Goldman Sachs reported a drop in first-quarter profit on Thursday, to $2.03 billion, reflecting declines in its fixed-income unit and overall revenue, Rachel Abrams writes in DealBook. The profit, which translated to $4.02 a share, compared with a profit of $2.2 billion, or $4.29 a share, in the period a year earlier. Wall Street analysts had been expecting $3.44 a share in the first quarter.
The firm generated $9.33 billion in net revenue in the quarter ended March 31, down from $10.09 billion in the period a year earlier. Analysts had been expecting net revenue of $8.7 billion.
Morgan Stanley, however, had a surprisingly strong performance in its fixed-income division, which trades bonds, derivatives and commodities. That helped lift the firm’s first-quarter profit 18 percent, Peter Eavis writes in DealBook.
On an adjusted basis, the bank said net income from continuing operations increased to $1.39 billion from $1.18 billion in the first quarter of 2013, while adjusted revenue rose to $8.8 billion from $8.48 billion. The first-quarter earnings exceeded the $1.22 billion that analysts expected Morgan Stanley to make, while revenue was above the $8.57 billion they were forecasting.
BLACKSTONE PROFIT ROSE 30%  | The Blackstone Group generated a higher profit in the first quarter as it reaped gains from selling its holdings, William Alden writes in DealBook. Blackstone, the biggest of the publicly traded private equity firms, said on Thursday that its economic net income â€" a measure of profit that includes unrealized gains from investments â€" rose 30 percent, to $814 million, in the first three months of the year. The earnings amounted to 70 cents a share, beating the estimate of 55 cents by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
WEIBO TO TRADE Â |Â Weibo, the microblogging service sometimes called the Twitter of China, will begin trading publicly on Thursday, in the latest test of investor appetite for technology stocks. Weibo priced its initial public offering at $17 an American depositary share on Wednesday, at the bottom of its expected range, Michael J. de la Merced writes in DealBook. At that level, Weibo will have raised $285 million, and would be valued at $3.6 billion. Twitter ended trading on Wednesday worth $26 billion.
Weibo, the biggest of China’s microblogging services, is the latest Chinese company to seek a listing in an American market. And though it generated investor interest for some time, a number of factors have since tempered enthusiasm. For one, Weibo’s I.P.O. prospectus revealed that the company’s growth was not quite as impressive as analysts and investors had expected. It is also trying to come to market at a time when both I.P.O.’s and technology stocks have faced growing investor wariness.
ON THE AGENDA  | Weekly jobless claims are out at 8:30 a.m. The Bloomberg consumer comfort index is released at 9:45 a.m. James P. Gorman, the chairman and chief executive of Morgan Stanley, is on CNBC at 10:30 a.m. This is the last DealBook newsletter of the week â€" markets are closed tomorrow in observance of Good Friday.
JAMES MURDOCH JOINS START-UP BOARD  | James Murdoch, the co-chief operating officer of 21st Century Fox and Rupert Murdoch’s son, has joined the board of True[X] Media, an advertising company based in New York, David Gelles writes in DealBook. Also joining the True[X] board are Jonathan Miller, the former chief executive of AOL, and Mich Mathews, the former chief marketing officer of Microsoft.
The addition of Mr. Murdoch, Mr. Miller and Ms. Mathews provides True[X] with several influential media executives to guide the company as it expands. True[X] has developed an online advertising technology that allows web publishers to replace small display and text ads with interactive ad units aimed at giving brands a viewer’s full attention.
HEDGE FUND TITANS BUY THE MILWAUKEE BUCKS  | The N.B.A. announced on Wednesday that two hedge fund leaders â€" Marc Lasry, the chief executive and chairman of the Avenue Capital Group and Wesley Edens, the co-chairman of the Fortress Investment Group â€" have agreed to buy the Milwaukee Bucks for about $550 million, William Alden writes in DealBook. They now face the challenge of revitalizing a floundering team that currently holds the league’s worst record.
Mr. Lasry and Mr. Edens join a long list of wealthy financiers with personal investments in sports. Among others, Joshua Harris, a co-founder of the private equity giant Apollo Global Management, led a group to buy the Philadelphia 76ers in 2011, and the billionaire Steven A. Cohen owns a small stake in the Mets. Mr. Lasry and Mr. Edens are buying the Bucks from Herb Kohl, who retired last year as a United States senator from Wisconsin after four terms.
