DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ I'm a smug 30-year-old who thought only Luddites like my mom fall for 'smishing' scams. Then it happened to me.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Haven Orecchio-Egresitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

I'm a smug 30-year-old journalist who grew-up (mostly) computer literate. It wasn't enough to stop me from giving my credit card information to a USPS smishing scam. Haven Orecchio-EgresitzWhen my (non-biological) grandmother moved to Norway, I sent her a small package with some art my 1-year-old made. I then opened it on my laptop so I could click around and make sure it was actually the USPS. You know, that sassy department that sends you scathing emails warning you not to fall for phishing attempts.

Persons: Ellen DeGeneres, she's, Ellen, hasn't, Haven, Mommo, I'm Organizations: United States Postal Service, USPS Locations: Norway

REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsTAIPEI, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Taiwan will spend an extra T$94.3 billion ($2.97 billion) to buy weapons next year including fighter jets to bolster its defences against China, the government said on Thursday, and will get a further boost from new F-16 fighter jet tracking systems. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen already announced on Monday that overall proposed defence spending for 2024 would be set at T$606.8 billion, a 3.5% increase from the previous year. The United States on Wednesday approved a possible $500 million sale to Taiwan of infrared search and track systems for F-16 fighter jets, as well as other equipment. China, which routinely denounces any foreign arms sales to Taiwan, urged the United States to immediately cancel the planned sale, its foreign ministry said. Tsai has overseen a military modernisation programme to make the armed forces better able to face China, including upgrading a fleet of F-16 fighter jets and developing submarines.

Persons: Ann Wang, Tsai Ing, Po, huei, Tsai, Ben Blanchard, Faith Hung, Andrew Hayley, Christopher Cushing, Miral Organizations: Taiwan's Defence Ministry, REUTERS, Rights, United States, Democratic Progressive Party, Thomson Locations: Taichung, Taiwan, Rights TAIPEI, China, Taipei, United States, United, Beijing

BRICS - whose acronym was originally coined by an economist at Goldman Sachs, currently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called the BRICS leaders' decision to invite Ethiopia to join "a great moment". "It shows the determination of BRICS countries for unity and cooperation with the broader developing countries." More than 40 countries have expressed interest in joining BRICS, say South African officials, and 22 have formally asked to be admitted. "The expansion and modernization of BRICS is a message that all institutions in the world need to mould themselves according to changing times," he said.

Persons: Cyril Ramaphosa, Narendra Modi, Sergei Lavrov, Alet Pretorius, Goldman Sachs, BRICS, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Ramaphosa, Lula, globalisation's, Mohammed bin Zayed, Abiy Ahmed, Antonio Guterres, Xi Jinping, Bhargav Acharya, Sergio Goncalves, Ethan Wang, Vladimir Soldatkin, Joe Bavier, Toby Chopra, Emelia Organizations: South, India's, Russia's, REUTERS, United Arab, United, United Arab Emirates, New Development Bank, Ethiopian, United Nations, . Security, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, BRICS, Indian, Thomson Locations: Johannesburg, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, UAE, JOHANNESBURG, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Russia, India, China, Ukraine, United States, Beijing, Moscow, United Arab, Lisbon

☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, Splunk, Peloton, Rivian, AMC & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Goldman Sachs reiterates Nvidia as buy Goldman said it's standing by it's buy rating after Nvidia's strong earnings report on Wednesday. Stifel upgrades Nvidia to buy from hold Stifel upgraded the stock after its strong earnings report Wednesday. Bank of America upgrades Williams-Sonoma to neutral from underperform Bank of America said that the downside scenario is now "off the table" for Williams-Sonoma. Bank of America downgrades Vizio to underperform from buy Bank of America double downgraded the stock on concerns about a weakening consumer. Bank of America downgrades Peloton to neutral from buy Bank of America said it sees "limited visibility on growth initiatives" for Peloton .

Persons: Needham, Rivian, it's, Oppenheimer, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Wedbush, Johnson, Splunk, Raymond James, Piper Sandler, Piper, Wolfe, Charles Schwab, Bernstein, Estee Lauder, Snowflake, Rosenblatt, Read Organizations: Nvidia, Center, Stifel, AMC, Bank of America, underperform Bank of America, Williams, Sonoma, Vizio, Johnson, Prudential, DFS, ADI Locations: CY2024, Williams, Sonoma, Snowflake

☆ Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Netflix, Apple, Dick's, Meta, Amazon, Charles Schwab & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Here are Wednesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Deutsche Bank reiterates Charles Schwab as buy Deutsche said it sees an even "more" attractive risk/reward for Schwab shares after Tuesday's sell-off. Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple as overweight Morgan Stanley said Apple has "surpassed MSFT as the most under-owned large-cap tech stock exiting the second-quarter." Bank of America reiterates Meta as buy Bank of America said it sees more upside for shares of Meta. Bank of America reiterates Five Below as buy Bank of America said it's standing by shares of the discount retailer. Bank of America downgrades Dick's to neutral from buy Bank of America downgraded the stock after its disappointing earnings report Tuesday.

