DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Japan's SoftBank Corp posts 2.1% increase in Q1 profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

The logo of SoftBank Group Corp is displayed at SoftBank World 2017 conference in Tokyo, Japan, July 20, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File PhotoTOKYO, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Japan's SoftBank Corp (9434.T), the domestic telecoms arm of SoftBank Group (9984.T), posted a 2.1% increase in first quarter operating profit on Friday. Operating profit was 246.3 billion yen ($1.73 billion) in the April to June period, marginally higher than the 241.2 billion yen in the same period a year earlier. SoftBank maintained its annual profit forecast of 780 billion yen in the year through March 2024, compared to an 838.8 billion yen average estimate from 18 analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. ($1 = 142.3900 yen)Reporting by Anton Bridge Editing by Shri NavaratnamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Issei Kato, SoftBank, Anton, Shri Navaratnam Organizations: SoftBank, REUTERS, SoftBank Corp, Refinitiv, Thomson Locations: Tokyo, Japan

☆ SoftBank's Arm Ltd aims upto $70 bln valuation in September IPO - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FILE PHOTO-A smartphone with a displayed Arm Ltd logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoAug 2 (Reuters) - British chip designer Arm Ltd is targeting an initial public offering (IPO) at a valuation of between $60 billion and $70 billion as soon as September, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The roadshow is scheduled to start in the first week of September with pricing for the IPO to come in the following week, Bloomberg said. It was not immediately clear what impact any IPO investment by one or more of those companies would have on Arm's commercial relationships. Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza, Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Sohini GoswamiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Gursimran Kaur, Savio D'Souza, Nivedita, Sohini Organizations: REUTERS, Bloomberg, SoftBank Group Corp, Nasdaq, Reuters, Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Thomson Locations: British, U.S, London, Bengaluru

July 24 (Reuters) - SoftBank Group (9984.T) is forming a joint venture with warehouse automation company Symbotic (SYM.O) to build AI-powered warehouses that will be majority owned by the Japanese technology investor, the companies said on Monday. The unit has also signed a contract to buy AI-powered systems from Symbotic that will be worth $7.5 billion in the next six years. Based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, Symbotic provides robotics warehouse automation solutions and counts Walmart (WMT.N) as its major backer and customer. The Japanese company will have a 65% stake in GreenBox, with Symbotic owning the rest. For fiscal year 2022, Symbotic reported revenue of $593.3 million, up 136% year over year, with a loss of $139.1 million.

Persons: Symbotic, Rick Cohen, upping, Masayoshi Son, Zaheer Kachwala, Krystal Hu, Shailesh Kuber, Anil D'Silva, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: SoftBank, Systems, SoftBank Group Corp, Walmart, JV, Tokyo bourse, Thomson Locations: SoftBank, Wilmington , Massachusetts, Tokyo, GreenBox

☆ 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

This spike bodes well for the IPO market, bankers say, because both new listings and secondary stock sales rely on strong demand from equity investors. "Historically, follow-on activity of this magnitude should lead to animal spirits in the IPO market," said Daniel Burton-Morgan, head of Americas syndicate for equity capital markets at Bank of America Corp (BAC.N). The IPO market has been in the doldrums since the start of 2022, when Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a spike in inflation fueled a bout of market volatility as investors fretted over U.S. interest rate hikes. The week of June 5 saw 19 follow-on and secondary stock sales in the United States, totaling proceeds of $6.6 billion, one of the highest weekly tallies since the end of 2021. IPO HOPEFULSMajor companies are waiting in the wings to launch their market debut come September, when the IPO window traditionally opens after a summer lull.

Persons: Daniel Burton, Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Electric's, Alex Wellins, Keith Townsend, Echo Wang, Lance Tupper, Greg Roumeliotis, Sam Holmes Organizations: YORK, LSEG, Intelligence, Bank of America Corp, Dealogic, Reuters Graphics, Federal, Goldman, Intel Corp, GE Healthcare Technologies, SoftBank Group Corp, chipmaker, Holdings, Blueshirt, King, Spalding, Thomson Locations: United States, Ukraine, Cava, New York

