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☆ Earnings playbook: How to trade the busiest week of the season thus far, including Apple and Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +17 min

It's the busiest week of the earnings season thus far, with nearly 150 S & P 500 components set to report. What history shows: Coca-Cola has outperformed analyst earnings expectations in the last 11 quarters, FactSet data shows. Alphabet is set to report earnings after the close, with management expected to hold a conference call at 5 p.m. What history shows: FactSet data shows Microsoft's earnings per share have come in above expectations in 24 of the last 25 quarters. What history shows: McDonald's earnings per share have outperformed expectations in six of the last 10 quarters, FactSet data shows.

☆ Apple starts selling front door lock that can be unlocked by tapping an iPhone or Apple Watch
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Apple stores in the U.S. are now selling a front door lock that can be unlocked by a user's Apple Watch or iPhone. The $329 Level Lock+ is the first Home Key-supported lock that's been sold in Apple stores. "The question is, is a smart lock a consumer electronics device? Smart home fans might simply be enthusiastic about a new Home Key lock option. For Home Key support, users will need the Level Lock+ sold at Apple stores or online.

☆ Apple's top designer is leaving the company three years after taking over from Jony Ive
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Apple's vice president of industrial design, Evans Hankey, is leaving the company, Apple confirmed to CNBC on Friday. Hankey took over for former Apple design chief Jony Ive three years ago when he left to start his own independent firm. Still, she was often quoted in the media after new products were launched, discussing specific design decisions and the way Apple's design team works. "Apple's design team brings together expert creatives from around the world and across many disciplines to imagine products that are undeniably Apple. The senior design team has strong leaders with decades of experience.

☆ Intel's Mobileye targets $15.9 billion valuation in IPO
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Intel 's self-driving subsidiary, Mobileye, is targeting an IPO that would value it at nearly $16 billion. Mobileye shares will be traded on the Nasdaq. It will hold over 750 million shares of Class B stock which has 10 times the voting power of Class A stock. In total, Intel expects there to be 796.26 million shares of Mobileye outstanding that, if priced at $20 at the high end of the range, would give the self-driving division a valuation up to $15.9 billion. The filing shows strong revenue growth for Mobileye from $879 million in sales in 2019 to $1.39 billion last year.

☆ Why smartphones deflated 22% while almost everything else is becoming more expensive
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

But one product category monitored by the CPI recorded a 22% plunge, showing deflation: Smartphones. Average selling prices for smartphones continue to climb in markets around the world. But in the case of smartphones, BLS has to control for devices that get better each year. If smartphones are improving and the price is staying the same, then BLS records a price decline. Eventually, Church said, smartphones may mature into the kind of product that would see price increases and inflation.

☆ Meta ratchets up Apple rivalry with ads targeting iMessage
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Meta is targeting Apple 's iMessage in a new advertisement that ratchets up the rivalry between the two companies. SMS messages are stored by wireless cellular carriers. "Our biggest competitor by far is iMessage," Zuckerberg said in a 2018 earnings call. Google wants Apple to adopt RCS, a next-generation text messaging system that replaces SMS messages with new features and improved encryption. Users who text regularly with Android users say that "green bubbles," as SMS messages appear on iPhones, is an inferior texting experience.

☆ Apple workers in Oklahoma vote for company's second U.S. union store
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A shopper looks at a wall fully occupied with iPhone case covers at the American multinational technology company Apple store in Hong Kong. Employees at an Apple store in Oklahoma City voted on Friday to join a union, marking the second unionized Apple store in the U.S. The vote is a defeat for Apple, which has opposed unionization efforts around the country. It's a win for Communications Workers of America, which now represents the workers at an Apple store after separate unionization efforts at stores in Georgia and New York City stalled. Apple's first unionized U.S. store, represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Maryland, is preparing to begin formal negotiations with Apple.

