell, John Denver, and voice of Lion King have in common? 6:15-Future of Streaming 11:40-Thoughts on Chappel Roan Grammy's speech demanding artists making a living wage 13:30-AI impact on making music 17:50-Future of good music 20:30-HOT TAKE Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is hosted by Brian Sozzi, and produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky. Golnar Khosrowshahi is the Founder and CEO of Reservoir, a global, independent music company, with operations across music publishing, recorded music, and management. It is the first female founded and led publicly traded independent music company in the U.S. In addition to her role as Founder and CEO of Reservoir, Golnar serves on the boards of National Music Publishers’ Association, NMPA’s S.O.N.G.S. Foundation, Silkroad, and the New York Philharmonic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  24:45
• Why this AI player is aggressively buying back its stock

  ZoomInfo (ZI) was bootstrapped in 2007 by founder and CEO Henry Schuck with $25,000 in credit card debt. The data intelligence play started its life by focusing on small to medium-size businesses looking for ways to connect with key contacts at larger companies and better understand customers. Today, the company has entered the AI age and is fresh off posting more than $1.2 billion in annual sales. The company could eclipse that level in 2025, according to new guidance shared this week on its earnings release. So, what’s next for this under-the-radar tech player? Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi chats with Zoominfo founder and CEO Henry Schuck to discuss just that. Schuck shares lessons on how he has grown ZoomInfo, from mistakes to best lessons learned. He also dives into how ZoomInfo will be playing in the AI space against some of its biggest competitors. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid, brings you a high-octane take on the freshest analyst calls, wildest stock moves and shrewdest commentary in the business world. Executive Editor Brian Sozzi puts Wall Street's finest through their paces in this essential conversation for every investor - before the stock market opens. Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid at http://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at [email protected]. 00:00-Henry Schuck on Opening Bid 00:45-Preparing for an earnings call 06:31-How a business innovates with AI 11:27-Stock repurchase plan 15:00-Shaping a strong business 19:30-HOT TAKE Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is hosted by Brian Sozzi, and produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky. Henry Schuck has served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of ZoomInfo (formerly DiscoverOrg) since founding it in 2007. Henry led ZoomInfo as it became the first tech company to go public during the COVID-19 pandemic. Including the company’s acquisition of Zoom Information in 2019, he has overseen 13 acquisitions in total. Prior to founding ZoomInfo, Henry was VP of Research & Marketing at iProfile, a sales intelligence firm focused on the IT market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  23:28
• Should you go all in on Nvidia stock?: NVIDIA EARNINGS SPECIAL

  Nvidia mania has returned to markets. Shares of the $3.2 trillion market cap chipmaker reversed losses and were up nearly 3% in early trading on Thursday as investors digested a host of Nvidia earnings headlines. In its earnings release on Wednesday evening, Nvidia said it expects gross profit margins of 70.6% to 71% in the first quarter as it contends with the production ramp-up of its new Blackwell chip. That initially drove concern in the markets about peak AI demand, and perhaps peak Nvidia hype. Nvidia execs sought to push back on the bears on its earnings call. "We're going to have to continue to scale as demand is quite high, and customers are anxious and impatient to get their Blackwell systems," Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang said. Huang teased several new powerful chips set to be unveiled at the company's March 17 GTC conference. In a special Nvidia themed episode of Opening Bid, Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi sits with EMJ Capital founder Eric Jackson and a16z general Partner Anjney Midha to dive into multiple areas of Nvidia. Jackson shares his views on Nvidia as a trade, while Midha unveiled a powerful force likely to drive Nvidia’s business for the next decade. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid, brings you a high-octane take on the freshest analyst calls, wildest stock moves and shrewdest commentary in the business world. Executive Editor Brian Sozzi puts Wall Street's finest through their paces in this essential conversation for every investor - before the stock market opens. Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid at http://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at [email protected]. 00:00-Nvidia special on Opening Bid 00:15-Dan Howley on key takeaways 04:00-Eric Jackson with Nvidia outlook 13:00-Anjney Midha shares state of AI infrastructure Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is hosted by Brian Sozzi, and produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky. Daniel Howley is the Eddie & Ozzie award-winning tech editor at Yahoo Finance, reporting on a broad range of topics related to the business of Big Tech including the chip wars, artificial intelligence, antitrust matters, and more. EMJ Capital Founder & President, Eric Jackson, is a tech and media investor with a non-traditional background for a hedge fund manager. Anjney Midha is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz where he invests in AI, infrastructure, and open source technology.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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  24:00
• Why Robinhood CEO is mixed on a US sovereign wealth fund

  Robinhood (HOOD) has been on one of the more blistering paces of innovation from the fintech space the last twelve months. The overarching goal? Make the platform way more than a place for a 22-year-old to trade GameStop. Think of a one-stop shop for stocks, crypto, retirement, and even credit cards. Brian Sozzi sits down on the Opening Bid podcast with the person leading the charge at Robinhood on these fronts, co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev. The company has expanded into event contracts with a successful debut for the election — although efforts to wade into the Super Bowl were frowned upon by lawmakers. In January, the platform provider debuted futures and index options trading. The company has since released Robinhood Legend, billed as a sleeker platform that targets more sophisticated traders. Robinhood Legend allows up to eight charts open in a single window, and it could elevate various technical indicators such as Bollinger Bands. This as the Trump administration eyes stablecoin frameworks this year and explores the potential of a bitcoin reserve — both of which could be major tailwinds to Robinhood and competitors such as Coinbase. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid, brings you a high-octane take on the freshest analyst calls, wildest stock moves and shrewdest commentary in the business world. Executive Editor Brian Sozzi puts Wall Street's finest through their paces in this essential conversation for every investor - before the stock market opens. Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid at http://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at [email protected]. 00:00-Vladimir Tenev on Opening Bid 01:40-Building the Robinhood dream 05:00-Reflecting on family 10:04-What's next in crypto for Robinhood? 14:30-SEC ends crypto probe 17:12-The future of 24 hour trading 20:30-HOT TAKE Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is hosted by Brian Sozzi, and produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky. Vladimir Tenev is the CEO and Co-Founder of Robinhood Markets and, since November 2020, has served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Robinhood Markets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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