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☆ Nasdaq leads Wall St to higher close as CPI report lifts sentiment
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Caroline Valetkevitch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Shares of big tech-related companies, which tend to be sensitive to higher interest rates, gave the S&P 500 its biggest boost. The Labor Department report also showed the smallest monthly gain in underlying consumer prices since August 2021. The S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK) was up 0.6%. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 3.23-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.93-to-1 ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted 66 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 129 new highs and 42 new lows.

Persons: Michael James, Quincy Krosby, Marvel, Janet Yellen's, Caroline Valetkevitch, Johann M Cherian, Shashwat Chauhan, Shinjini Ganguli, Nick Zieminski, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Nvidia, Broadcom, Dow, Nasdaq, Reserve, CPI, Wedbush Securities, Dow Jones, Labor Department, JPMorgan Chase, chipmaker Broadcom, VMware, Marvell Technology, Treasury, NYSE, Thomson Locations: Los Angeles, North Carolina, U.S, York, China, Beijing, Bengaluru

☆ Oracle extends its flagship database to Ampere's computing chips
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File PhotoMENLO PARK, California (Reuters) - Oracle on Wednesday said that it has modified its flagship database software to work on a new category of computing chip, starting with chips from Ampere Computing, a startup founded by former Intel executives. Oracle’s database software is used by major banks and corporations to track transactions. On Wednesday, Oracle said that the database will now also run on chips made based on a technological architecture from Arm Ltd, the same underlying technology that is in mobile phones. Ellison said Ampere’s chips are much more power efficient than offerings from its other two major chip suppliers, Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia. By upgrading to Ampere, we’re able to take that room, double the compute and stay within the same power envelope,” Ellison said.

Persons: Brian Snyder, Ampere, Intel’s, “, We’ve, we’ve, Larry Ellison, Ellison, we’re, ” Ellison Organizations: REUTERS, MENLO, Oracle, Ampere Computing, Intel, Arm Ltd, Ampere, Amazon Web Services, Devices, Nvidia Locations: Burlington , Massachusetts, U.S, , California, Ampere

☆ Japan's Nikkei hits 1990 high on weak yen, US optimism; SoftBank surges
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Kevin Buckland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, May 29 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Monday to its highest level since July 1990, buoyed by optimism over a U.S. debt ceiling deal and a weaker yen. SoftBank Group jumped more than 8% as shares of Japanese chip-related companies continued to outperform amid the AI euphoria that also propelled Wall Street peers. "The trigger for everything was Nvidia," said Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management. The broader Topix (.TOPX) rose as much as 1.36% to 2,175.13 in early trading but failed to get close to last week's 33-year high at 2,188.66. Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sohini GoswamiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

May 29 (Reuters) - Arm Ltd on Monday rolled out new chip technology for mobile devices and Taiwan smartphone chip maker MediaTek Inc (2454.TW) said it will be using it for its next-generation product. In Arm's blog announcing the new products, MediaTek said the new chips will help improve the performance of its next-generation smartphones. "Arm is not in the business of selling chips. Last month the Financial Times reported that Arm was developing its own chip to showcase the capabilities of its designs. Arm said the Cortex-X4 was taped out on TSMC's N3E process and said it was an industry first.

☆ Nvidia chips away at Intel, AMD turf in supercomputers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nvidia is the world's top maker of graphics processing units (GPUs), which are in high demand because they can be used to speed up artificial intelligence work. But Nvidia's GPU chips are typically paired with what is called a central processing unit (CPU), a market that has been dominated by Intel and AMD for decades. The University of Bristol system will be used for climate science and drug discovery research, among other things. That's actually six times more performance and energy efficiency than the university's previous system, Isambard 2," Ian Buck, general manager and vice president of accelerated computing at Nvidia, said during a press briefing. Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ampere Computing launches its custom chips aimed at cloud computing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 18 (Reuters) - Ampere Computing on Thursday released a new family of data center chips with technology it has custom-designed for cloud computing companies. Founded by former Intel Corp (INTC.O) president Renee James, Ampere has focused on courting cloud companies that buy thousands of chips at a time and in turn rent them out. Unlike Intel, Ampere uses a computing architecture from SoftBank Group Corp-owned (9984.T) Arm Ltd, which is also an investor in Ampere. The new Ampere chips will have as many as 192 of those cores where Intel chips tend to have only a few dozen. We are ever hopeful that the market will open and that it will open for growth companies," James said.