☆ US patent tribunal sides with Intel again in $2.2 billion VLSI case
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Blake Brittain | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) - A U.S. Patent Office tribunal ruled for Intel Corp on Tuesday on the chipmaking giant’s bid to invalidate a patent that represented $1.5 billion of a $2.18 billion verdict it lost to VLSI Technology LLC in 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/file photoThe Patent Trial and Appeal Board invalidated the computer chip-related patent after canceling another VLSI patent that accounted for the remainder of the Texas federal court verdict last month. A jury ruled for Intel in 2021 in another Texas patent case in which VLSI had sought $3.1 billion in damages. The patent board proceeding decided on Tuesday was initiated by South Dakota-based Patent Quality Assurance LLC. The case is Patent Quality Assurance LLC v. VLSI Technology LLC, Patent Trial and Appeal Board, No.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Kathi Vidal, OpenSky, Benjamin Fernandez, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale, Dorr, Bruce Slayden, Slayden Grubert, Babak, Kenneth Weatherwax, Weatherwax Read Organizations: Reuters, U.S . Patent, Intel Corp, VLSI Technology, REUTERS, U.S ., Appeals, Federal Circuit, Intel, SoftBank Group Corp, Fortress Investment Group, Assurance, OpenSky Industries, Lowenstein, Tech Locations: Texas, Delaware, Northern California, South Dakota

If you want to be bullish, you say inflation is down more than 50% since its peak. If you want to bearish, you can say inflation is still more than twice the Fed's target," Young said. The S&P 500 was up 0.69% at 4,368.75 points. Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX) by a 5.0-to-one ratio. The S&P 500 posted 43 new highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 131 new highs and 39 new lows.

Persons: Stocks, Liz Young, Young, Russell, JD.com, Viterra, Shristi Achar, Sruthi Shankar, Noel Randewich, Vinay Dwivedi, Richard Chang Organizations: Oracle, Nasdaq, Dow, Federal Reserve, U.S . Labor Department, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Traders, Apple, Nvidia, Alibaba, Dow Jones, Intel, Bunge Ltd, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Bengaluru, Oakland , California

☆ Intel in talks to be anchor investor in Arm IPO - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 12 (Reuters) - Intel (INTC.O) is in talks with SoftBank Group Corp's (9984.T) Arm to be an anchor investor in the chip designer's initial public offering (IPO), a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. Arm plans to sell its shares on Nasdaq later this year, seeking to raise $8-$10 billion, Reuters reported earlier in April. Arm's designs are used to manufacture chips made by most of the world's major semiconductor companies, including Intel, AMD (AMD.O), Nvidia (NVDA.O) and Qualcomm (QCOM.O). The chip designer had filed with regulators confidentially for a U.S. stock market listing in April, setting the stage for this year's largest IPO. Arm and Intel declined a Reuters request for comment.

Persons: Anirban Sen, Yana Gaur, Rashmi Aich, Dhanya Ann Thoppil Organizations: Intel, Reuters, Nasdaq, AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Thomson Locations: U.S, New York, Bengaluru

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board invalidated the computer chip-related patent after canceling another VLSI patent that accounted for the remainder of the Texas federal court verdict last month. A jury ruled for Intel in 2021 in another Texas patent case in which VLSI had sought $3.1 billion in damages. The patent board proceeding decided on Tuesday was initiated by South Dakota-based Patent Quality Assurance LLC. An attorney for Patent Quality Assurance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The case is Patent Quality Assurance LLC v. VLSI Technology LLC, Patent Trial and Appeal Board, No.

Persons: Kathi Vidal, OpenSky, Benjamin Fernandez, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale, Dorr, Bruce Slayden, Slayden Grubert, Babak, Kenneth Weatherwax, Weatherwax Read, Blake Brittain Organizations: Intel, USPTO, U.S . Patent, Intel Corp, VLSI Technology, U.S ., Appeals, Federal Circuit, SoftBank Group Corp, Fortress Investment Group, Assurance, OpenSky Industries, Lowenstein, Tech, Thomson Locations: Texas, Delaware, Northern California, South Dakota, Washington

☆ SoftBank prepares new round of layoffs at Vision Fund, Reuters reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

SoftBank's Vision Fund posted a record loss in the year ended Mar. The flagship tech investment unit has been hit by the falling prices of tech stocks. SoftBank Group Corp is planning a fresh round of layoffs at its Vision Fund investment arm, two people familiar with the matter said, the latest cost-cutting move at the Japanese conglomerate. SoftBank's Vision Fund unit, which has booked heavy investment losses, had headcount of 349 at the end of March, according to a company report. It cushioned the investment loss at the Vision Fund unit by selling down its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Persons: ByteDance Organizations: Vision, Mar, SoftBank, Corp, Vision Fund, Fund, International, Alibaba, Holding Locations: U.S, China