Persons: Charles Schwab, Schwab, SCHW, Wells Fargo, Wells, Morgan Stanley, Apple, Oppenheimer, Brown, Forman, GM headwinds, Edward Jones, DUK, Avery Dennison, Davidson, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, Susquehanna, Marvell Organizations: Deutsche Bank, Deutsche, Signet, Netflix, GM, Edward, Bank of America, Meta, Barclays, Duke Energy, JPMorgan, UBS, " Bank of America, Infosys, India IT, Marvell Locations: AAPL, 4Q23, Louisiana, Pacific, LPX, India

In an aerial view, burned cars and homes are seen a neighborhood that was destroyed by a wildfire on August 17, 2023 in Lahaina, Hawaii. A young boy walks through wildfire wreckage Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. Search and recovery team members check charred buildings and cars in the aftermath of the Maui Fires in Lahaina, West Maui, Hawaii, August 17, 2023. Lahaina, Maui, Wednesday, August 16, 2023 - Homes and businesses lay in ruins after last week's devastating wildfire swept through town. A woman walks through wildfire wreckage Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii.

Persons: Patrick T, Fallon, Fred Abad, Louise Abihai, Ellie Erickson —, Richard Zubaty, Richard Bissen, Harold, Justin Sullivan, Lynn Ouano, Faias, Jay Ouano, Rick Bowmer, Kuulei Barut, Losano, Leona Castillo, Castillo, Yuki Iwamura, haven't, Erickson, Robert Gauthier, Julie French Organizations: Kahului, AFP, Getty, NBC, Maui, Facebook, Los Angeles Times Locations: Maui, Kahului, Hawaii, Maui County, Instagram, Palm Springs, Texas, Lahaina , Hawaii, Washington, U.S, Pennsylvania, Lahaina, Lahaina , West Maui, Kihei, Australia

☆ Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Nvidia, Zoom, Amazon, Bowlero, Lululemon & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Bank of America reiterates Lululemon as buy Bank of America said it's standing by its buy rating on the stock heading into earnings next week. Bank of America adds Jazz Pharmaceuticals to the US1 list Bank of America added the pharmaceutical company to its top picks list. "We initiate coverage of The Madison Square Garden Entertainment Co. (MSGE) with a Buy rating and a 12-month price objective (PO) of $41, implying ~30% potential upside." Bank of America initiates Gulfport Energy as buy Bank of America said the energy company is undervalued. Stifel reiterates Bowlero as buy Stifel said it's standing by its buy rating on the bowling company.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Lululemon, LULU, Bernstein, Emerson, Raymond James, Apple, it's, Stifel, Jefferies, Goldman Sachs, JEF Organizations: Bank of America, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc, UBS, GXO Logistics, Mobility, RBC, JPMorgan, Emerson, Mizuho, Edison, FOUR, Apple, Nvidia, AppLovin, Garden Entertainment, The, Garden Entertainment Co, Energy, Xcel Energy, Minnesota & Locations: China, The Madison, Minnesota, Minnesota & Colorado

☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Amazon, Nvidia, Adobe, Pinterest, TJX, SoFi & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Here are Thursday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Citi reiterates Nvidia as buy Citi said it's bullish heading into Nvidia earnings next week. Citi reiterates Apple as buy Citi said it's bullish heading into the company's iPhone 15 launch. Oppenheimer reiterates Nvidia as outperform Oppenheimer said it's bullish on shares of Nvidia heading into earnings next week. Bank of America reiterates TJX Companies as buy Bank of America said the stock is "well positioned for continued market share gains." Bank of America reiterates Wells Fargo as buy Bank of America said Wells Fargo has one of the most attractive risk/rewards of the big banks.

