Netflix réjouit Wall Street avec des résultats trimestriels supérieurs aux attentes

Netflix a enregistré une croissance solide au premier trimestre et n’anticipe pas d’impact majeur lié aux guerres commerciales de Donald Trump, des annonces et déclarations qui ont réjoui Wall Street jeudi.Le géant américain du streaming a réalisé 10,54 milliards de dollars de chiffre d’affaires au premier trimestre, en hausse de 12,5% sur un an, dont il a dégagé 2,89 milliards de dollars de bénéfice net, deux résultats supérieurs aux attentes du marché.Son titre prenait près de 3% lors des échanges électroniques après la clôture de la Bourse de New York.”Nous suivons de près la situation économique, notamment la confiance des consommateurs (…) mais nous n’observons rien de significatif pour l’instant”, a indiqué Ted Sarandos, le co-directeur général de la société, lors de la conférence aux analystes.”Historiquement, le fait que le secteur du divertissement, et Netflix en particulier, se soient montrés assez résistants pendant les périodes économiques difficiles nous rassure aussi”, a-t-il ajouté.La guerre commerciale entre les Etats-Unis et la Chine et les menaces de droits de douane plus élevés de la part du président américain Donald Trump pèsent sur les entreprises. Certaines marques diminuent leurs budgets publicitaires.”Que les nouvelles taxes soient ou non appliquées, cette situation est destructive pour de nombreuses industries et rendra le divertissement plus coûteux à produire”, a commenté Ross Benes, de Emarkerter.”Mais Netflix est en mesure de résister à la pression mieux que la plupart de ses concurrents, du moins dans un premier temps, en raison de sa faible dépendance aux recettes publicitaires et de ses taux d’annulation des abonnements relativement faibles par rapport à ses pairs”, a ajouté l’analyste.La plateforme table sur plus de 11 milliards de dollars de revenus pour le trimestre en cours, une estimation meilleure que celle du marché.- “Engagement” -A la fois pionnier et leader de l’industrie du streaming, Netflix comptait plus de 300 millions d’abonnés en décembre dernier.Le groupe californien venait alors de gagner près de 19 millions de nouveaux abonnements pendant le quatrième trimestre 2024, des chiffres qui font pâlir la concurrence.Mais, comme il l’avait annoncé, il ne divulgue plus cet indicateur désormais, afin de se concentrer sur les mesures “d’engagement” de l’audience (temps passé à regarder des contenus).Netflix “a supprimé cette mise à jour trimestrielle au moment où les gains liés à la fin du partage des mots de passe entre utilisateurs allaient diminuer et où les perspectives d’augmentation du nombre d’abonnés semblaient s’essouffler”, a noté Ross Benes.Selon l’expert, tout le secteur du streaming se concentre maintenant moins sur les gains de spectateurs, et plus sur les revenus par abonné.”Les consommateurs peuvent s’attendre à de nouvelles augmentations de prix”, a-t-il détaillé.En décembre, la plateforme a augmenté ses prix aux Etats-Unis : la formule “Standard” est passée à 18 dollars au lieu de 15,50 et la formule moins chère avec de la publicité, lancée fin 2022, à 8 dollars par mois au lieu de 7.Netflix espère commencer à tirer des revenus significatifs de cet abonnement cette année. “Nous avons doublé nos recettes publicitaires d’une année sur l’autre en 2024, et nous prévoyons de les doubler à nouveau cette année”, avait indiqué en janvier Greg Peters, co-directeur général du service.Il a évoqué jeudi l’ambition de ses équipes de parvenir au “même niveau de sophistication” dans la distribution des clips publicitaires que dans les recommandations de contenus, c’est-à-dire “trouver la bonne pub pour le bon public et la bonne émission”.Pour convaincre les spectateurs, Netflix va continuer d’investir dans les émissions en direct, notamment dans le sport. “Le direct représente une part relativement faible de nos dépenses et du nombre d’heures visionnées”, a reconnu Ted Sarandos, “mais les retombées sont disproportionnellement positives en termes d’attraction des spectateurs et sans doute de la rétention (des abonnés)”.La plateforme compte aussi sur une nouvelle saison de la série dystopique “Black Mirror”, sortie ce mois-ci, et la très attendue dernière saison de “Stranger Things”, prévue pour plus tard cette année.