SAN FRANCISCO, June 12 (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) is planning a fresh round of layoffs at its Vision Fund investment arm, two people familiar with the matter said, the latest cost-cutting move at the Japanese conglomerate. SoftBank's Vision Fund unit, which has booked heavy investment losses, had headcount of 349 at the end of March, according to a company report. If finalized, this would follow the elimination of about 150 jobs globally at the investing arm and SoftBank Group International in September. It cushioned the investment loss at the Vision Fund unit by selling down its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK). Vision Fund 2's portfolio was worth $31 billion at end-March compared with an acquisition cost of $49.9 billion.

Persons: ByteDance, SoftBank, SoftBank's, Krystal Hu, Sam Nussey, Kenneth Li, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: FRANCISCO, SoftBank Group Corp, Vision Fund, Fund, SoftBank, International, Vision, Alibaba, Holding, HK, Intel, Thomson Locations: U.S, China, The Cambridge, England, San Francisco, Tokyo

TOKYO, June 13 - Japan's benchmark Nikkei gauge surged on Tuesday, closing over 33,000 for the first time in 33 years, led by technology shares on expectations of a flood of investment in chip-related companies. The Nikkei (.N225) climbed for a third-straight session, adding 1.8% to 33,018.65, closing above the key psychological level for the first time since July 1990. Global shares climbed on Monday ahead of closely watched U.S. inflation data on and policy decisions from the Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan, and other central banks. Toyota's EV strategy "was well received by the market, and also last night the U.S. market was strong, so we have a strong market today," said Daiwa Securities strategist Kenji Abe. The auto sector (.TEWP.T) rose 3.4% to become the best performer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 industry sub-indexes.

Persons: Kenji Abe, Drugmaker Eisai, Rocky Swift, Sonia Cheema Organizations: Nikkei, SoftBank Group Corp, Intel Corp, Advantest Corp, Toyota Motor Corp, Global, Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan, Daiwa, Tokyo Stock, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, U.S

Rubrik may raise more than $750 million in its IPO, three of the sources added, though that may change based on market conditions as the preparations are still at an early stage. Rubrik currently generates annual recurring revenue of about $600 million, one of the sources said. Three of the sources said Rubrik could choose to go public in 2024, if the IPO market becomes more welcoming. Founded in 2014 by venture capitalist Bipul Sinha, Rubrik makes cloud-based ransomware protection and data-backup software. SoftBank-backed Cohesity Inc, which competes with Rubrik, is also preparing to go public, having filed confidentially for an IPO in late 2021, Reuters reported.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Rubrik, Bipul Sinha, Johnson, Echo Wang, Milana Vinn, Krystal Hu, Matthew Lewis Organizations: YORK, Microsoft Corp, Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc, Barclays, Citi, Nvidia Corp, Depot Inc, Bain Capital Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Kenvue Inc, Johnson, SoftBank Group Corp, Inc, Reuters, Cohesity Inc, Thomson Locations: U.S, Palo Alto , California, ., New York

☆ SoftBank shares swept up in AI chip frenzy ahead of Arm IPO
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Sam Nussey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, June 2 (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) shares jumped 5% in early Friday trade as the technology investor - which is preparing an initial public offering of chip designer Arm - was caught up in a frenzy for semiconductor and artificial intelligence-related stocks. The Japanese conglomerate, which has been hit by the slumping value of its tech portfolio, has seen its shares gain 17% since last week's close. On Friday, SoftBank passed the psychological level of 6,000 yen for the first time since February. "We expressed a view that SBG stock will rally ahead of the ARM IPO later in the year... "He feels that 'finally my time has come'," SoftBank Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto told reporters at an earnings briefing last month.

Persons: SoftBank, Jefferies, Atul Goyal, Masayoshi Son, Yoshimitsu Goto, Sam Nussey, Jacqueline Wong, Christopher Cushing Organizations: SoftBank Group Corp, U.S, Nvidia Corp, Semiconductor, ARM, Advantest Corp, Tokyo Electron, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, Philadelphia

May 29 (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) owned chip designer Arm on Monday rolled out new 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. "Investors have become extremely sensitive to any news about AI or chip technology and jumped on this Arm news," said Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management. 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.

