Stock markets were mixed on Thursday morning following a slightly better-than-expected PPI reading. In March, U.S. headline PPI rose 0.2% after increasing 0.6% in February and 0.4% in January. Prices for final demand services advanced 0.3%, while goods prices declined 0.1%. This brings annual PPI to 2.1%, up from 1.6% last month. Core PPI rose 0.2% after advancing 0.3% in February. The annual core PPI rate now stands at 2.8%, up from 2.7% in February. Leading the increase in services was the index for securities brokerage and investment-related services, which rose 3.1% -- while prices for traveler accommodation services declined 3.8%. A major factor in the decrease for final demand goods was energy, which decreased 1.6% -- while food prices advanced 0.8%, led by a 10.7% increase for processed poultry. The Dow was down 0.4%, while the S&P 500 was flat and the Nasdaq was up 0.5%. Crude oil traded above $85 per barrel and gold rose $12 to $2360 per ounce.

Alibaba is the world’s largest online and mobile commerce company as measured by gross merchandise volume (CNY 8.3 trillion for the fiscal year ended March 2022). It operates China’s online marketplaces, including Taobao (consumer-to-consumer) and Tmall (business-to-consumer). Alibaba's China commerce retail division accounted for 67% of revenue in the year ended March 2022. Additional revenue sources include China commerce wholesale (2%), international commerce retail/wholesale (5%/2%), local consumer services (5%), cloud computing (9%), digital media and entertainment platforms (4%), Cainiao logistics services (5%), and innovation initiatives/other (1%).

Paramount Global is the rebranded recombination of CBS and Viacom that has created a media conglomerate with global scale. CBS contributed Showtime in addition to its television assets--the CBS television network, 28 local TV stations, and 50% of CW, a joint venture between CBS and WarnerMedia. Viacom brought several leading cable network properties, including Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, VH1, CMT, and Paramount. Paramount Pictures produces original motion pictures and owns a library of 2,500 films, including the Mission: Impossible and Transformers series. Paramount operates a number of streaming services, most notably Paramount+ and Pluto TV.

Netflix's primary business is a streaming video on demand service now available in almost every country worldwide except China. The firm primarily generates revenue from subscriptions to its eponymous service. Netflix delivers original and third-party digital video content to PCs, internet-connected TVs, and consumer electronic devices, including tablets, video game consoles, Apple TV, Roku, and Chromecast. Netflix is the largest SVOD platform in the world with over 220 million subscribers globally.