Asian markets mixed as traders track tariff talks

Asian markets were mixed in holiday-thinned trade Friday as investors keep tabs on countries’ tariff talks with the White House, while Donald Trump’s remarks that he was reluctant to hike levies on Beijing even more provided a little support.Governments around the world are lining up to visit the US president’s team as they look to pare back eye-watering levies imposed by the United States for what he calls years of being “ripped off” and as he looks to reshore manufacturing.While several officials have been in touch, Japanese negotiator Ryosei Akazawa’s trip this week was seen as a “canary in the mine” owing to the countries’ long-running relationship.He met Trump, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday without making any immediate progress, though a second round of talks is scheduled for the end of April.Trump had earlier hailed “big progress” in the negotiations.Hopes most of the measures against US trading partners can be rowed back have soothed some market anxiety after the white-knuckle ride at the start of the month, though uncertainty caused by the president’s tendency to flip-flop is keeping investors on edge.Trump on Thursday offered a little optimism when he said he was reluctant to keep hiking rates on China as that could halt trade between the two economic superpowers, adding that Beijing had been reaching out to him.”I have a very good relationship with President Xi (Jinping), and I think it’s going to continue,” he said. “And I would say they have reached out a number of times.”His remarks came after Bloomberg reported that China could be open to dialogue but wanted to see some measures beforehand, including reining in some cabinet members’ anti-Beijing comments.Still, Washington unveiled new port fees on Chinese built and operated ships Thursday as it looks to boost its domestic shipbuilding industry and curb China’s dominance in the sector.The move stems from a probe launched under Joe Biden’s administration but could further ratchet up tensions.After a mixed lead from Wall Street, Asia fluctuated.Tokyo led the gains even as data showed Japanese inflation accelerated last month as rice prices more than doubled.Seoul and Taipei also rose while Shanghai dipped.Hong Kong, Sydney, Singapore, Mumbai, Jakarta, Wellington and Manila were closed for holidays.Investors are also eyeing developments at the Federal Reserve as Trump hit out at boss Jerome Powell, who warned the sweeping tariffs were “highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation”.The president slammed Powell for not lowering interest rates, as the ECB has done, and said his “termination cannot come fast enough”.Speaking to reporters at the White House, he said Powell would “leave if I ask him to”, adding “I’m not happy with him. I let him know it and if I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me”.Earlier, in a post on Truth Social, he said his “termination… cannot come fast enough”. Michael Hewson at MCH Market Insights pointed out that US inflation was far higher than the Fed’s two percent target and the tariff policy had created “significant ripples in the US economy, prompting a collapse in consumer confidence in the process”.”Trump is amping up the pressure on the Fed to cut rates quickly,” he wrote in a note. “Sadly, for Trump his very policies are the ones causing the Fed to pause, with Powell warning that the sheer size of the tariffs is complicating the central bank’s job.”The chaos being unleashed by the US administration is also giving business cause for concern.”- Key figures at 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent at 34,583.29 (break)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 3,268.89Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.1371 from $1.1370 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP $1.3273 at $1.3268Dollar/yen: DOWN at 142.35 yen from 142.39 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.66 pence from 85.67 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 3.5 percent at $64.68 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 3.2 percent at $67.96 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 1.3 percent at 39,142.23 (close)London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,275.66 (close)

