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☆ Inflation slightly cooled off in April as expected
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The Consumer Price Index increased 3.4% year over year in April, just below March's rise of 3.5%. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementInflation in the US is still above 3%, new Consumer Price Index data released on Wednesday suggested, but cooled off slightly in April. The Consumer Price Index or CPI, an inflation measure, climbed 3.4% from April 2023 to this past April. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: — Organizations: Service, Index, Business Locations: Investing.com

Mortgage rates are a bit lower today, though they're still well above where they started the month. See more mortgage rates on Zillow Real Estate on ZillowMortgage CalculatorUse our free mortgage calculator to see how today's mortgage rates will affect your monthly and long-term payments. 15-Year Fixed Mortgage RatesAverage 15-year mortgage rates were 6.16% this week, according to Freddie Mac data, which is a 10-basis-point increase from the previous week. Now that the Fed has paused hiking rates, mortgage rates have come down a bit. Once the Fed starts cutting rates, which is likely to happen this year, mortgage rates should fall even further.

Persons: they're, Freddie Mac Organizations: Markets, Treasury, Investors, Federal Reserve, Zillow, Fed Locations: February's, Chevron

High inflation and Federal Reserve interest rates hikes helped push mortgage rates up over the last couple of years. Now that inflation has slowed so much from its June 2022 peak, mortgage rates are expected to go down this year. See more mortgage rates on Zillow Real Estate on ZillowMortgage CalculatorUse our free mortgage calculator to see how today's mortgage rates would impact your monthly payments. Mortgage Rates for Buying a Home30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rates Go Down (-0.33%)The current average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 6.30%, down 33 points from where it was this time last week, according to Zillow data. 20-Year Fixed Mortgage Rates Fall (-0.29%)The average 20-year fixed mortgage rate is down bit from last week, and is sitting at 6.07%.

Persons: Investing.com, you'll, It's, refinance Organizations: CPI, Zillow, FHA Locations: Chevron

Mortgage rates have dropped a bit from last week's highs, but they haven't come down enough yet to substantially improve affordability for borrowers. Average 30-year mortgage rates dropped to 6.34% in January, according to Zillow data, a low not seen since last spring. If the core PCE price index comes in hotter than expected, mortgage rates could trend back up a bit. See more mortgage rates on Zillow Real Estate on ZillowMortgage CalculatorUse our free mortgage calculator to see how today's interest rates will affect your monthly payments. 15-Year Fixed Mortgage RatesAverage 15-year mortgage rates inched down to 6.29% last week, according to Freddie Mac data.

Persons: you'll, Freddie Mac, it's, they've Organizations: National Association of Realtors, Federal, Core PCE, Zillow, Federal Reserve Locations: Chevron

A smartphone with a displayed NVIDIA logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. But the red-hot market for AI chips is playing out in the context of vastly expanded U.S. export controls on what Nvidia can sell to China. Jacob Bourne, analyst at Insider Intelligence, said that those China-focused chips could consume vital research resources at Nvidia for products that could end up banned just like its first round of China market chips. Rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) had earlier touted the quantity of high-bandwidth memory on one of its competing AI chips. Chinese tech company Huawei's (HWT.UL) AI chip is also gaining traction from local firms as U.S. pressure makes it hard to access Nvidia chips.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Nvidia, Jesse Cohen, Colette Kress, Jacob Bourne, Bourne, Chavi Mehta, Max A, Stephen Nellis, Arun Koyyur, Sayantani Ghosh, Matthew Lewis Organizations: NVIDIA, REUTERS, Wall, Nvidia, LSEG, Insider Intelligence, Devices, Google, Microsoft, San, Thomson Locations: China, Israel, Gaza, United States, Bengaluru, Max, San Francisco

Money market traders are betting September's hike was the last, with almost 90 basis points of rate cuts priced by the end of 2024. European shares underperforming their U.S. counterparts was a common expectation amongst the survey's European respondents as the robust American economy looks more likely to achieve a 'soft landing' than Europe. European shares are much cheaper than those in the U.S., possibly reflecting the worse economic outlook. The STOXX Europe 600 trades at over 12 times 12-month forward earnings, a 35.6% discount to the S&P 500 (.SPX). "Still, as the broader economic slowdown takes hold of the continent's markets, we expect to see a rather challenging second half of 2024."