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The Future of Facebook May Not Say ‘Facebook’  | Facebook’s strategy includes unbundling its mammoth social network into discrete and nimble components, which helps explain the company’s increasing appetite for acquisitions, Farhad Manjoo writes in the State of the Art column. NEW YORK TIMES
Can Facebook Innovate? A Conversation With Zuckerberg  | In an interview on the Bits blog, Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and chief executive of Facebook, chats with Farhad Manjoo about buying WhatsApp, anonymous communication and his age. NEW YORK TIMES BITS
Earnings and Sales From Google Disappoint  | Google’s revenue for the first quarter rose 19 percent, to $15.42 billion, about $100 million short of expectations, and earnings per share were $5.04, compared with $4.97 in 2013, slightly weaker than forecast, The New York Times writes. The disappointing results were driven in part by Google’s rapid acquisition of companies in the quarter, including Nest Labs for $3.2 billion, which entailed specialist fees and other costs. NEW YORK TIMES
BlackRock’s Profit Climbed in First Quarter  | BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, said on Thursday that its first-quarter profit rose sharply, driven by its retail business and positive flows across asset classes, Reuters reports. BlackRock reported net income of $756 million, or $4.40 a share, up from $632 million, or $3.62 a share, in the period a year earlier. REUTERS
Bank of America, Weighed Down by Legal Costs, Posts Loss  | Bank of America recorded a $276 million loss in the first quarter, a sign it is still paying for its mortgage problems nearly six years after the financial crisis. DEALBOOK
Bain Capital Raises $7.3 Billion for Buyout Fund  | The fund, which will focus on investments in North America, attracted $6.5 billion from outside investors, exceeding its target of $6 billion, a person briefed on the matter said. DealBook »
Warburg Pincus Nears Deal for Electronic Funds Source  | The private equity firm Warburg Pincus is in advanced talks to buy Electronic Funds Source, a transportation services payments company based in Nashville, in a deal that could value the company at more than $1 billion, Reuters writes, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. REUTERS
Is Private Equity Becoming Staid?  | “Having shareholders is not the only thing that has changed for the firms that pioneered private equity. They have become bigger, accumulating assets under management at a furious clip,†the Economist writes. “They are also becoming duller.†ECONOMIST
New Jersey Investment Chief’s Ties to Carlyle May Raise Questions on Pension Deal  | The website Pando calls into question the New Jersey Investment Council’s decision to give $300 million of state pension money to the private equity firm Carlyle Group, saying that Robert Grady, the council’s chairman and one of the closest advisers of Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, is a longtime executive at the firm who still receives income from its investments. PANDO
Hedge Funds Take a Hit  | Hedge funds have had their worst start to the year since the beginning of the financial crisis, The Financial Times writes. FINANCIAL TIMES
Sabre Prices I.P.O Below Range  | Sabre, which helps airlines process reservations and owns the website Travelocity, priced its initial public offering at $16 a share, below the company’s expected range of $18 to $20 per share, Reuters writes, citing an unidentified person familiar with the situation. Shares of the company are expected to start trading on Thursday. REUTERS
Candy Crush to Expand to China  | A deal between King Digital Entertainment and the Internet giant Tencent will bring one of the most popular game franchises to China, the Bits blog writes. The push into China follows the lackluster performance of King’s stock since the company’s initial public offering last month, which valued King at more than $7 billion. NEW YORK TIMES BITS
Germany’s Axel Springer Said to Be Considering Digital Unit I.P.O.  | Axel Springer, the biggest newspaper publisher in Europe, is said to be working with JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup on an initial public offering of its digital-classifieds business, Bloomberg News write, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Is Bitcoin Like High-Frequency Trading?  | “Bitcoins have something in common with high-frequency trading: Both are seen as either a huge waste of resources or a useful new technology that will lower costs in the financial industry for the benefit of consumers,†Matthew C. Klein writes in Bloomberg View. BLOOMBERG VIEW
BlackBerry’s Troubles Drive Start-Up Boom in Canada  | More than 450 start-ups, many of which were started by former BlackBerry employees, have opened for business in a community that is thought of as Canada’s Silicon Valley, Reuters writes. REUTERS
Moleskine Tries to Win Over Tech Crowd  | Moleskine, once known only for notebooks, has begun to position itself at the forefront of the “analog-digital continuum,†Adrienne Raphel writes in The New Yorker. Moleskine went public in Italy in April 2013. NEW YORKER
Pensioners in Detroit Rejoice, Though Deal Is Not Yet Done  | A day after Detroit scaled back the large pension benefit cuts it had proposed, the bankrupt city fended off charges that it had caved in to retirees in ways that could come back to haunt it, The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
When ‘Liking’ a Brand Online Voids the Right to Sue  | A new General Mills policy prevents customers from taking legal action against the company if they download coupons, enter a contest or connect with it in other ways, The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES
Yellen Says Job Weakness Forestalls Raising Rates  | In a speech in New York, Janet L. Yellen, the Federal Reserve chairwoman, said the labor market still needed a lift from monetary policy, despite an improving economy, The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES
Samsung Saw Death of Apple’s Jobs as a Time to Attack  | According to an email exchange presented in court, Samsung executives saw the death of Steven P. Jobs in 2011 as an opportunity to attack the iPhone, the Bits blog reports. NEW YORK TIMES BITS
High-Speed Traders Said to Be Subpoenaed by New York Attorney General  | Eric T. Schneiderman, New York State’s attorney general, is said to have sent subpoenas to six high-speed trading companies seeking information about their trading strategies as well as special arrangements they have with exchanges and so-called dark pools, Bloomberg News writes, citing an unidentified person familiar with the situation. BLOOMBERG NEWS