☆ Klaviyo files confidentially for U.S. IPO -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Echo Wang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, May 12 (Reuters) - Data and marketing automation firm Klaviyo Inc confidentially submitted paperwork on Friday with U.S. regulators for an initial public offering (IPO) in New York, according to people familiar with the matter. While terms of the IPO have not yet been set, the Boston-based company is mulling a raise of at least $750 million in the listing, one of the sources said. The Wall Street Journal had reported in April that Klaviyo was preparing for an IPO. With the IPO registration, Klaviyo becomes the second high-profile name in recent weeks to press ahead with an offering, even as stock market volatility and economic uncertainty has put many other IPO hopefuls off. SoftBank Group Corp's (9984.T) Arm Ltd filed confidentially for its stock market listing in April, Reuters reported.

While SoftBank had said in March it planned to list Arm in the U.S. stock market, the company's IPO registration shows that it is pressing ahead with the blockbuster offering despite adverse market conditions. Arm plans to sell its shares on Nasdaq later this year, seeking to raise between $8 billion and $10 billion, the sources said. SoftBank and Arm declined to comment. There are signs that the IPO market is beginning to thaw. Arm's IPO preparations are being led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Barclays (BARC.L) and Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T).

☆ Chipmaker Arm to make its own semiconductor - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 23 (Reuters) - British chipmaker Arm Ltd is building its own semiconductor to showcase the capabilities of its products, as it seeks to attract new customers and fuel growth following its Initial Public Offering (IPO) later this year, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. Arm will team up with manufacturing partners to develop the new semiconductor, FT said, citing people briefed on the move, adding that the company has built a new "solutions engineering" team that will lead the development of these prototype chips for mobile devices, laptops and other electronics. The SoftBank Group Corp(9984.T)-backed company's newest chip, on which it started work in the past six months, is "more advanced" than ever before, FT said, citing industry executives. The chip designer has no plans to sell or license the product and is only working on a prototype, FT said. Arm is a major supplier of intellectual property to many chip companies, especially in mobile phones and has partnerships with major chip contract manufacturers.

☆ Chipmaker Arm to make its own semiconductor, Financial Times reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 23 (Reuters) - British chipmaker Arm Ltd is building its own semiconductor to showcase the capabilities of its products, as it seeks to attract new customers and fuel growth following its Initial Public Offering (IPO) later this year, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. The SoftBank Group Corp(9984.T)-backed company's newest chip, on which it started work in the past six months, is "more advanced" than ever before, FT said, citing industry executives. The chip designer has no plans to sell or license the product and is only working on a prototype, FT said. Arm is a major supplier of intellectual property to many chip companies, especially in mobile phones and has partnerships with major chip contract manufacturers. Reporting by Jahnavi Nidumolu in Bengaluru Editing by Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Intel to work with Arm on chip manufacturing compatibility
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 12 (Reuters) - Intel Corp (INTC.O) on Wednesday said its chip contract manufacturing division will work with U.K.-based chip designer Arm Ltd to ensure that mobile phone chips and other products that use Arm's technology can be made in Intel's factories. Intel's turnaround strategy hinges in part on opening up its factories to other chip companies, particularly those in mobile phones. It has said firms such as Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) are planning to use its factories for future chip designs. For its part, Arm, owned by Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) and which plans to go public later this year, is a major supplier of intellectual property to many chip companies, especially in mobile phones. Arm has partnerships with major chip contract manufacturers in place to ensure that its designs will work well on their manufacturing processes.

