Catch up on the weekend’s top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly:
1. Netflix (NFLX) estimates that its latest megahit, “Squid Game,” will create almost $900 million in value for the company, Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw reported, citing figures seen by the publication. In the case of “Squid Game,” Netflix estimates that 89% of people who started the show watched at least 75 minutes – more than one episode – and 66% of viewers, or 87 million people, have finished the series in the first 23 days. All told, people have spent more than 1.4 billion hours watching the show, which was produced by closely held Siren Pictures.
2. The fast-growing e-commerce business of luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue is aiming to go public soon at a valuation roughly triple what it was pegged at earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal’s Cara Lombardo reported. Saks is interviewing potential underwriters this week for an initial public offering that could take place in the first half of 2022 and targets a valuation of around $6 billion, the author noted, citing people familiar with the matter said. It was last valued at $2 billion in March. An IPO would be the second phase of a deal struck earlier this year that separated the e-commerce business from Saks’ slower-growing bricks-and-mortar retail operations, the publication added. The move, meant to help fuel the digital unit’s growth, prompted an activist investor to call for Macy’s (M) to do the same last week.
3. Many investors have paid Dell Technologies little attention in recent years and it might be time to take a fresh look, Andrew Bary wrote in this week’s edition of Barron’s. Dell Technologies (DELL) is about to become much more attractive to investors as it prepares to spin off its valuable stake in software maker VMware (VMW) in early November, the author contended, arguing that Dell will emerge with a solid balance sheet and simpler structure.
4. Comcast (CMCSA) subsidiary Universal’s “Halloween Kills” won the domestic box office with a $50.4M debut, the biggest horror opening of the pandemic era. The slasher movie also launched Friday on Universal’s sister streaming service Peacock, which didn’t disclose any viewership number for the pic. Overseas, “Halloween Kills” earned an estimated $5.5M from 20 markets for an early global cume of $55.9M.
5. MeiraGTx (MGTX), Chevron (CVX), Citigroup (C), Newmont (NEM), and British American Tobacco (BTI) saw positive mentions in this week’s edition of Barron’s.