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☆ Republican representatives say they are not worried McCarthy conceded too much
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Following a chaotic week in the U.S. House of Representatives over Kevin McCarthy's bid for speaker, Republican representatives said Sunday they are not worried that he gave up too much in order to secure the gavel. Republican Rep. Scott Perry, who was among the most outspoken opponents of McCarthy's speaker bid, flipped his vote for McCarthy on the 12th ballot. "This is never about Kevin McCarthy. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., said Sunday he's not worried that Kevin McCarthy conceded too much to get the speakership. But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said if McCarthy is willing to try and find common ground, he will find willing partners among House Democrats.

☆ U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pledges to tackle immigration, 'woke' education policies and IRS funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Jon Cherry | ReutersNewly elected U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy took the gavel of the chamber after a bruising weeklong battle within his own party, promising to carry out a conservative, America-first agenda, tackling the immigration crisis at the Mexican border, cutting back funding at the IRS and fixing "woke indoctrination in our schools." He said the first legislation he plans to tackle will repeal funding for more than 87,000 new IRS agents. McCarthy said the tense showdown on the House floor this week was proof that he is not someone who gives up easily. Though his election marked the end of a long week and night in Washington, McCarthy said it was also a new beginning for the nation. Republican members-elect celebrate as House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is elected Speaker of the House in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 07, 2023 in Washington, DC.

☆ Microsoft drops after UBS analysts warn of weakness in the cloud
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Microsoft shares sank almost 5% on Wednesday while the broader tech market rallied after analysts at UBS said the software company faces weakness, particularly in the cloud. Keirstead pointed to concerns at Azure, Microsoft's cloud computing platform, and Office 365, the company's family of productivity software. Microsoft provides year-over-year growth for Azure and other cloud services but doesn't give a dollar figure, nor does it specify how much of the growth comes just from Azure. The Azure and other cloud services metric also includes, among other things, enterprise mobility and security, or EMS, tools that can be sold separately. Cloud rival Google put together an estimate of Microsoft's Azure business, based on a leaked Microsoft document and some extrapolation of other market data.

☆ Salesforce is cutting 10% of its personnel, more than 7,000 employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Salesforce is cutting 10% of its personnel and reducing some office space as part of a restructuring plan, the company announced Wednesday. Days later, the company announced the departure of Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, who joined Salesforce as part of its biggest acquisition ever. Now, like many other major tech companies, Salesforce is looking to cut costs as it contends with slowing revenue growth and a weakening economy. Amazon, Lyft, HP and DoorDash also announced significant cuts to their workforces. Salesforce said it expects its employee restructuring to be complete by the end of fiscal 2024, and its real estate restructuring to be complete by fiscal 2026.

☆ Tesla shares tumble following deliveries report
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Shares of Tesla dropped 13% on Tuesday morning, a day after the electric auto maker reported fourth-quarter vehicle production and delivery numbers for 2022. The company reported 405,278 total deliveries for the quarter and 1.31 million total deliveries for the year. According to a consensus of analysts’ estimates compiled by FactSet, as of Dec. 31, 2022, Wall Street was expecting Tesla to report around 427,000 deliveries for the final quarter of the year. Those more recent estimates were in line with a company-compiled consensus distributed by Tesla investor relations Vice President Martin Viecha. Some Wall Street analysts think Tesla’s deliveries miss spells trouble for the electric vehicle maker, but others see a buying opportunity for the company in 2023.

☆ Tesla shares tumble 10% following deliveries report
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Shares of Tesla dropped 10% on Tuesday morning, a day after the electric auto maker reported fourth-quarter vehicle production and delivery numbers for 2022. The company reported 405,278 total deliveries for the quarter and 1.31 million total deliveries for the year. According to a consensus of analysts' estimates compiled by FactSet, as of Dec. 31, 2022, Wall Street was expecting Tesla to report around 427,000 deliveries for the final quarter of the year. Some Wall Street analysts think Tesla's deliveries miss spells trouble for the electric vehicle maker, but others see a buying opportunity for the company in 2023. "We believe key debates from here will be on whether vehicle deliveries can reaccelerate, margins and Tesla's brand," the analysts said.