May 29 (Reuters) - Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings (TEM.UL) said on Monday it had cut compensation for the team and senior management that recommended its investment in the now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange. "Although there was no misconduct by the investment team in reaching their investment recommendation, the investment team and senior management, who are ultimately responsible for investment decisions made, took collective accountability and had their compensation reduced," Temasek Chairman Lim Boon Heng said in a statement posted on Temasek's website on Monday. The move comes around six months after Temasek initiated an internal review of its investment in FTX, which resulted in a writedown of $275 million. Temasek also said last year it had conducted "extensive due diligence" on FTX, with its audited financial statement then "showed it to be profitable". "With FTX, as alleged by prosecutors and as admitted by key executives at FTX and its affiliates, there was fraudulent conduct intentionally hidden from investors, including Temasek," Lim said in the statement on Monday.

☆ Abu Dhabi's Mubadala to buy majority stake in Fortress Investment from SoftBank
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 22 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Co will acquire a majority stake in U.S. asset manager Fortress Investment Group from Japan's SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Mubadala and Fortress Investment said in a joint statement on Monday. After the completion of the deal, Fortress' management will own a 30% stake in the company, while Mubadala Capital will hold the rest, according to the statement. Fortress management will hold a class of equity that entails it to appoint a majority of seats on the board. Fortress will appoint Drew McKnight and Joshua Pack as co-CEOs and Pete Briger as chairman, the companies said.

☆ 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.

[1/2] The logo of SoftBank Group Corp is displayed at SoftBank World 2017 conference in Tokyo, Japan, July 20, 2017. The fourth-quarter earnings come after the Vision Fund unit posted four consecutive quarters of investment loss, with investors debating whether the value of privately held stakes have further to fall. Portfolio firms of the Vision Fund unit whose shares climbed during January-March include e-commerce firm Coupang Inc (CPNG.N) and robotics firm AutoStore Holdings Ltd (AUTO.OL). What matters is Arm for SoftBank to demonstrate it can get results as an investment company," said SMBC Nikko Securities analyst Satoru Kikuchi. Still, SoftBank executives are unlikely to offer meaningful new information about the Arm listing on Thursday, Kikuchi said.

☆ 'A very problematic market': As Arm shuns London, tech investors question UK as an IPO destination
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The institutional investors that dominate the London market lack a good understanding of tech, according to several venture capitalists. Numerous tech firms listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2021, in moves that buoyed investor hopes for more major tech names to start appearing in the blue-chip FTSE 100 benchmark. Since Deliveroo's March 2021 IPO, the firm's stock has plummeted dramatically, slumping over 70% from the £3.90 it priced its shares at. "London is creating, and the U.K. is creating, globally important businesses — Arm is a globally important business. The London Stock Exchange was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

☆ SoftBank's Arm registers for blockbuster U.S. IPO
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

SoftBank Group Corp's chip maker Arm has filed with regulators confidentially for a U.S. stock market listing, Arm said on Saturday, setting the stage for this year's largest initial public offering. The IPO registration shows that SoftBank is pressing ahead with the blockbuster offering despite adverse market conditions, after saying in March that it planned to list Arm in the U.S. stock market. Arm plans to sell its shares on Nasdaq later this year, seeking to raise between $8 billion and $10 billion, people familiar with the matter said. In a statement, which confirmed an earlier Reuters report on the planned IPO, Arm said the size and price range for the offering has not yet been determined. SoftBank and Arm declined to comment.

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).

☆ Indonesia's GoTo reports narrower Q1 loss, expects core profit in Q4
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Like many other tech companies, GoTo has been reducing its spending and laying off staff this year to ride out the global economic uncertainty. Group CEO Andre Soelistyo said in a statement the company was halfway towards becoming adjusted EBITDA positive in the fourth quarter. "A lower cost base will provide us with additional flexibility to allocate capital for the acceleration of growth in the future," GoTo Group CFO Jacky Lo said. GoTo posted a net loss of 3.9 trillion rupiah in the first three months of 2023, versus a loss of 6.6 trillion rupiah a year earlier. GoTo shares closed up 4.21% at 99 rupiah per share on Thursday before the earnings announcement.

Search resuls for: "Softbank Group Corp"

25 mentions found