Persons: it's, Charles Schwab, Jefferies, KeyBanc, Key, Oppenheimer, Rosenblatt, Evercore, Bill Ready, Meta, SoFi, Wells, Wells Fargo Organizations: Citi, Nvidia, NVIDIA, JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche, Novartis, Amgen, Apple, Arista, Networking, BMO, Green, Bank of America, Adobe, of America Adobe, TJX Companies, Enphase Energy Locations: Mexico, Sunrun

☆ Poland holds huge military parade as voters focus on defence
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Polish soldiers maintain Abrams M1A1 FEP tanks during preparations before National Army Day Parade at Wesola military base, in Warsaw, Poland, August 10, 2023. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File PhotoWARSAW, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Poland's biggest military parade since the Cold War takes place in Warsaw on Tuesday as the NATO-member country flexes its military muscle in what the government hopes will be both a message to Moscow and to voters ahead of elections in October. "This parade will be different from the previous ones; we will be able to see how the process of modernising the equipment of the Polish Army is progressing," Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Sunday. PiS, in power since 2015, says the parade will demonstrate how it is rebuilding the army after years of under-investment under the previous administration. The party has vowed to double the size of the army and spend around 4% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence this year.

Persons: Kacper, Mariusz Blaszczak, Michal Szczerba, Alan Charlish, Kuba Stezycki, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Abrams, National, REUTERS, Poland's, NATO, Justice, Polish Army, Armed Forces, Thomson Locations: Warsaw, Poland, Moscow, Russia's, Ukraine, Soviet Union, United States, South Korean, PiS

WARSAW, Aug 14 (Reuters) - The Polish government wants to pose questions to voters during a Oct. 15 election that will include whether Poland should take in "thousands of illegal immigrants", a move rivals say aims to swing the vote by misleading voters about opposition policies. The centrist Civic Platform (PO), the main opposition party which is running neck and neck with PiS according to some polls, says the questions are designed to sway voters by distorting the opposition's stance on these sensitive issues. PiS, seeking a third term in power, has put opposition to migration at the centre of its campaign and says the opposition would hurt the economy by selling state assets and endanger security amid Russia's war in Ukraine. "When we propose a question so that we don't sell out Poland's wealth, the opposition gets furious. The PO says it does not have an open-door migrant policy and says none of the questions represent their policies.

Persons: PiS, Mateusz Morawiecki, Malgorzata Kidawa, Blonska, Mariusz Blaszczak, Agnieszka Pikulicka, Edmund Blair Organizations: WARSAW, Law and Justice, European Union, Twitter, Defence, Thomson Locations: Polish, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, East, Africa, Europe

☆ Poland to vote in privatisation referendum, likely alongside October election
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"For us, the voice of ordinary Poles is always decisive," PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said in a video posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. He said that the first referendum question would be: "Do you support the sale of state-owned enterprises?". "The Germans want to embed Tusk in Poland to sell off common property, his background shows it directly," Kaczynski said. Another state-run broadcaster, Polskie Radio 24, reported that there would be four referendum questions in total. Poland's lower house of parliament will deal with legislation concerning the organisation of the referendums at its sitting on Aug. 16-17.

Persons: Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Kacper, Donald Tusk, Tusk, Kaczynski, Marcin Kierwinski, Alan Charlish, Toby Chopra Organizations: Justice, National Army, REUTERS, Law, Former European, PO, Polskie Radio, Polskie, Thomson Locations: Warsaw, Poland, Germany

☆ Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Rivian, Peloton, UPS, Eli Lilly, DraftKings and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

UBS reiterates Home Depot and Lowe's as buy UBS said it sees next week's earnings reports for the home improvement retailers as a "low impact" event. JPMorgan upgrades DraftKings to neutral from underweight JPMorgan upgraded DraftKings mainly on valuation after Disney and Penn announced a partnership Tuesday. Bank of America reiterates Rivian as buy Bank of America said the electric vehicle maker is in the right place at the right time. UBS downgrades UPS to neutral from buy UBS downgraded the stock after its earnings report Tuesday and said it's concerned about cost pressures. Bank of America reiterates Nvidia as buy Bank of America said it's standing by its buy rating on the stock. "

Persons: BTIG, it's, JPMorgan, Berenberg, Marqeta, Rivian, Jefferies, Eli Lilly, GLP, LLY, Wells, Wells Fargo, Jensen Huang, Goldman Sachs Organizations: Bank of America, Walmart, UBS, JPMorgan, Disney, Penn, Barclays, Dish, State, EV, UPS, Industries, " Bank of America, Nvidia Locations: 2Q24, LLY, GTLS

Assets will be sold within Altice France or outside France to repay debt, Drahi told investors on a conference call. "(The aims is) to raise, one way or another, 3 billion (euros) of equity, plus or minus," Drahi said. Altice France's net leverage ratio at end of June was 6.3 times its yearly core operating profits. Altice France's net debt was close to 24 billion euros at the end of June, up from 23.6 billion at end of March, the group said. Total earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to 1.02 billion euros from 1.08 billion euros a year earlier.