☆ More social media regulation is coming in 2023, members of Congress say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Days after Congress passed a bipartisan spending bill banning TikTok from government devices, legislators and advocates say they are looking to further regulate social media companies in the New Year. "We're seeing troubling data about the corrosive impact of constant social media use, particularly on young men and women here in America." Haugen said she thinks most people are unaware of how far behind the U.S. is when it comes to social media regulation. "This is like we're back in 1965, we don't have seatbelt laws yet," she told NBC's "Meet the Press." Klobuchar said on Sunday that things are only going to change with social media companies when Americans decide they have had enough.

☆ How Amazon's cloud unit is helping researchers analyze genetics
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Amazon Web Services recently launched general availability for Amazon Omics, which helps researchers store and analyze omic data like sequences of DNA, RNA and proteins. Amazon Omics helps researchers sort through their data by providing them with three components that they can leverage individually or as a collective. More than a dozen customers and partners tested a beta version of the service and are already using Amazon Omics. He said the department spent five years expanding the infrastructure to analyze omics data, and now it's no longer something they need to build or maintain themselves. C2i is a biotechnology company that's working to use genomic data to develop personalized treatments for cancer.

☆ FDA changes Plan B packaging to clarify that it is not an abortion pill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Food and Drug Administration is changing the informational packaging of the emergency contraceptive pill, Plan B One-Step, to clarify that it is not an abortion pill, the federal agency announced Friday. Plan B is an over-the-counter drug that can be taken as a backup method of birth control to reduce the chance of pregnancy after unprotected sex. "Plan B One-Step will not work if a person is already pregnant, meaning it will not affect an existing pregnancy," the FDA said in a release. Until now, packaging for Plan B and generic versions of the drug have erroneously claimed that taking the pill might be able to prevent a fertilized egg from implanting. The FDA said since Plan B prevents pregnancy by acting on ovulation, "well before implantation," it does not cause abortions.

☆ Elon Musk actively searching for a new Twitter CEO, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk Twitter page seen on mobile with his poll to step down as head of TwitterTwitter owner and CEO Elon Musk is searching for a new chief executive of the company, sources told CNBC's David Faber. In court in November, Musk said, "I expect to reduce my time at Twitter and find somebody else to run Twitter over time." "The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive," he wrote. Malicious bots or inauthentic accounts may also be able to register a response to a Twitter poll. Sources told Faber that Musk's search for a new CEO has been ongoing and began before the Twitter poll was made.

☆ Apple will reportedly begin producing some MacBooks in Vietnam in 2023 as it shifts from China
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Apple will begin producing some of its MacBook computers in Vietnam next year, according to a Nikkei Asia report Tuesday. Apple was reportedly in talks in August to move some production for its Apple Watches, MacBooks and HomePods to Vietnam. Now, the company's assembly partner Foxconn could begin producing MacBooks in the country as soon as May of 2023, according to Nikkei Asia. Nikkei Asia said the company has been planning to shift some of its MacBook production to Vietnam for the last two years. Meanwhile, Apple CEO Tim Cook has committed to buying U.S.-made chips from a new Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing factory in Arizona.

An image of new Twitter owner Elon Musk is seen surrounded by Twitter logos in this photo illustration in Warsaw, Poland on 08 November, 2022. On Sunday, Twitter's new owner and CEO Elon Musk posted an informal poll of users of the social media platform asking if he should step down as head of the company. In court in November, Musk said, "I expect to reduce my time at Twitter and find somebody else to run Twitter over time." "The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive," he wrote. Tesla's largest retail shareholder, Leo Koguan, wrote in a tweet on Dec. 14, that "Elon abandoned Tesla and Tesla has no working CEO."

