DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Novartis earnings slip 4% on strong dollar, Gilenya competition
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Ludwig Burger | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 25 (Reuters) - Quarterly operating income at Swiss drugmaker Novartis (NOVN.S) slipped as competition weighed on prescriptions of multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya, but the earnings outlook at generic-drugs unit Sandoz perked up again. For Novartis, which reports results in dollars, a strong U.S. currency was also a drag on the value of sales generated outside the United States. Third-quarter group core operating income declined 4% to $4.28 billion, slightly below the average analyst consensus of $4.30 billion. Driven by sales of cheaper versions of biotechnology drugs that lost patent protection, the division's core operating income is now expected to grow by a "low single digit" percentage. Quarterly Gilenya sales fell a currency-adjusted 24% to $507 million, below a consensus of $555 million.

☆ YouTube's shrinking ad business is an ominous sign for the battered online ad market
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The online advertising market continues to suffer, as heavyweights Alphabet and Microsoft reported disappointing sales during their most recent quarters. Microsoft also reported a slowdown in its online advertising business. Indeed, the growth rate of that business has been shrinking each quarter of the past year, coinciding with the general downward trajectory of the entire online advertising market. Additionally, Microsoft's LinkedIn's quarterly sales growth shrank to 17%, down from 42% during the same period in 2021. Judging from the recent earnings reports of various tech giants, it's unlikely the Facebook parent is going to report any signs that the online advertising market is set for a rebound.

☆ YouTube's advertising revenue is taking a hit in the wake of a slowing economy and the dominance of TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

YouTube brought in less money from advertising than last year in the wake of a slowing economy and competition from TikTok. Insider recently reported that TikTok is poaching ad dollars away from YouTube, Meta, and Snap. Overall, YouTube's parent company appears to be feeling the sting of a slowing economy, reporting results that missed Wall Street's expectations. Overall, YouTube's parent company seems to be feeling the sting of that slowdown. Alphabet reported earnings and revenue below Wall Street's expectations on Tuesday.

☆ BMW invests $1.7 bln to build electric vehicles in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

An employee works at the BMW manufacturing plant in Greer, South Carolina, U.S., October 19, 2022. The luxury automaker plans to build at least six fully electric BMW models in the United States by 2030. BMW Group had already announced that four additional battery cell factories will be built in Europe and China to meet its needs. BMW's 30-year-old South Carolina plant has built more than 6 million vehicles, employs more than 11,000 people, and has an annual production capacity of up to 450,000 vehicles. South Carolina awarded a $65 million grant to Spartanburg County to assist with costs related to the project.

☆ BMW investing $1.7 bln to build electric vehicles in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SPARTANBURG, South Carolina Oct 19 (Reuters) - BMW AG (BMWG.DE) said on Wednesday it will invest $1.7 billion to build electric vehicles in the United States, the latest announcement from major automaker about plans to ramp up U.S. EV production. "It's the biggest single investment we've done so far," BMW Group Chairman Oliver Zipse told Reuters in an interview. The luxury automaker plans that at least six fully electric BMW models will be built in the United States by 2030. BMW Group has already announced four additional battery cell factories will be built in Europe and China to meet its needs. BMW's 30-year-old South Carolina plant has built more than 6 million vehicles, employs more than 11,000 people, and has an annual production capacity of up to 450,000 vehicles.

☆ Battery maker Envision AESC seeking potential investors to fund expansion-CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ZAMA, Japan, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Chinese renewable energy group Envision's battery business is seeking potential investors, as it looks to fund a planned 30-fold expansion in its battery production capacity for electric vehicles (EV), the unit's chief executive said. Envision AESC has also said it plans to supply batteries for Honda Motor Co (7267.T) and Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE). The company hopes to break into the top-tier EV supply rankings by leveraging its more than a decade of battery production experience. Matsumoto said the company is aiming to expand its share in the global EV battery market by roughly five times to about 15% by 2025 or 2026. Solid-state battery technology involves a high-capacity energy storage device that improves on lithium-ion batteries, replacing the liquid or gel-form electrolyte with a solid, conductive material.

☆ Medical-imaging startup NVision says its quantum tech is a big step forward for catching cancerous tumors. Check out the 18-slide deck used to raise a $17 million grant.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ulm-based NVision uses quantum tech to enable MRI scanners to analyse tumors at tissue level. The startup has partnered with Siemens to use its medical-imaging technology for cancer treatments. It secured a $17 million grant from the German government using this 18-slide pitch deck. Currently, MRI scanners can only conduct imaging at an anatomical level. "We know that with cancer, tumors have different metabolisms, and this is how they keep themselves alive," said CEO Sella Brosh.