India’s elephant warning system tackles deadly conflict

In central India’s dry forests, community trackers hunt for signs of elephants to feed into an alert system that is helping prevent some of the hundreds of fatal tramplings each year.Boots crunch on brittle leaves as Bhuvan Yadav, proudly wearing a T-shirt with his team’s title of “friends of the elephant”, looks for indicators ranging from tracks or dung, to sightings or simply the deep warning rumbles of a herd.”As soon as we get the exact location of the herd, we update it in the application,” Yadav said, as he and three other trackers trailed a herd deep in forests in Chhattisgarh state, preparing to enter the information into their mobile phone.The app, developed by Indian firm Kalpvaig, crunches the data and then triggers warnings to nearby villagers.There are fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The majority are in India, with others in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.The usually shy animals are coming into increasing contact with humans because of rapidly expanding settlements and growing forest disturbance, including mining operations for coal, iron ore, and bauxite.Mine operations in particular have been blamed for pushing elephants into areas of Chhattisgarh where they had not been seen for decades.- ‘Line of defence’ -“We have to be quiet so that there is no confrontation,” said Yadav, trekking through forests surrounding the Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve.”We try and maintain a distance of 200 metres (220 yards) from the herd — so that there is room to run,” added Yadav, who is one of around 250 trackers employed by the state forestry department. Despite weighing up to six tonnes, an Asian elephant can cover several hundred metres in just 30 seconds, according to research published in the journal Nature.And as elephant habitats shrink, conflict between humans and wild elephants has grown — 629 people were killed by elephants across India in 2023-2024, according to parliamentary figures.Chhattisgarh accounted for 15 percent of India’s elephant-related human casualties in the last five years, despite being home to just one percent of the country’s wild elephants, government data show.Authorities say the government-funded alert system has slashed casualties.In the Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve area, elephants killed five people in 2022, a year before the app was launched.Among them was 50-year-old rice farmer Lakshmibai Gond, who was trampled while watching her fields in the state’s Gariaband district, her son Mohan Singh Gond said. “She was caught off-guard,” he told AFP. “The elephant ripped her skull apart.”Since the alarm system began in February 2023, just one elephant-related death has been recorded.”Villagers provide their mobile number and geo-tag locations,” said state forest official Varun Jain, who leads the initiative.”They get calls and text messages when an elephant is within five kilometres (three miles).”Announcements are also broadcast on loudspeakers in villages in key conflict zones as a “second line of defence”, he added. – ‘Such a clever creature’ -Residents say the warnings have saved lives, but they resent the animals.”When there is an announcement, we do not go to the forest to forage because we know anything can happen,” said community health worker Kantibai Yadav.”We suffer losses, because that is our main source of livelihood and they also damage our crops,” she added. “The government should not let wild elephants roam around like that.”Forest officials say they are trying to also “improve the habitat” so that elephants do not raid villages in search of food, Jain said. The app requires trackers to monitor the elusive animals over vast areas of thick bush, but Jain said the alert system was more effective than darting and fixing radio collars to the pachyderms.”An elephant is such a clever creature that it will remove that collar within two to three months,” Jain said.Radio collars would be usually fitted to the matriarch, because that helps track the rest of the herd who follow her.But the elephants that pose the most danger to humans are often rogue bulls, solitary male animals enraged during “musth”, a period of heightened sexual activity when testosterone levels soar.”Casualties you see in 80 percent of the cases are done by the loners,” he said.”The app is to ensure that there are no human casualties.” 

US senator meets wrongfully deported Salvadoran migrant

American Senator Chris Van Hollen said Thursday he had met with a Salvadoran man wrongfully deported to his home country by the Trump administration, in a case that has sparked outrage in the United States.Van Hollen had earlier said he had been denied access to the prison where Washington has paid President Nayib Bukele millions to lock up nearly 300 migrants it says are criminals and gang members — including 29-year-old Kilmar Abrego Garcia.”I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance,” Van Hollen later posted on X with a photo of him sitting at what appeared to be a restaurant table with Abrego Garcia.The dour-faced deportee is shown wearing a short-sleeved check shirt and a baseball cap.Van Hollen added that he would offer “a full update upon my return” to the United States.Abrego Garcia was detained in Maryland last month and expelled to El Salvador along with 238 Venezuelans and 22 fellow Salvadorans who were deported shortly after President Donald Trump invoked a rarely-used wartime authority. Trump administration officials have claimed he is an illegal migrant, a gang member and involved in human trafficking, without providing evidence. Abrego Garcia had enjoyed a protected status in the United States, precluding his deportation to El Salvador for his own safety. A federal judge has since ordered he be returned, later backed up by the Supreme Court.But the administration — despite admitting an “administrative error” in his deportation — contends he is now solely in Salvadoran custody. – ‘Staying in El Salvador’ -Bukele, who met Trump in Washington on Monday, said he does not have the power to send the man back.The Salvadoran leader posted to X late Thursday that Abrego Garcia was “sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador.”The deportee in fact appeared to have a cup of coffee and glass of water on the table in front of him.”Now that he’s been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody,” Bukele added in another post.Van Hollen, on the second day of his trip to El Salvador, had earlier tried to make his way to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) outside the capital San Salvador to see Abrego Garcia. The car he was traveling in was stopped by soldiers, he said, about three kilometers (1.8 miles) from the complex holding thousands of Salvadoran gangsters, and now also hundreds of migrants expelled from the United States. “We were told by the soldiers that they had been ordered not to allow us to proceed,” the senator later told reporters. – Cots without mattresses -He said the goal had been to check on the health and well-being of Abrego Garcia, who had been “illegally abducted” and was now the subject of “illegal detention” in the same prison built to hold members of gangs who had previously threatened his family.On Wednesday, Salvadoran Vice President Felix Ulloa had denied Van Hollen permission to see the prisoner or even talk to him by telephone. Asked why Abrego Garcia was being held at all, Ulloa told him “that the Trump administration is paying El Salvador, the government of El Salvador, to keep him at CECOT,” the senator recounted.Bukele had built the CECOT to hold gang members rounded up in an iron-fisted anti-crime drive welcomed by most Salvadorans but widely denounced for violating human rights. CECOT inmates are confined to their cells for all but 30 minutes a day, denied visits, forced to sleep on stainless steel cots without mattresses, and subsist on a diet of mostly beans and pasta. 