Persons: Chris Beauchamp, Thomas Monteiro, Germany's DAX, Fiona Cincotta, Cincotta, Investing.com's Monteiro, Monteiro, Samuel Indyk, Danilo Masoni, Pranoy Krishna, Rahul Trivedi, Sarupya Ganguly, Jason Neely Organizations: IG, European Central Bank, ECB, Investing.com, FTSE, Bank of England, Thomson Locations: Europe, Germany, riskier, U.S, Bengaluru

It’s the first time Apple’s fiscal year revenue has dropped since 2019 when sales fell by 2%. Although Apple's revenue in the latest quarter deceased 1% from last year to $89.5 billion, its profit rose 11% to $22.96 billion, or $1.46 per share. To help juice its revenue, Apple has been raising some of its prices. In a bright spot, Apple's iPhone sales climbed 3% to $43.8 billion — a sign the company's latest models are being well received heading into the holiday shopping season. Apple’s service division also turned in a robust quarter with revenue of $22.31 billion, a 16% increase from last year.

Persons: Tim Cook, Cook, ”, Jesse Cohen, Max, Apple, “ Organizations: Apple, Research, U.S, Huawei, Google Locations: U.S, China, iPhones, Cupertino , California

☆ How to make an ultra-low-risk 5% return buying bonds
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Returns from the Treasury market are growing more attractive with yields hovering near 5%, the highest since 2007. When the government has more trouble finding buyers for new Treasurys, yields will rise to attract interest. For instance, holders can't sell their bonds directly from a TreasuryDirect account. For greater access to the Treasury market, investors can turn to brokerages and some commercial banks, which act as the primary intermediaries of US debt. By using a broker to buy bonds in the secondary market, investors can also add Treasury assets into tax-free accounts, such as a Roth IRA.

Persons: —, Matthew Liebman, Roth Organizations: Treasury, Service, Federal Reserve, Investing.com, Amplius Wealth Advisors, Bloomberg Locations: Brokerages, TreasuryDirect

☆ Snap sees upbeat fourth quarter as new ad features start to pay off
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Khushi Mandowara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Revenue for the third quarter ended September rose 5% to $1.19 billion, beating analysts' expectations of $1.11 billion, according to LSEG data. For the fourth quarter, the Santa Monica, California-based company expects revenue to be between $1.32 billion and $1.38 billion. Snap, however, said it saw a risk to its sales in the fourth quarter as a war in the Middle East could tamp down spending from a large number of brand-oriented advertising campaigns. Daily active users on Snapchat were 406 million, beating Wall Street expectations of 405.7 million. Snap's net loss widened to $368 million in the quarter from $360 million a year earlier.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Scott Kesler, Evan Spiegel, Thomas Monteiro, Khushi, Anil D'Silva Organizations: REUTERS, Revenue, Meta, Investing.com, Thomson Locations: Santa Monica , California, Bengaluru

☆ Alphabet Has Strong Ad Sales but Cloud Business Disappoints
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Nico Grant | More About Nico Grant | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A rebound in digital advertising led to an uptick in revenue and profit for Alphabet, Google’s parent company, but investors were underwhelmed by its cloud computing business, which badly trails those of rivals Microsoft and Amazon. Alphabet reported $76.7 billion in quarterly sales, up 11 percent from a year earlier, and roughly in line with analysts’ estimate of $76 billion, according to data compiled by FactSet. The internet giant said that its profit jumped 42 percent to $19.7 billion, exceeding Wall Street expectations of $18.5 billion. “Investors were disappointed by the relatively weak performance at its Google Cloud Platform, which is at risk of falling further behind” Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, Jesse Cohen, an analyst at investing.com, wrote in a note.

Persons: FactSet, Jesse Cohen Organizations: Microsoft, Google, Web Services, investing.com

Google Cloud generated third-quarter revenue of $8.41 billion, compared with $6.87 billion in the year-ago quarter. By contrast, revenue from Microsoft's Intelligent Cloud unit, which houses the Azure cloud computing platform, grew to $24.3 billion, compared with analysts' estimate of $23.49 billion, LSEG data showed. Azure revenue rose 29%, higher than a 26.2% growth estimate from market research firm Visible Alpha. Within the company's advertising segment, YouTube ads reported revenue of $7.95 billion compared with $7.07 billion last year. Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 stood at $76.69 billion, compared with estimates of $75.97 billion, according to LSEG data.