☆ Billionaire Lukas Walton’s family office accelerates impact-investing push
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Robert Frank | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Builders Vision, the investing and philanthropy platform of billionaire Lukas Walton, has shifted its $1 billion endowment into what it calls "impact investments," leading a broader shift in family offices to connect their investing and giving. Chicago-based Builders Vision will announce today that its Builders Initiative Foundation has moved 90% of its endowment into "mission-related" investments -- investments in keeping with Builder's broader goals of sustainability and equity. Most foundations have 20% or less of their endowments in ESG or impact investments, so the 90% level sets a new benchmark for family offices and foundations. Walton, 36, is at the forefront of a rapid generational shift in family offices, as inheritors and entrepreneurs in their 30s and 40s use their fortunes to drive social change. For decades, family offices split their philanthropy and investing — making money on one side and giving it away on the other.

☆ Inside the $4 billion family office of Walmart Heir Lukas Walton
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Robert Frank | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Lukas Walton, the billionaire grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton, is reinventing the family office — building a multi-billion-dollar funding machine that powers charities, tech start-ups, public companies and activists seeking global change. Walton, 36, last year launched Builders Vision, a one-stop-shop of impact investing based in Chicago with more than $4 billion in assets. While most family offices separate philanthropy and investing, Walton has stitched them together into an impact-investing superstore – funding social and environmental causes through start-ups, public companies or charities. The Builders Vision venture capital fund, called S2G, is in the top quartile of venture capital funds by returns, according to Cambridge Associates benchmarks. Climate change, the food supply and ocean health are, after all, also investment risks, he said.

☆ Inside the growing business behind TikTok song remixes, which are transforming the way music is discovered on the app
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

TikTok users are increasingly finding new music through song remixes and mashups. In the middle of August, music artist Sam Smith's somber 2014 ballad "I'm Not The Only One" reentered Spotify's top 200 chart nearly a decade after its release. Marketers embrace TikTok remixes and mashupsAs with any social-media trend, music marketers are adjusting their strategies to stay in tune with TikTok's audience. TikTok music talent can earn anywhere from $500 to $5,000 to produce a remixed version of a track, according to Cloherty. Outside of monetary compensation, having a track go viral can help TikTok talent grow their audience off the app.

☆ See the 20-slide presentation this biotech startup used to raise $75 million for a way to treat blindness with CRISPR
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-14 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

About a year ago, the startup secured an exclusive deal with CRISPR gene-editing leader Intellia. SparingVision, a Paris-based startup, just raised $75 million to advance a suite of gene-therapy and gene-editing programs to treat eye diseases. The company plans to use the funds to enter the clinic with its first gene-therapy program. The cash will also help advance SPVN50, SparingVision's first gene-editing program. The program came out of a research collaboration SparingVision struck with Intellia Therapeutics, a CRISPR gene-editing leader, last year.

We often turn to TV to fantasize about having amazing jobs, but they can come with awful bosses. Ahead of the 75th Emmys, Insider rounded up 10 of the most toxic bosses from current and past shows. While this is a list of fictional characters, the tendencies many of them display are real. In the past year of television, viewers have watched their beloved protagonists get terrorized by a crop of toxic bosses, from Logan Roy on "Succession" to Sylvie Grateau on "Emily in Paris." Ahead of the 75th Emmys, Insider rounded up 10 of the most toxic bosses from television's past and present.

Persons: Logan Roy, Sylvie Grateau, Emily, Saul Organizations: Service Locations: Wall, Silicon, Paris

UFC 279 will stream live on September 10, with the main card starting at 10 p.m. Chimaev versus Holland and Diaz versus Ferguson are both scheduled for five rounds. How to watch UFC 279You can watch the main event of UFC 279 on ESPN+ at 10 p.m. Ways to save on the UFC 279 pay-per-view priceIf you plan on signing up for ESPN+ to watch UFC 279, you can take advantage of a special discounted bundle. Here's the fight card for UFC 279: Diaz vs. FergusonEarly Prelims — 6 p.m.

☆ AI won an art contest, and artists are furious
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-03 | by ( Rachel Metz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN Business —Jason M. Allen was almost too nervous to enter his first art competition. Courtesy Jason M. AllenAllen’s winning image looks like a bright, surreal cross between a Renaissance and steampunk painting. Midjourney is one of a growing number of such AI image generators — others include Google Research’s Imagen and OpenAI’s DALL-E 2. “This is the literal definition of ‘pressed a few buttons to make a digital art piece’,” another Tweeted. Allen is glad the debate over whether AI can be used to make art is capturing so much attention.

☆ Ransomware's new business model enables anyone to extort companies for massive payouts. Some insiders say it's a criminal twist on the strategy that made cloud giants so successful.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-02 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ransomware is following the business and distribution model that made cloud giants so successful. Experts say it's so easy to buy ransomware tool kits that hackers can make a monthly income from it. In the same vein, ransomware developers are taking care of back-end operations to get hackers up and running. Today's ransomware gig economy includes a network of behind-the-scenes operatorsThe ransomware gig economy behind ransomware-as-a-service programs has also expanded rapidly over the past two years. Record-breaking payouts include a $4.4 million ransom secured by hackers that attacked the fuel-pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline in 2021.

Search resuls for: "Vision's"

15 mentions found