Gustavo Dudamel: the superstar conductor building bridges to pop

As the full moon rose, conductor Gustavo Dudamel’s signature theatrics were projected with a front-facing view to a spellbound audience, his baton whipping his orchestra into Richard Wagner’s legendary “Ride of The Valkyries.”It was perhaps an unlikely spectacle at Coachella, but one that generated a huge, enthusiastic crowd — and was befitting of a maestro who has become a bona fide celebrity.”WERK!” shouted one young audience member at Dudamel, as he and the Los Angeles Philharmonic began what was seen as one of the festival’s most memorable performances.Under Dudamel’s direction for the past 17 years, the LA Phil has cultivated an air of cool, fostering a relationship with pop and celebrity especially during the ensemble’s summer series at the Hollywood Bowl.So it was only natural that the 44-year-old take his act to California’s Coachella, one of the world’s highest-profile music festivals that in recent years has gained a reputation for buzzy surprises and eclectic line-ups.The orchestra delivered, launching into a mesmerizing set that included classics like Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, film themes like John Williams’ “Imperial March” from “Star Wars,” and a genre-spanning array of guests including country star Maren Morris, Icelandic jazz-pop singer Laufey, LA’s own Becky G and EDM DJ Zedd.The grand finale saw Dudamel’s baton conjure bars from one LL Cool J, a genre-blending pas de deux that mirrored a rap battle.”This place represents a culture,” Dudamel said of the festival in a backstage interview with AFP, ahead of his and the Phil’s first performance, which they will reprise on Saturday during Coachella’s final weekend. “This is what I believe is the mission of art, this identity,” he explained. “The identity of a new generation, hungry for beauty.”- ‘Catharsis’ -Over the years, some observers have marveled over — or criticized — Dudamel’s ties with Hollywood and his efforts to unite the classical world with music of the Hot 100 variety.But for the conductor — whose talent was shaped by Venezuela’s illustrious “El Sistema” musical education program — working across genre is “the most natural thing,” he said. In his youth, “my father had a salsa band, and I grew up listening to that and going to the orchestra, and it was always very natural to just enjoy music — whatever it was, a bolero, a rock band,” Dudamel recalled.”There are different styles of music, but music is one.”Johanna Rees, the vice president of presentations at the LA Phil, one of the most prestigious orchestras in the United States, says cross-genre collaborations are in part about drawing in fresh audience members.”It could be considered an entry point,” she said, “exposing the orchestra to these younger, newer audiences so they can come back and check out more things and discover orchestral concerts on their own.”A lot of audience members at Coachella, she predicted, were “seeing an orchestra for the very first time.””It’s quite awesome, in the most literal sense of that word, to see how everybody can come together and make this music completely without the genre.”Some in the classical music world have balked at this notion, considering it a dilution, or cheapening, of the art form.But such criticism misses the expansive possibilities ingrained in the process of collaboration, Rees said: “We’re not creating orchestral wallpaper behind a band.””It’s hearing the music in a different way. It’s not dumbing it down,” she added. “It’s just making it another version of itself.”The prime sunset slot at Coachella serves as a capstone ushering in Dudamel’s final year of his nearly two-decade run in Los Angeles — the product of “years of dreaming, and breaking walls, and connecting more not only with styles of music but with different people’s identities,” he said.It’s an ethos the maestro aims to bring to the eminent New York Philharmonic when he officially assumes his post as that company’s next director in the 2026-27 season.And it’s vital, he said, in a moment of boiling political turmoil.”We need these spaces of catharsis,” he said, to “connect to the power of a tool of humanity that is music.”

