Forbes

2022-05-01 17:05:01 Elon Musk Sells About $4 Billion In Tesla Shares Ahead Of Planned Twitter Purchase

Elon Musk sold more than 4.4 million shares of electric car company Tesla for just under $4 billion, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings released Thursday evening, shortly after the billionaire Tesla CEO agreed to buy Twitter.

The sales took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, at prices ranging between about $872 and $999 per share, the regulatory filings said.

Musk still owns more than 168 million shares of Tesla.

Shortly after the sales were disclosed, Musk tweeted: “No further TSLA sales planned after today.” Open / Comment

2022-05-01 14:05:01 Here’s Why Meta Stock Is Surging 18% Despite Underwhelming Quarterly Results

Meta was up 18% on Thursday to around $206 per share, as investors cheered the company’s increase in daily active users in the first quarter, from 1.93 billion to 1.96 billion.

User growth, which declined for the first time in the company’s history during the fourth quarter of 2021, bounced back and topped analyst expectations in the first quarter.

Despite solid user growth, Meta reported lackluster revenue ($27.9 billion versus $28.2 billion expected), with sales growing just 7% from a year ago—its first time as a public company that revenue only grew in single digits.

Total costs and expenses of $19.4 billion, meanwhile, surged 31% from last year in a dramatic increase — but the company forecasts lower expenses for the full year, reducing its spending estimate by roughly $3 billion.

Before the stock’s rally on Thursday, Meta shares were down nearly 50% so far in 2022. Open / Comment

2022-04-30 21:05:01 U.S. Economy Shrank 1.4% Last Quarter In Worst Showing Since Covid Recession, New GDP Estimate Shows

The economy last quarter posted its worst annualized showing since the pandemic-induced recession in 2020.

Despite economist expectations calling for growth of 1%, the U.S. economy shrank at an annual rate of 1.4% in the first quarter of 2022 — the first decline since the second quarter of 2020.

In the first quarter, a record wave of Covid-19 cases spurred by the omicron variant resulted in continued restrictions and business disruptions, while government assistance programs including forgivable loans to businesses and social benefits to households expired or tapered off — further preventing growth, the government said.

The decrease reflected broad declines in exports, government spending and business inventories, along with increased imports. Open / Comment

2022-04-30 17:05:01 Singapore’s Digital Edge Is Investing $791 Million To Build South Korea’s Largest Data Center

Singapore-based data center company Digital Edge is investing 1 trillion won ($791 million) to build a 120-megawatt facility in South Korea, which would be the country’s largest data center at its scheduled completion in 2024. The deal eclipsed the firm’s previous investment in South Korea after it acquired two facilities in Seoul and Busan from Sejong Telcom in 2021 for $120 million.

“Korea has one of the fastest-growing data center markets and this investment forms part of our ongoing commitment to this dynamic country, as we seek to bring the next generation of digital infrastructure to Asia,” Samuel Lee, chief executive at Digital Edge said in a statement.

The new facility will accommodate the bulging appetite from local and international cloud providers and cater to other demanding applications such as hyperscale, large digital media, and enterprise deployments. Open / Comment

2022-04-30 14:05:01 SpaceX Launches Four Astronauts To International Space Station In Historically Diverse Long-Term Mission

SpaceX successfully launched four astronauts towards the International Space Station early Wednesday in a mission that features one of the most diverse crews sent to space.

The launch of the Crew-4 mission took place from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Cape Canaveral, Florida, and it consisted of a partially reused Falcon 9 two-stage rocket which propelled the crew onboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule named Freedom.

Minutes after the launch, the crewed capsule managed to successfully enter orbit while the first stage booster of the Falcon 9 rocket returned back to Earth and landed on board SpaceX’s drone-ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

The crew of four is made up of two men — NASA’s Kjell N. Lindgren and Robert Hines — and two women — NASA’s Jessica Watkins and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti from the European Space Agency. Open / Comment

2022-04-29 21:05:01 Boeing CEO Regrets Deal With Trump For New Air Force One Jets That Will Cost Company $1 Billion

Boeing has lost $660 million developing two Air Force One 747 jets following a “very unique” 2018 deal with then President Donald Trump that placed liability for cost changes on the company rather than on taxpayers, CEO Dave Calhoun reportedly told investors.

Calhoun said the company expects to lose a total of $1.1 billion on the planes, which were originally set to be delivered by 2024 but could take longer.

Calhoun remarked that Boeing “probably should not have taken” the fixed-price $3.9 billion contract, which was revised to make the company responsible for cost changes after Trump insisted that the original arrangement was too pricey.

The project’s spiraling expenses were driven by rising supplier costs, rising technical costs and scheduling difficulties.

Calhoun’s comments came as the company posted a $1.24 billion loss for the first quarter of 2022. Open / Comment

2022-04-29 17:05:01 Senator John Kennedy questioned the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Watch in the video how it happened. Open / Comment

2022-04-29 14:05:01 Robinhood Lays Off 9% Of Full-Time Employees After Decline In Users

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev announced that the financial services company would lay off about 9% of its full-time employees in the wake of a drop in active users following torrid growth early in the pandemic, sending Robinhood stock plunging nearly 72% in six months.

From 2019 to 2021, spurred by modest interest rates, government stimulus and by pandemic restrictions that boosted app usage, Robinhood grew its employee headcount from 700 to nearly 3,800.

However, this burgeoning headcount created redundant employee roles and introduced an unnecessary level of complexity, prompting the current layoffs.

Tenev said the company would individually contact laid-off employees to discuss “next steps,” and would offer support in the form of separation packages and help with job searching. Open / Comment

2022-04-29 02:00:13 The first NFTs integrated into Telegram!

The Animals Red List NFT project is getting ready to launch on the TON blockchain with minting to take place on April 28.

The NFT Collection features 13,333 endangered animal species, and a portion of the funds from the donations will go to support endangered animals.

Gorgeous, Noble, and Extravagant.

— In case you haven't realized, these NFTs are going to skyrocket in value in a couple of days.

Take part in the project and support the animals — Animals Red List Open / Comment

2022-04-28 20:05:01 Stock Market Sell-Off Continues: Dow Plunges 800 Points Ahead Of Big Tech Earnings

The stock market tanked on Tuesday, adding to already significant losses so far this month amid ongoing concerns about an economic slowdown, while investors dumped shares of Big Tech stocks ahead of several big earnings reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.4%, over 800 points, while the S&P 500 lost 2.8% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite 4%.

The market’s losses on Tuesday added to what has already been a big sell-off so far in April: The Dow is down over 4%, the S&P 500 roughly 8% and the Nasdaq nearly 13%.

Stocks plunged, with the Dow shedding over 1,000 points last Friday (its biggest single-day loss in several years), and despite the major benchmarks posting gains on Monday, widespread selling looks to have resumed.

Tech giants such as Microsoft and Alphabet both fell more than 3% ahead of reporting first-quarter earnings after the market close. Open / Comment