☆ SoftBank's Son to sign off on Arm's Nasdaq listing this week -FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TOKYO, April 12 (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) Chief Executive Masayoshi Son will officially agree with Nasdaq this week to list British chip designer Arm Ltd, the Financial Times said on Tuesday, citing two unnamed people familiar with the situation. A spokesperson at SoftBank, which bought Arm for $32 billion in 2016, declined to comment on Wednesday. Arm, whose technology underpins the global smartphone industry and is used in supercomputers, said in March it would pursue a U.S.-only listing this year, ending speculation about a primary or secondary listing in the UK. In June, Son said that Nasdaq was a favourite exchange for listing Arm, one of the sprawling conglomerate's prize assets. Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Richard ChangOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China tackles chip talent shortage with new courses, higher pay
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Josh Horwitz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

China faces a shortage of an estimated 200,000 industry workers this year, according to a white paper jointly published by the China Center for Information Industry Development, a government think tank, and the China Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA), a trade group. A 2022 survey from Chinese research firm ICWise found more than 60% of students studying chip engineering in China graduate with no internship experience in the field. In Taiwan, top chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) (2330.TW) has established research centres at four universities. Its largest chip foundry, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) (0981.HK), in 2021 announced a jointly-established School of Integrated Circuits at Shenzhen Technology University. "If I didn't switch to chip engineering, I would probably have to find a job in a traditional manufacturing industry like cars or machinery," he said.

☆ Softbank-owned Arm seeks to raise prices ahead of U.S. IPO - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 23 (Reuters) - Arm Ltd, owned by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T), is seeking to raise prices for its chip designs, as it aims to boost revenue ahead of an initial public offering in New York, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. The British chip designer recently notified several of its customers of a "significant shift" to its business model, the newspaper said, citing several industry executives and former employees. Arm intends to alter its royalty program, ceasing to charge chipmakers royalties for using its designs based on a chip's value, and instead charge device makers based on the value of the device, the report said. As a result of this change, Arm anticipates generating multiple times more revenue for each design it sells, since the value of an average smartphone far exceeds that of a single chip. Reporting by Baranjot Kaur and Shubhendu Deshmukh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Varun H KOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: JetBlue-Spirit deal flies into Biden administration's tough scrutiny
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

March 7 (Reuters) - The $3.8 billion merger between JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU.O) and Spirit Airlines Inc (SAVE.N) is in the crosshairs of the U.S. Justice Department, making it the latest major deal to attract tough regulatory scrutiny. Large deals, including Nvidia Corp's (NVDA.O) bid to buy UK-based chip firm Arm Ltd, have been abandoned following regulatory hurdles. Here is a list of some mergers that faced strong antitrust scrutiny under the Biden regime:DEALS UNDER SCRUTINYDEALS BLOCKED & ABANDONEDDEALS THAT WENT THROUGHReporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Arm is expected to confidentially submit paperwork for its initial public offering in late April, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions are confidential. The listing is expected to happen later this year and the exact timing will be determined by market conditions, the sources added. SoftBank has picked four investment banks to lead what is expected to be the most high-profile stock market flotation in recent years. The preparations for the IPO are expected to be kick-started in the U.S. in the coming days, the sources said. The valuation range has not yet been finalized but Cambridge, England-based Arm is hoping to be valued at more than $50 billion during its share sale, the sources said.

☆ Chip Designer Arm Intends to List in New York
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Ben Dummett | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has been talking up Arm in an IPO road-show-like fashion. LONDON—Arm Ltd., the British chip designer that SoftBank Group Corp. tried unsuccessfully to sell to Nvidia Corp., said it intends to list its shares in New York, a move that comes amid a race between the U.S., Europe and China to build out their semiconductor ecosystems. SoftBank last year abandoned plans to sell Arm outright amid growing global regulatory centered on Arm’s dominance in designing the chip technology that powers much of the world’s mobile devices. SoftBank initially agreed to a $40 billion price tag, but SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son had at one point valued the cash-and-stock deal closer to $80 billion after a sharp rise in Nvidia shares.