☆ Twitter says it will no longer allow 'free promotion' of other social media platforms
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter said it will no longer allow users to promote other social media accounts on its platform, according to a thread of tweets Sunday. "We recognize that many of our users are active on other social media platforms," the company said. "However, we will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter." Many users have been promoting their other social media accounts on Twitter following Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover of the company in October. Twitter suspended the Washington Post's Taylor Lorenz late Saturday night, but her account was reinstated as of Sunday afternoon.

☆ White House's Covid coordinator urges people to get vaccinated ahead of holidays
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

As Covid and flu hospitalizations have climbed in the weeks since Thanksgiving, White House's Covid-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said families will be safer at upcoming holiday gatherings if they get their updated vaccines. This year, hospitals are facing the simultaneous threat of Covid, flu and RSV for the first time. Around 23,503 patients were admitted to the hospital with influenza this week, the CDC reported, while RSV hospitalizations appear to have peaked in some states. Hospitalizations of people with Covid topped more than 5,000 per day on average, according to the CDC. "The updated vaccine is essential for keeping people out of the hospital," Jha said.

☆ Twitter suspends account dedicated to tracking Elon Musk's private jet
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Sweeney said in a tweet Wednesday afternoon that his account dedicated to tracking employee jets at Musk's company SpaceX was also suspended. "Well it appears @ElonJet is suspended," Sweeney tweeted Wednesday . The account, @ElonJet , was run by Florida college student Jack Sweeney and had amassed more than half a million followers. Twitter has suspended the account dedicated to tracking the location of billionaire Elon Musk's private jet . Sweeney's Instagram account dedicated to tracking Musk still appears to be active.

☆ Musk's Twitter reportedly hasn't paid rent on its office spaces for weeks
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter has not paid rent for its global offices or San Francisco headquarters in weeks, the report said, as Musk's team has been trying to renegotiate the terms of the company's lease. Musk has also revamped Twitter's subscription service, Twitter Blue, with the hope of generating fresh revenue for the company. Twitter Blue costs $8 a month for web users and $11 a month for iOS users who purchase it through Apple's App Store. Blue users will also be able to edit tweets and get early access to new features. He said the new verification system will be "the great leveler" and give "power to the people."

☆ Twitter Blue relaunches, now costs $11 per month if you subscribe from an iPhone
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter relaunched its updated Twitter Blue subscription service Monday after the company's new owner Elon Musk pulled and delayed the launch in November. The service costs $8 a month for web users and $11 a month for iOS users who purchase it through Apple 's App Store. Blue users will also be able to edit tweets and get early access to new features. Twitter Blue briefly launched in November, but it was pulled after users abused the new paid option by impersonating celebrities and brands. Users who were verified under Twitter's old policy are being marked as legacy verified accounts that "may not be notable" under the new Twitter Blue service.

☆ Sen. Sinema's switch to Independent will not impact Democrats' control of the chamber, representatives say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced her decision on Friday to leave the Democrats and register as an independent, but many members of Congress have said the switch likely won't impact the Democrats' narrow control of the U.S. Senate. The pair have been wild cards for Democrats since the party gained narrow control of the Senate from Republicans in 2020. In a tweet Friday, Sinema said her decision to switch parties was a "natural extension" of her service. "I think whether she's a Democrat or a Republican, that really doesn't matter," the Democrat told NBC's "Meet the Press." By keeping her assignments, Sinema signaled she intends to continue to caucus with Democrats as an independent.

☆ Morgan Stanley cuts iPhone shipment estimate by another 3 million units
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Morgan Stanley reduced its Apple iPhone shipment forecast for the December quarter by an additional 3 million units on Wednesday to account for slower production in China. The firm had already cut shipment expectations by 6 million units in November. Morgan Stanley now expects Apple to ship around 75.5 million units, down from its original forecast of 85 million units. Last month, factory employees clashed with security personnel at the Zhengzhou plant in China, the world's largest iPhone factory run by Apple's assembly partner Foxconn. Morgan Stanley analysts said the unrest will impact what is historically Apple's biggest quarter, which is often bolstered by the holiday shopping season.