Persons: Patrick Drahi, Philippe Wojazer, Drahi, Dennis Okhuijsen, Altice, Portugal Altice's, Armando Pereira, Pereira, Mathieu Rosemain, Ingrid Melander, Silvia Aloisi, Mark Potter Organizations: Altice Group, REUTERS, Altice, Thomson Locations: Franco, Israeli, Paris, France, PARIS, Altice France, Portugal

☆ Italy earmarks 2.9 million euros to tackle blue crab invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A view shows blue crabs that hit the shores of Porto Tolle, Italy, in this recent undated handout image received by Reuters. Fishermen's Cooperative Of Polesine/Handout via REUTERS/File photoROME, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Italy's government has earmarked 2.9 million euros ($3.2 million) to tackle the spread of a particularly aggressive crab species that is threatening the country's role as one of the world's top producers of clams. The "blue crab", originating from the western Atlantic, has spread across several lagoon-like locations in Italy, preying on local shellfish, fish roe and other aquatic life, to despair of the clams aquafarm industry. According to a draft seen by Reuters, the 2.9 million euros will be given to fishing cooperatives and aquafarmers who are trying to curb blue crab numbers with a large-scale fishing campaign. It is also home to "spaghetti alle vongole" (spaghetti with clams), a classic of Italian cuisine.

Persons: Francesco Lollobrigida, Emanuele Rossetti, Alvise Armellini, Angelo Amante, Conor Humphries Organizations: Reuters . Fishermen's, REUTERS, Agriculture, Sunday, Reuters, Fishermen's Cooperative, Agriculture Organization, Thomson Locations: Porto Tolle, Italy, Handout, ROME, China, South Korea, Food

☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Amazon, Cinemark, Nvidia, Meta, Berkshire Hathaway & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Here are Monday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's sticking with its overweight rating after Apple's quarterly 10-Q report. Morgan Stanley upgrades Laureate to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said the education company is a beneficiary of nearshoring. Morgan Stanley reiterates Palo Alto Networks as overweight Morgan Stanley said the company has a "differentiated" and "disruptive" platform. " UBS reiterates Berkshire Hathaway as buy UBS said it's standing by its buy rating on shares of Berkshire after its earnings report Saturday. Morgan Stanley reiterates Cinemark as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's standing by its overweight rating on Cinemark as the success of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" has "squashed" the theatrical bear case.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Apple, DA Davidson, Andy Jassy, Wells, Holley, it's, Raymond James, Charles Schwab, Schwab, EchoStar, Guggenheim, Berkshire Hathaway, Cinemark, Oppenheimer, Truist, Piper Sandler, Piper, MNST, Wright Organizations: UBS, Meta, Facebook, Bank of America, Nvidia, U.S ., Networks, Alto Networks, United Airlines, Berkshire, Comcast, CNBC, Monster Beverage Locations: WhatsApp, nearshoring, United, Berkshire, NBCUniversal

Fifteen employees have been put on leave in Portugal, France and the United States since news broke about the probe, which is currently limited to Portugal, said Drahi. Pressed by analysts on the call to lay out the role and extent of Pereira's involvement within the Altice group, Drahi said Pereira, whom he hired in 2003, had not held any stake in any Altice entity since 2005. Altice International, the entity that owns telecoms firm PT Portugal, is owned by Drahi's personal holding Next. The other two entities are Altice USA and Altice France, home to France's second biggest telecoms firm SFR. The debt has come under further pressure since Pereira's July detention, with longer-term debt issued by Altice France trading around 80 cents to the euro while those of Altice France Holding trade around 40 cents to the euro.

Persons: Patrick Drahi, Violeta Santos Moura, Drahi, Armando Pereira, Pereira, Altice, Mathieu Rosemain, Yoruk Bahceli, Ingrid Melander, Silvia Aloisi, Conor Humphries Organizations: French, REUTERS, Altice, PT Portugal, Altice International, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, Portugal, United States, Altice France

FILE PHOTO-A woman walks past a Credit Agricole logo outside a bank office in Reze near Nantes, France, May 12, 2021. The results boosted Credit Agricole SA's (CAGR.PA) stock, which was up by about 5% at 0817 GMT, making it the best performer within France's blue-chip index CAC 40 (.FCHI). Helping the positive sentiment, the investment vehicle of the mutual banks that control Credit Agricole said it would spend 1 billion euros on the bank's shares, further tightening its grip on the lender. The vehicle currently owns 60.2% of Credit Agricole SA and said it had no intention to go beyond 65%. Degroof Petercam has client assets of 71 billion euros, while Indosuez said it had assets under management of 130 billion euros at the end of 2022.