Persons: Paresh Dave, Jesse Cohen, Akash Sriram, Max A, Anil D'Silva, Aurora Ellis Organizations: REUTERS, Google, Alpha, Microsoft, Revenue, Thomson Locations: Mountain View , California, U.S, , California, Bengaluru, Max, San Francisco

The company's revenue rose 13% to $56.5 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with analysts' consensus estimate of $54.52 billion, according to LSEG data. Revenue from Microsoft's Intelligent Cloud unit, which houses the Azure cloud-computing platform, grew to $24.3 billion, compared with analysts' estimate of $23.49 billion, LSEG data showed. Microsoft said on Tuesday that its fiscal first-quarter profit was $2.99 per share, above analyst estimates of $2.65 per share, according to LSEG data. Sales of its Windows operating system and other products in the segment grew to $13.7 billion, compared with analysts' consensus estimate of $12.82 billion, according to data from LSEG. The segment containing the LinkedIn social network and its office productivity software grew to $18.6 billion, compared with analysts' consensus estimate of $18.20 billion, according to LSEG data.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Jesse Cohen, Jeremy Goldman, Anna Tong, Stephen Nellis, Yuvraj Malik, Devika Syamnath, Peter Henderson, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Microsoft, REUTERS, Investing.com, Alpha, Intelligence, Thomson Locations: Investing.com ., Redmond, Washington, San Francisco, Bengaluru

"If interest rates remain high ... it's that much harder for people to buy the car. The price of the popular Model Y SUV was "almost unchanged" for consumers even after Tesla's price cuts, Musk said, accounting for higher financing costs. Reuters GraphicsPRICE CUTSTesla's aggressive price cuts this year have battered its gross margin even as it faces stiff competition in China from local automakers. Still, it stuck to its annual production target of 1.8 million cars, a sign that the price cuts were buoying demand to an extent. In the second quarter, Tesla had posted a gross margin of 18.2%.

Persons: Matthew Childs, Elon Musk, Musk, Tesla, Jesse Cohen, Akash Sriram, Hyunjoo Jin, Joe White, Abhirup Roy, Sayantani Ghosh, Sriraj Kaluvilla, Deepa Babington, Jamie Freed Organizations: REUTERS, General Motors, Chrysler, Reuters, Visible Alpha, Revenue, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, Mexico, Nuevo Leon, China, Bengaluru, Hyunjoo, San Francisco, Detroit

☆ Nvidia results burnish AI rally, lift global tech shares
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nvidia's shares rose to $510.14 in premarket trading, set to surpass a record high of $481.87 hit earlier this week. That represents another three-fold increase in the stock's value from current levels. Elsewhere, shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) (2330.TW), which supplies to Nvidia, rose 2.2%. A lot rested on Nvidia posting strong results, as most of the S&P 500's over 15% year-to-date gains have come from the AI-driven rally in Nvidia and other Big Tech stocks. Investing.com analyst Thomas Monteiro said Nvidia's results validated "the narrative that has been propping tech stocks in general this year."

Persons: Ann Wang, ”, Hargreaves, Sophie Lund, Yates, Elazar, Bernstein, Stacy Rasgon, Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Thomas Monteiro, Susan Mathew, Chavi Mehta, Varun Organizations: REUTERS, Nvidia, Elazar Advisors, Rosenblatt Securities, Devices, Micron Technology, Broadcom, Marvell Technology, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, ASM International, BE Semiconductor, Aixtron, Swissquote Bank, Big Tech, Thomson Locations: Taipei, Taiwan, Bengaluru