☆ Amazon reportedly reaches deal with EU regulators over anti-competitive practices
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

EU antitrust regulators have reached a final deal with Amazon , three years after officials in Brussels opened a probe into whether the company uses data to engage in anti-competitive practices, according to the Financial Times. Amazon has agreed to give rival products more visibility in its "buy box," which spurs the majority of the site's purchases, the Financial Times said. The deal is expected to be announced on Dec. 20, the U.K. newspaper said, noting the date could be changed. The European Commission told CNBC the investigations are ongoing. Read more from the Financial Times.

☆ Elon Musk showed off updates to his brain chips and said he’s going to install one in himself when they are ready
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's health tech venture Neuralink shared updates to its brain-implant technology during a "show and tell" recruitment event Wednesday night. "We're confident there are no physical limitations to restoring full body functionality," Musk said. Neuralink could begin to test the motor cortex technology in humans in as soon as six months, Musk said. "You could have a Neuralink device implanted right now and you wouldn't even know. Musk showed footage of a monkey with a computer chip in its skull playing "telepathic video games," which Neuralink first debuted over a year ago.

☆ Snowflake shares tumble on light product revenue guidance
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

To honor the occasion, Snowflake the bear, joined by Chris Taylor, Vice President, NYSE Listings and Services, rings The Opening Bell®. Shares of the cloud data platform provider Snowflake fell more than 13% in extended trading on Wednesday after the company released third-quarter results that beat estimates but offered light product revenue guidance. The largest part of revenue, product revenue, also grew 67% year over year to $523 million. Product revenue is a key metric for Snowflake since it recognizes revenue based on platform consumption. Snowflake said it anticipates product revenue will be between $535 million and $540 million in its fourth quarter, short of the $553 million expected by analysts estimates according to StreetAccount.

☆ Shares of CrowdStrike fall after 'disappointing' earnings, Morgan Stanley says buy the dip
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

CrowdStrike shares fell more than 17% in premarket trading Wednesday, a day after the cybersecurity company reported third-quarter results that said new revenue growth was weaker than expected. More than $198 million was net new ARR added in the quarter, which ended Oct. 31. Last year, CrowdStrike's ARR increased by more than 67% in the third quarter, and the company added 1,607 net new subscription customers for that same period. Analysts at Morgan Stanley also said CrowdStrike's results were "disappointing," but they said estimates did not reflect the current macroeconomic environment. An analyst at Stifel said CrowdStrike's results were "disappointing" and downgraded the stock from buy to hold.

☆ CrowdStrike shares tumble on weaker-than-expected growth in new revenue
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

CrowdStrike shares plunged 18% in extended trading on Tuesday after the cybersecurity company reported third-quarter results that top estimates but said new revenue growth was weaker than expected. More than $198 million was net new ARR added in the quarter, which ended Oct. 31. The company also added 1,460 net new subscription customers for the quarter. Last year, CrowdStrike's ARR increased by more than 67% in the third quarter, and the company added 1,607 net new subscription customers for that same period. Prior to the after-hours move, shares of CrowdStrike were down more than 32% so far this year.

☆ Twitter stops policing Covid-19 misinformation under CEO Elon Musk and reportedly restores 62,000 suspended accounts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's Twitter account displayed on a mobile with Elon Musk in the background are seen in this illustration. Twitter CEO Elon Musk has been a vocal critic of how health officials reacted to the coronavirus pandemic. Musk has committed to free speech on Twitter, which might partially explain why the change was enacted. The change comes as technology newsletter Platformer says employees are scrambling to restore more than 62,000 suspended accounts. That figure could include some of the more than 11,000 accounts that were suspended for violating the company's Covid-19 misinformation rules.

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