Persons: Stephane Mahe, Degroof, France's, JP Morgan, Degroof Petercam, Indosuez, Xavier Musca, Musca, Mathieu Rosemain, Geert de Clercq, Piotr Lipinski, Ingrid Melander, Augustin Turpin, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, Agricole, CAC, PARIS, Credit Agricole, Credit Agricole SA, Royal Bank of Canada, Barclays, Credit Agricole's, Indosuez, KBC, Thomson Locations: Reze, Nantes, France, Belgian

The beat was underpinned by much lower-than-expected "cost of risk" - money set aside for failing loans - of 166 million euros. Analysts had expected 430 million euros. Dubbed a "year of transition" by Krupa's predecessor Frederic Oudea, 2023 is also marked by a severe downturn at SocGen's French retail banking division, fresh from a merger of its two local networks. The second quarter was also affected by negative exceptional items of 240 million euros, which Credit Suisse analysts said were tied to "legacy legal disputes". Retail banking outside France fared better, as did SocGen's car leasing division ALD Automotive (ALDA.PA), whose sales jumped by more than 17% thanks to the acquisition of rival LeasePlan.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, Krupa, Slawomir Krupa, France's, Jefferies, Frederic Oudea, Intesa, LeasePlan, SocGen, Mathieu Rosemain, Augustin Turpin, Ingrid Melander, Mark Potter Organizations: Societe Generale, La Defense, REUTERS, Royal Bank of Canada, European Central Bank, Credit Suisse, Retail, ALD Automotive, Thomson Locations: French, Courbevoie, Paris, France, PARIS, Russia

Atos also said on Tuesday that it plans a 900 million-euro share sale to further shore up its balance sheet. The company said 180 million euros of the shares in the capital raise would be reserved for EPEI, giving it a 7.5% stake in Eviden. The sale of the remaining 720 million euros of new shares will be underwritten by BNP Paribas and JP Morgan, the company said. The expected sale would bring in 100 million euros in cash and cut 1.9 billion euros worth of liabilities from the tech company's balance sheet, Atos said. The sale gives an enterprise value of 2 billion euros to the sold division, which generated 4.5 billion euros of core revenue last year and employs 52,000 people.

Persons: Daniel Kretinsky, Atos, JP Morgan, Nathalie Senechault, Paul Saleh, Mathieu Rosemain, Sudip Kar, Edmund Klamann, Sharon Singleton Organizations: PARIS, Casino, Tech Foundations, Equity Investment, BNP, Thomson Locations: Czech, Europe, France, Eviden

The talks, announced with Kretinsky's EP Equity Investment (EPEI) vehicle, come on top of a 900 million-euro share-sale plan, aimed at further shoring up Atos' balance sheet, the company said. The expected sale would bring in 100 million euros in cash and cut 1.9 billion euros worth of liabilities from the tech company's balance sheet, Atos said. It gives an enterprise value of 2 billion euros to the sold division, named Tech Foundations. Tech Foundations, whose activities generated 4.5 billion euros of revenue last year, offers infrastructure management services. Following the sale of the tech unit, Atos will still rename as Eviden.

Persons: Daniel Kretinsky, Atos, Nathalie Senechault, Paul Saleh, Mathieu Rosemain, Sudip Kar, Edmund Klamann, Sharon Singleton Organizations: PARIS, Kretinsky's, Equity Investment, Tech Foundations, Tech, Casino, Thomson Locations: Czech, Paris, French, France

☆ Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Tesla, Amazon, Gap, Target, PayPal, Coinbase & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla as equal weight Morgan Stanley said in its annual ask the interns survey that Tesla favorability fell. " Morgan Stanley reiterates PayPal as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's bullish heading into PayPal earnings on Wednesday. " Oppenheimer reiterates Target as outperform Oppenheimer said investors should buy the dip ahead of Target earnings later this month. Bank of America reiterates DraftKings as buy Bank of America is bullish heading into earnings later this week. Morgan Stanley reiterates Ford as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's standing by its overweight rating, but that the company needs an electric vehicle strategy change soon.