☆ Disney hikes streaming prices, focuses on costs as Iger moves to reassure investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Dawn Chmielewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Disney also posted quarterly revenue below expectations and fell slightly behind analyst projections for U.S. subscribers of Disney+. A sign is shown at one of the entrances to Disney Studios in Burbank, California, U.S., July 25, 2023. It added 800,000 Disney+ subscribers, 100,000 subscribers shy of analyst estimates, and shed 12.5 million subscribers to the Disney Hotstar service in India, or nearly a quarter of its subscribers, as it gave up rights to Indian Premiere League cricket matches. Disney's direct-to-consumer business reported a 9% increase in revenue to $5.5 billion, as the average revenue per subscriber rose at Disney+ and Hulu. The unit had lower operating income at its domestic parks, due to decreases at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Persons: Walt Disney, Bob Iger, ’, “, I've, ” Iger, Wall, Iger, Mike Blake, Jesse Cohen, Dawn Chmielewski, Chavi Mehta, Aditya Soni, Peter Henderson, Sayantani Ghosh, Matthew Lewis Organizations: ESPN, Disney, Hulu, Netflix, Disney Studios, REUTERS, Indian Premiere League, Investing.com, Shanghai Disney Resort, Walt Disney World, Thomson Locations: Hollywood, Europe, Canada, Burbank , California, U.S, India, Disney's, Orlando , Florida, Los Angeles, Bengaluru

For the second quarter, Amazon's revenue grew 11% to $134.4 billion, beating estimates of $131.5 billion from analysts polled by Refinitiv. In recent months, Amazon Web Services (AWS) saw its sales growth slow as wary businesses scrutinized their cloud bills. The unit beat estimates of around $21.7 billion in second-quarter cloud sales, increasing them 12% to $22.1 billion. Its rivals posted bigger jumps off smaller bases: 28% growth in Alphabet's June-quarter cloud revenue and a 26% quarterly increase for Microsoft's Azure. Longer-term, Amazon aims to turn one unit, its $35 billion in yearly gross business-to-business e-commerce sales, into $100 billion, Jassy told analysts.

Persons: Pascal Rossignol, Brian Olsavsky, Olsavsky, Andy Jassy, Arun Sundaram, Sundaram, Jassy, Thomas Monteiro, Investing.com, Monteiro, Refinitiv, Chavi Mehta, Jeffrey Dastin, Noel Randewich, Arun Koyyur, Aurora Ellis, Chris Reese Organizations: REUTERS, Amazon.com Inc, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Refinitiv, Amazon Web Services, CFRA Research, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Lauwin, France, Alphabet's, Bengaluru, Jeffrey Dastin San Francisco

☆ Apple’s sales fall for the third consecutive quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The company said its services revenue reached a new all-time high of $21.2 billion. The services business — which includes Apple Music and Apple TV+ — is an increasingly important revenue driver for Apple. iPhone revenue came in at $39.7 billion for the quarter, marking an approximately 2% year-over-year decline. Mac revenue was $6.8 billion for the quarter, a 7% drop, and iPad revenue was down nearly 20%. Apple’s June quarter is typically the slowest of the year for the tech giant, which usually unveils new iPhone models in September.

Persons: CNN — Apple, Tim Cook, ” Cook, Cook, “, we’ll, Apple’s, ” Jesse Cohen, Luca Maestri Organizations: CNN, Apple Music, Apple, Air, Services, Global, Gartner, IDC

☆ The responsible investing boom is over. Can anything replace ESG?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN —Environmental, social and corporate governance, or ESG, investing is on a downward spiral. But in 2022, the pace of inflows quickly eased as a confluence of political, geopolitical and market events severely damaged interest in ESG investing. ESG investing took off and became a buzzword — the “artificial intelligence of six years ago,” said Jenkins. Alphabet reported revenue of $74.6 billion, marking a 7% jump compared to last year and beating Wall Street’s estimates. Banc of California reported a much smaller decline in net income of $2.4 million last quarter.

Persons: ESG, Larry Fink, ”, Robert Jenkins, Jenkins, “, ” Jenkins, he’s, What’s, Clare Duffy, Catherine Thorbecke, Wall, ” Thomas Monteiro, —, Elisabeth Buchwald, Jared Wolff, Wolff, PacWest Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN, BlackRock, CNN, Lipper, Pleiades Strategy, Google, Microsoft, Wall, Bancorp, Western Bank, Beverly, Santa, Bank Locations: New York, YOLO, Ukraine, Banc, California, Santa Ana, United States

The company’s revenue was slightly better than what Wall Street had expected, but it nonetheless represented the second consecutive quarterly revenue decline for the iPhone maker. Despite the continued revenue decline, there were bright spots in the report. Apple also posted an all-time services sales record of $20.9 billion for the quarter. The services business — which includes Apple Music and Apple TV+ — is an increasingly important revenue driver for Apple that is less cyclical than hardware sales. Apple’s latest quarterly earnings report comes amid a sharp decline in PC and smartphone sales globally after a surge earlier in the pandemic.