☆ U.K. Chip Designer Arm Plans New York Share Listing, in Blow to London’s Stock Market
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Ben Dummett | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON—British chip designer Arm Ltd. said it intends to list its shares in New York, a blow to London’s stock exchange and a move that comes amid a race between the U.S., Europe and China to build out their semiconductor ecosystems. SoftBank Group Corp. last year abandoned plans to sell Arm to Nvidia Corp. amid growing regulatory scrutiny centered on Arm’s dominance of the chip technology that powers many of the world’s mobile devices. SoftBank initially agreed to a $40 billion price tag, but its chief executive, Masayoshi Son , at one point valued the cash-and-stock deal closer to $80 billion after a sharp rise in Nvidia shares.

New York beat out London to win the coveted listing of British chip designer Arm Ltd., a move that underscores the magnetic pull of the U.S. for big business and the diminished profile of the U.K. as a global financial capital. Arm became the latest among a group of companies that have spurned London for the U.S. New York has deeper pools of capital and a more vibrant investor base willing to pay more for shares than in other markets, executives say.

☆ Alibaba and Ant venture to launch RISC-V chips for payments
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The development comes as Chinese companies continue to invest heavily in chips, in the wake of U.S. export restrictions targeting China's semiconductor sector. Alibaba is one of several Chinese tech companies to pour research and development resources into RISC-V, an alternate chip architecture. The open-source nature of RISC-V's design in theory makes it less susceptible to export restrictions. In 2019, Washington imposed export restrictions on China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd (HWT.UL), which threw the company's access to ARM designs in limbo. In late 2022, the United States launched similar export restrictions on Chinese chip fabs and research labs.

Arm technology powers most global smartphones and the company counts Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) as customers. The China business is the exclusive distributor of Arm chip technology in China and develops and sells its own chip designs based on Arm. In 2021, the China business paid Arm about $500 million, the two sources said. “The Arm Ltd IP business part of Arm China is performing very well and we are positioned for continued growth going forward. SoftBank and Arm China did not respond to requests for comment.

Arm technology powers most global smartphones and the company counts Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) as customers. The China business is the exclusive distributor of Arm chip technology in China and develops and sells its own chip designs based on Arm. “The Arm Ltd IP business part of Arm China is performing very well and we are positioned for continued growth going forward. SoftBank and Arm China did not respond to requests for comment. Wu is credited with expanding the China business, according to two sources familiar with the company.

The layoffs come as SoftBank tries to set up a public listing for Arm this year. Before the layoffs, Arm China had about 700 employees; there were no layoffs last year when parent Arm Ltd had global layoffs affecting up to 15% of its workforce, according to one of the sources. Arm China declined to comment. Arm China is the exclusive distributor of Arm licenses in China. One of the sources said some customers are concerned about Arm potentially changing how it charges royalties, as well as U.S.-China geopolitical tensions that could cut off access to Arm technology.

☆ AMD wins nearly a third of processor market, Arm's climb slows, analyst report
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.O) has captured nearly a third of the market for central processor units while British chip technology firm Arm Ltd's rise in the PC market slowed in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to an analyst report. In the fourth quarter, Intel had 68.7% market share for x86 processors versus AMD's 31.3%, which was up from 28.5% a year earlier, according to Mercury Research. But the PC sales slump has also affected Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) Mac computer lineup, which is the leading source of sales for Arm-based PC chips. Mercury said Arm PC chips, led by Apple's in-house chips but also joined by Qualcomm Inc's (QCOM.O) recent PC chips for Windows machines, now have 13.3% share of the market PC chips, down from 14.6% a quarter earlier but still up from 10.3% share a year ago. Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; editing by Diane CraftOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Intel Slumps on Disappointing Earnings Amid PC Weakness
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Intel is among the chip companies that have pared back production plans and reduced capital spending. Intel Corp. reported a fourth-quarter loss, hurt by a souring market for its chips and growing competition from rivals, as it also issued a gloomy outlook for the current quarter. Semiconductor companies have seen a stark shift to a glut of chips amid recession fears from a period of shortage during the height of the pandemic driven by demand for all-things digital. Intel also has been battling loss of market share to rivals such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and companies that have embraced semiconductors based on technology from British chip-design specialist Arm Ltd.

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