☆ Apple, Goldman Sachs introduce interest-bearing savings accounts as rates rise
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Apple will soon allow iPhone users to put credit card rewards from Apple Card and additional funds from separate bank accounts into an interest-bearing savings account. In a press release on Thursday, Apple said the feature is expected to launch in the "coming months," and the FDIC-insured account will be administered by Goldman Sachs , the bank and lender behind the Apple Card. Apple said it isn't announcing an annual yield yet as interest rates are moving rapidly. By jumping into interest-bearing accounts, Apple is capitalizing on rising rates as the Federal Reserve tries to tamp down soaring inflation. Many traditional brick-and-mortar banks haven't raised interest rates on savings accounts even as rates broadly are going up.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg takes veiled shots at Apple after releasing $1,499 VR headset
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday hinted that he sees Apple as Meta's main competitor in virtual and augmented reality, which it calls the "metaverse." The remarks came after the Meta CEO unveiled the company's latest virtual reality headset, the $1,499 Quest Pro. "In every generation of computing, there's been an open ecosystem and a closed ecosystem, there was Windows and Mac, then Android and iOS," Zuckerberg said. Zuckerberg sees virtual reality and augmented reality as the start of a new platform that could supplant the smartphone eventually. "The fundamental technologies across the stack to build augmented reality glasses are coming together.

☆ Intel says Moore's Law is still alive and well. Nvidia says it's ended.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Patrick Gelsinger, Intel CEO, at the WEF in Davos, Switzerland on May 23rd. Two of the most important American semiconductor companies disagree about the pace of chip advancements and whether Moore's Law still applies. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said on Tuesday at a company launch event that Moore's Law, a rule of thumb from Intel's founder dating back to the 1960s, is "alive and well." Co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang said last week that Moore's Law has ended. "The method of using brute force transistors and the advances of Moore's law has largely ran its course," Huang told investors after unveiling new products.

☆ New York AG wrongly said Yankees game on Apple TV+ costs extra — but it's free
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Users don't need to pay the $5 per month fee for Apple TV+ to get baseball. Apple said earlier this year that baseball games were free "for a limited time" but has yet to start charging. Nor do users need an Apple device to watch: In a break from its historical preferences, has made Apple TV+ apps for several non-Apple platforms, including Roku, Amazon's Fire TV, Google TV, and game consoles, allowing its broadcasts to reach a wider market. Apple enlisted comedian Jon Stewart, who has a show on Apple TV+, to inform viewers that there is no paywall on Friday. He joked that he pushed an Apple executive, "Mr. App," to make the game free.

☆ Apple issues iPhone update to fix shaking camera, hard reset bugs
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Apple unveiled four new iPhones, three new Apple Watches and an updated AirPods Pro during a press event on Wednesday in Cupertino, California, United States on September 7, 2022. Apple on Thursday issued an update to iOS, the iPhone's operating system, that fixes several bugs that cropped up as part of the iPhone 14 launch last week. Although Apple often releases software updates after a phone launch due to bugs that emerge, several issues with the new iPhones were widely discussed on social media and in reports. It also fixes a problem with transferring data from an old iPhone to an iPhone 14. WATCH: Apple launches iPhone 14

☆ Apple TV+ is about to have its first major sports moment with Yankees-Red Sox
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

It's streaming on Apple TV+. Currently, users only need an Apple ID — an account — but don't need to pay $5 per month for Apple TV+. Apple has never revealed subscriber numbers or viewers for any of its shows or broadcasts on Apple TV+. In a break from its historical preferences, has made Apple TV+ apps for several non-Apple platforms, including Roku, Amazon's Fire TV, Google TV, and game consoles, allowing its broadcasts to reach a wider market. As CNBC previously reported, Apple has bid for NFL Sunday Ticket, a package of rights to out-of-market NFL games, competing against Amazon and ESPN parent Disney.