Japan rice prices soar as core inflation accelerates

Rice prices in Japan last month were almost twice what they were a year earlier, official data showed Friday, as core inflation accelerated in the world’s number four economy.The price of the grain has soared in recent months, prompting Japan’s government to release some of its emergency stockpile into the market.Excluding fresh food, consumer prices rose 3.2 percent in March year-on-year compared to 3.0 percent in February — in line with market expectations.Excluding energy as well, prices rose 2.9 percent last month, up from 2.6 percent in February. But overall inflation eased to 3.6 percent from 3.7 percent.The data is likely to strengthen expectations that the Bank of Japan will hike interest rates, with inflation above the BoJ’s target of two percent for almost three years.However, uncertainty caused by US President Donald Trump’s trade policies could prompt the central bank to stick to its current stance for now.The internal affairs ministry said that the prices of both fresh and non-fresh food products rose, as did hotel fees.But grain prices saw the biggest increase, rising 25.4 percent. Rice prices logged an enormous 92.5-percent jump, driven by a shortage of the staple.- Rice shock -Factors behind the shortfall include poor harvests due to hot weather in 2023 and panic-buying prompted by a “megaquake” warning last year.Record numbers of tourists have also been blamed for a rise in consumption while some traders are believed to be hoarding the grain.The government began auctioning its rice stockpile last month, the first time since it was started in 1995.The government has so far released around 210,000 tonnes and plans to auction another 100,000 tons this month, authorities said earlier this month. Rice also appears to have been a factor in Trump’s hefty tariffs of 24 percent on Japanese imports — currently paused — into the United States.The White House has accused Japan of imposing a 700-percent tariff on US rice imports, a claim that Japan’s farm minister called “incomprehensible”.But it’s not just rice; cabbage prices have also exploded, including by 111.6 percent in March compared to the same month last year.Last year’s record summer heat and heavy rain ruined crops, driving up the cost of the leafy green in what media have dubbed a “cabbage shock”.The rising prices have increased pressure on the government of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to do more to help consumers.

Trump and Italy’s Meloni talk up EU tariff deal hopes

Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni hit an optimistic note about a possible US-EU tariffs deal Thursday as the far-right Italian prime minister mounted a charm offensive at the White House.Casting herself as the only European who can de-escalate Trump’s trade war, Meloni highlighted their conservative common ground and said she wanted to “make the West great again.””There will be a trade deal, 100 percent,” Trump said during her visit. Meloni said she was “sure” they could reach a deal.The two leaders struck a warm tone during a working lunch and a meeting in the Oval Office, with Trump hailing the 48-year-old Italian premier as “fantastic.”Meloni is the first leader from Europe to visit the Republican since he slapped 20 percent tariffs on EU exports, which he has since suspended for 90 days.The Italian leader said Trump had accepted an invitation to visit Rome in the “near future” and that he might also meet European leaders there.”Even if we have some problems between the two shores of the Atlantic, it is the time that we try to sit down and find solutions,” she said.Meloni highlighted their shared views on immigration and “woke” ideology and added: “The goal for me is to make the West great again, and I think we can do it together.” – ‘Get smart’ -But while Trump expressed confidence about an eventual deal with the 27-nation bloc he accuses of trying to “screw” the United States, he said he was in “no rush.””Everybody wants to make a deal — and if they don’t want to make a deal, we’ll make the deal for them,” Trump added.Trump also returned to his administration’s familiar criticisms of Europe, saying it needed to “get smart” on immigration and boost defense spending on NATO.The US leader said separately that superpower rival China had “reached out” about a possible deal to end the bitter trade war between the world’s biggest economies.Trump has slapped eye-watering 145 percent tariffs on Chinese goods after it retaliated to his worldwide “Liberation Day” tariffs announcement on April 2.”I think we’re going to make a very good deal with China,” he added.Russia’s war in Ukraine meanwhile remained a touchy subject between the US and Italian leaders.Meloni has been a staunch ally of Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky since Russia’s invasion of the country in 2022, most recently calling Moscow’s Palm Sunday attack on the city of Sumy “horrible and vile.” Trump however has stunned allies with a pivot toward Moscow and repeated attacks on Zelensky, whom he berated in an Oval Office meeting in February.The US leader said with Meloni beside him that “I don’t hold Zelensky responsible but I’m not exactly thrilled with the fact that that war started,” adding that he was “not a big fan” of the Ukrainian.- Uncertainty -Meloni had earlier acknowledged the uncertainty weighing on her trip as Europe reels from repeated blows from a country that has been the continent’s defender for decades.”I am aware of what I represent and I am aware of what I am defending,” Meloni said Tuesday.Italian newspapers reported that one of the goals of Meloni’s visit was to pave the way for a meeting between Trump and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.Meloni’s decision to personally intercede with Trump has caused some disquiet among EU allies, who are concerned that her visit could undermine bloc unity.”If we start having bilateral discussions, obviously it will break the current dynamic,” France’s Industry Minister Marc Ferracci warned last week. A European Commission spokeswoman said that while the EU alone could negotiate trade agreements, Meloni’s “outreach is very welcome” and was coordinated with Brussels.Following Thursday’s meeting with Trump, Meloni will fly back to Rome on Friday in time to host US Vice President JD Vance, with whom she has a meeting planned.Trump’s threatened tariffs could have a major impact on Italy, the world’s fourth-largest exporter, which sends around 10 percent of its exports to the United States.