☆ Uber’s revenue climbs 29% as it continues to defy tech slump
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Uber on Tuesday reported revenue of $8.8 billion for the quarter ending in March, a 29% increase from the same period last year and beating Wall Street’s estimates. The company’s continued strength comes despite lingering recession fears and stands in stark contrast to the slowing growth at other tech companies. It also sets Uber apart from its chief rival Lyft, which is undergoing significant layoffs and a shakeup in its C-Suite. Even with higher interest rates and tighter access to capital, Khosrowshahi said “we are well positioned to improve our competitive position across our key markets.”Shares for Uber surged more than 8% in pre-market trading Tuesday morning. Uber has largely avoided having to undergo the significant layoffs that have dominated headlines in Silicon Valley in recent months.

☆ Amazon earnings: Company posts $3.2 billion profit as it goes through multiple rounds of layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

The e-commerce giant on Thursday reported a profit of $3.2 billion for the first quarter, up from a loss of $3.8 billion in the year ago quarter and far exceeding analysts estimates. The swing to a profit comes as Amazon (AMZN) has ramped up its cost-cutting measures in recent months. It also comes as key areas of Amazon’s business continue to grow despite lingering recession fears possibly weighing on corporate and consumer spending. Amazon expects second-quarter net sales to grow between 5% and 10% from the same period the year before, or be between $127 billion and $133 billion. “The results indicate that ongoing cost-cutting measures are having a positive impact on Amazon’s business prospects,” said Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com.

Across the company, Alphabet will "meaningfully" slow its pace of hiring this year, said Porat. Net income fell to $13.62 billion, or $1.05 per share, from $20.64 billion, or $1.53 per share, a year earlier. Adjusted profit of $1.05 per share fell short of an expected $1.18 per share, according to Refinitiv. Revenue from Google advertising, which includes Search and YouTube, fell 3.6% to $59.04 billion. Late last month, the Justice Department and eight states sued Google over what they said were anticompetitive practices in its digital ad sales.

Shares of Alphabet, were down about 4% in after-hours trading, after losing about 40% of their value in 2022. Revenue from Google advertising, which includes Search and YouTube, fell 3.6% to $59.04 billion. Alphabet's net income fell to $13.62 billion, or $1.05 per share, from $20.64 billion, or $1.53 per share, a year earlier. Adjusted profit of $1.05 per share fell short of an expected $1.18 per share, according to Refinitiv. Like rivals, Alphabet had bulked up during the pandemic and into last year, adding 12,700 new jobs in the third quarter alone.

Feb 1 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc's (META.O) stricter cost controls this year and a new $40 billion share buyback sent shares soaring on Wednesday, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg called 2023 the "Year of Efficiency." The parent of Instagram and Facebook cut its cost outlook for 2023 by $5 billion to a range of $89 billion-95 billion, and projected first-quarter sales that could beat Wall Street estimates. Shares of peer Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) were up 3.3% and Snap Inc (SNAP.N) stock rose 1% in after-hours trade on Wednesday. "Despite all the challenges Meta must deal with, there are signs the business is still doing well," Cohen said. The company forecast first-quarter revenue between $26 billion and $28.5 billion, compared with analysts' average estimates of $27.14 billion, according to Refinitiv.

Feb 1 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc's (META.O) stricter cost controls this year and a new $40 billion share buyback sent shares soaring on Wednesday, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg called 2023 the "Year of Efficiency." The parent of Instagram and Facebook cut its cost outlook for 2023 by $5 billion and projected first-quarter sales that could beat Wall Street estimates. The company forecast first-quarter revenue between $26 billion and $28.5 billion, compared with analysts' average estimates of $27.14 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Meta stock was up 18.3% in after-hours trade. The company reported adjusted earnings of $1.76 per share, missing the average analysts' estimate of $2.22 per share.

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