☆ Apple's iPhone 14 is the easiest to fix since 2016 as right-to-repair gains momentum
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

People look at Apple Inc's new iPhone 14 as its models go on sale in Beijing, China, September 16, 2022. The iPhone 14, which went on sale last week, is the most repairable iPhone since the iPhone 7, which came out in 2016, repair advocate and tools vendor iFixit said in a blog post. "Apple has completely redesigned the internals of the iPhone 14 to make it easier to repair," wrote Kyle Wiens, founder of iFixit. The high-end iPhone 14 Pro models don't use the new, more repairable design, according to iFixit. This year's repair-friendly design on the iPhone 14 is in contrast to other iPhones and many Android devices that use glue and tight tolerances that make it more difficult to fix older phones.

☆ Apple Card's credit risk manager leaves for credit card startup X1
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Apple's manager of credit risk for the Apple Card, Abhi Pabba, has left the company. Pabba, who worked out of the Apple's Austin, Texas, office, will join the California-based credit card company X1 beginning next week as chief risk officer, according to X1 CEO Deepak Rao. Before Apple, he worked at Capital One, where he focused on credit card authorizations. The tech giant's aim with the Apple Card isn't to generate revenue from strong lending decisions but to make the iPhone more essential to its customers. Apple Card is also having issues with automated customer service disputes because of the card's fast growth.

☆ How to pick the best MacBook so you're not overspending for what you don't need
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-12 | by ( Sofia Pitt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

There's the new MacBook Air, for example, but Apple also sells its older 2020 MacBook Air. The 2020 MacBook Air has an 18-hour battery life, similar to the 2022 MacBook Air. 2022 MacBook Air with M2, $1,199Kif Leswing/CNBCThis is the best MacBook for most people. MacBook Pro 13-inch with M2, $1,299Apple 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 AppleThe new MacBook Pro is a little confusing. 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro or M1 Max, $1,999Apple MacBook Pro Source: Apple

☆ Earnings playbook: How to play the second half of the season with Starbucks and Caterpillar on deck
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-31 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

Tuesday Caterpillar is set to report earnings before the bell, followed by a conference all with management at 8:30 a.m. What history shows: Caterpillar has reported a better-than-expected profit in each of the last eight earnings days, FactSet data shows. What history shows : FactSet data shows Airbnb has beaten analyst expectations in the last four quarters. What history shows: FactSet data shows Paramount has missed earnings expectations in two of the past four quarters. Block is set to report earnings after the close, with management set to hold a call at 5 p.m.

☆ Earnings playbook: The investing game plan as Apple and Alphabet lead the busiest week of the season
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-24 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +20 min

Tuesday Coca-Cola is set to report earnings before the bell, followed by a conference call at 8:30 a.m. Chipotle is scheduled to report earnings after the close, followed by a conference call at 4:30 p.m. Meta is set to report earnings after the close, followed by a conference call at 5 p.m. Thursday Amazon is set to report earnings after the bell, with management slated to hold a conference call at 5:30 p.m. Friday Procter & Gamble will report earnings before the bell, followed by a conference call at 9 a.m.

☆ Apple's new MacBook Air is a near-perfect update, but don't rule out the older model
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-14 | by ( Todd Haselton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

In this article AAPLA new MacBook Air running M2 chip is seen displayed during Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California, June 6, 2022. The 2022 MacBook Air offers the biggest redesign to the MacBook since 2010. What's goodApple typically sends a high-end MacBook Air for testing, but this year it sent me the entry-level $1,199 model. It's back to the tried-and-true version from that of the M1 MacBook Air. You don't need to upgrade if you have the M1 model, but it's definitely a big bump from the older Intel versions.

Apple released the first public beta version for iOS 16 on Monday. That means anyone with an iPhone 8 or newer can try an early version of the next big update for the iPhone, which is expected sometime this fall alongside new iPhone models. Be sure to back up your iPhone or iPad and your Mac using Time Machine before installing beta software," Apple warns on its website. The public beta version released on Monday no longer requires a developer account and is intended to get the public's help squashing bugs before an official release. This year, iOS 16 has several major improvements, especially for its messaging experience in iMessage and Mail.

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