Persons: Baird, it's, Cantor Fitzgerald downgrades Rivian, Cantor, Morgan Stanley, Tesla, Read, RMD, PYPL, Oppenheimer, Canaccord, Estee Lauder, DraftKings, DoorDash, comps, Bernstein, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, Ford Organizations: Apple, Mercedes, Barclays, 2H23, RBC, PayPal, Citi, EL, Amazon, Bank of America, Anheuser, Busch InBev, Goldman, Meta Locations: US

PARIS, July 28 (Reuters) - Amundi (AMUN.PA), Europe's biggest fund manager, posted better-than-expected quarterly net inflows on Friday as investors' appetite for risk-averse products underpinned a 1.9% yearly growth in assets under management. This beat the analyst consensus compiled by the company, which predicted a decrease of 1.1 billion euros in three-month period ending in June. Baudson also said that the reopening of China's economy started to have a positive effect on net inflows stemming from its joint venture with Bank of China, leading to "very slightly positive" net inflows in the second quarter. Amundi's second-quarter earnings also beat expectations, with adjusted net income totaling 320 million euros, up 19% from a year earlier. ($1 = 0.9098 euros)Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Conor HumphriesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Valerie Baudson, Baudson, Amundi's, Mathieu Rosemain, Conor Humphries Organizations: Europe's, Bank of, Thomson Locations: Bank of China

The French lender's second-quarter net income fell 4.9% on a reported basis to 2.81 billion euros ($3.12 billion), beating the 2.49 billion euro analyst consensus compiled by the company. Group revenue fell 1.5% to 11.4 billion euros, also above expectations, while the cost of risk - money put aside for failing loans - was lower than expected at 689 million euros. BNP's bottom line also suffered from a set of exceptional items that totalled 723 million euros after tax. These included an 125 million euro provision for unspecified litigation. The group's 5 billion euro share buyback programme will proceed as planned, it confirmed, adding that the second tranche of 2.5 billion euros had been approved and will be launched from early August.

Persons: Italy's, Mathieu Rosemain, Christopher Cushing, Jason Neely, David Goodman Organizations: BNP, Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of, European Central Bank, Spain's Santander, Thomson Locations: PARIS, Bank, France

'ONLY HOPE' FOR STABILITY IN SAHELNiger became a democratic outlier in West Africa's Sahel region following military takeovers in neighbouring Mali, Burkina Faso and Chad since 2020. All four countries of the arid Sahel region, just south of the Sahara, are now run by military leaders after soldiers in Niger said on Wednesday night they had ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. France, which has had counter-insurgency troops in West Africa for a decade, has turned to Niger to base the bulk of its forces. Their role is solely to support Niger's army when local forces identify operations in the border regions connecting Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. The European Union decided in December to set up a three-year military training mission in Niger, to which Germany contributes troops.

Persons: Mohamed Bazoum, juntas, Moussa Aksar, John Irish, Nellie Peyton, Bate Felix, Emelia Sithole, Leslie Adler Organizations: Islamic, National Assembly, REUTERS, European Union, DEMOCRATIC, Economic, West African States, ECOWAS, John, Thomson Locations: West Africa, Niger, Africa's Sahel, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, al Qaeda, Islamic State, Russia, France, United States, U.S, Russian, Niamey, ACLED, Germany, Italy, Guinea, Bissau, Guinea Bissau, Paris

PARIS, July 25 (Reuters) - France's Thales (TCFP.PA) said on Tuesday it would buy U.S. cybersecurity company Imperva in a deal worth $3.6 billion as it steps up expansion away from its historic defence business to the war against hacking. "This really changes our scale in civil cybersecurity," Thales Chief Executive Patrice Caine told analysts, adding that the deal represented a rare opportunity to become a premium player on a global scale in cybersecurity. Thales said the price of the deal implied an enterprise value of 17 times 2024 operating earnings. Thales said buying Imperva would generate around $110 million of pretax synergies, including $50 million of cost savings and $60 million linked to revenue opportunities. Thales said the deal would close in 2024 subject to approvals, and did not anticipate significant hurdles.

Persons: Thoma, Patrice Caine, Thales, Jefferies, Chloe Lemarie, Caine, Morgan Stanley, Sudip Kar, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Kim Coghill, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Thales, Thoma Bravo, PwC, Cobham Aerospace Communications, Thomson Locations: cybersecurity, France, Paris, Europe

Search resuls for: "Po"

25 mentions found