DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Take-Two forecasts second-quarter net bookings below estimates
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Grand Theft Auto The Trilogy by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc is seen for sale in a store in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., February 7, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File PhotoAug 8 (Reuters) - Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO.O) forecast second-quarter net bookings below Wall Street targets on Tuesday, in a sign that spending on games was under pressure amid persistent inflationary pressures. Spending on videogame content was flat in the first half of the year, while console sales rose 23%, according to data from gaming research firm Circana. The videogame publisher forecast net bookings between $1.4 billion and $1.45 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.45 billion, according to Refinitiv data. Adjusted sales rose 20% to $1.20 billion in the quarter ended June 30, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.21 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Chavi Mehta, Shilpi Majumdar Organizations: Inc, REUTERS, PlayStation, Thomson Locations: Manhattan , New York City, U.S, Bengaluru

[1/2] The logo of U.S. software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland January 22, 2020. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File PhotoAug 7 (Reuters) - Palantir Technologies (PLTR.N) raised its annual revenue forecast on Monday and said it would buy back shares worth up to $1 billion as the data analytics software maker enjoys "unprecedented demand" for its artificial intelligence platform. The company launched the platform, which includes an AI assistant that can help enterprises make decisions about their operations, in April. Its second-quarter sales and third-quarter revenue forecast were also above estimates, according to Refinitiv data. Still, the company expects full-year 2023 revenue to come in above $2.21 billion, compared with its earlier forecast of $2.19 billion to $2.24 billion.

Persons: Arnd, Alexander Karp, Palantir, David Glazer, Glazer, Chavi Mehta, Shinjini Organizations: Palantir Technologies, REUTERS, Investors, Central Intelligence Agency, Thomson Locations: Davos, Switzerland, Europe, Bengaluru

☆ Amazon soars on 'game-changing' quarter, iPhone slump drags Apple
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Aditya Soni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

FILE PHOTO-The logo of Amazon is seen at the company's logistics center in Bretigny-sur-Orge, near Paris, France, November 25, 2022. Online retail giant Amazon's shares closed at a near one-year high and added more than $109 billion to its market value. "The second quarter is a game-changing quarter for Amazon; we would call it an-all clear moment," said SVB MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Morton. The surge in Amazon's stock reflected analysts' increased estimates for its earnings. But its services business was a bright spot and helped Apple top profit expectations for the June quarter.

Persons: Benoit Tessier, SVB, Michael Morton, —, Dan Coatsworth, AJ Bell, Aditya Soni, Samrhitha, Joice Alves, Noel Randewich, Chavi Mehta, Amanda Cooper, Saumyadeb Organizations: REUTERS, Google, Microsoft, Wall Street, Amazon, Refinitiv, Apple, Thomson Locations: Bretigny, Paris, France, Apple's, Bengaluru, London

For the second quarter, Amazon's revenue grew 11% to $134.4 billion, beating estimates of $131.5 billion from analysts polled by Refinitiv. In recent months, Amazon Web Services (AWS) saw its sales growth slow as wary businesses scrutinized their cloud bills. The unit beat estimates of around $21.7 billion in second-quarter cloud sales, increasing them 12% to $22.1 billion. Its rivals posted bigger jumps off smaller bases: 28% growth in Alphabet's June-quarter cloud revenue and a 26% quarterly increase for Microsoft's Azure. Longer-term, Amazon aims to turn one unit, its $35 billion in yearly gross business-to-business e-commerce sales, into $100 billion, Jassy told analysts.

Persons: Pascal Rossignol, Brian Olsavsky, Olsavsky, Andy Jassy, Arun Sundaram, Sundaram, Jassy, Thomas Monteiro, Investing.com, Monteiro, Refinitiv, Chavi Mehta, Jeffrey Dastin, Noel Randewich, Arun Koyyur, Aurora Ellis, Chris Reese Organizations: REUTERS, Amazon.com Inc, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Refinitiv, Amazon Web Services, CFRA Research, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Lauwin, France, Alphabet's, Bengaluru, Jeffrey Dastin San Francisco

☆ Amazon's outlook brightens on cloud, consumer sales lift
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Facing an array of challenges, Amazon has aimed to keep its mantle as the world's biggest cloud provider and online retailer. Despite this, Amazon sped up revenue growth in the second quarter. Sales increased 11% to $134.4 billion, compared to estimates of $131.50 billion from analysts polled by Refinitiv. AWS beat estimates of around $21.7 billion in second-quarter cloud sales, increasing them 12% to $22.1 billion. The company forecast current-quarter net sales in the range of $138 billion and $143 billion.

Persons: Pascal Rossignol, Long, Andy Jassy, Refinitiv, Chavi Mehta, Arun Koyyur, Aurora Ellis Organizations: REUTERS, Amazon.com Inc, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Refinitiv, Amazon Web Services, Thomson Locations: Lauwin, France, Bengaluru

☆ X social media looking to build a trading hub inside app, Semafor reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

'X' logo is seen on the top of the headquarters of the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco, California, U.S., July 30, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File PhotoAug 3 (Reuters) - X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, is seeking a financial data giant to build a trading hub inside the app, Semafor reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter and plan requests. In a post on the X platform, its owner Elon Musk said he was not aware of any work being done in this area. loadingLast year, Musk said he bought Twitter as an "accelerant to creating X", which he described as an "everything app" and likened it to China's super-app WeChat. Musk last month rebranded the social media site and changed Twitter's widely recognised blue bird to "X".

Persons: Carlos Barria, Elon Musk, Musk, Chavi Mehta, Tanya Jain, Yuvraj Malik, Arun Koyyur Organizations: REUTERS, Twitter, Thomson Locations: San Francisco , California, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ AMD shares fall as analysts worry AI chip targets may be ambitious
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) is seen on a graphics processing unit (GPU) chip in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/IllustrationAug 2 (Reuters) - Advanced Micro Devices's (AMD.O) shares fell about 6% on Wednesday as analysts raised concerns that the chip designer's targets for an artificial intelligence (AI) ramp-up may be too ambitious. "Unless numbers get really material, soon, we fear estimates remain too high and the stock (AMD) looks a little stretched to us," Bernstein analysts wrote in a note. Summit Insights Group analyst Kinngai Chan said investors were giving AMD a pass hoping for a bigger AI payday. "The Bulls want AMD to be the next concept stock... the Bears say show me the results and make me believe the AI hype."

Persons: Florence Lo, Fitch, Bernstein, Kinngai Chan, Akash Sriram, Chavi Mehta, Devika Organizations: Devices Inc, REUTERS, Philadelphia, Semiconductor, Nvidia, AMD, Refinitiv, Bulls, Bears, Thomson Locations: Philadelphia, Bengaluru

☆ Qualcomm forecasts dull fourth-quarter revenue on weak smartphone demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationAug 2 (Reuters) - Qualcomm (QCOM.O) forecast fourth-quarter revenue below market expectations on Wednesday as consumer spending on gadgets like smartphones remained stubbornly weak amid slowing global economic growth. The company expects fourth-quarter revenue of $8.1 billion to $8.9 billion. Qualcomm rival MediaTek last week warned that customers are "cautious" with their purchases due to tepid end-user demand. Revenue at Qualcomm's mainstay handset chip business fell 25% to $5.26 billion in the third quarter and adjusted revenue of $8.44 billion missed estimates of $8.50 billion. It forecast adjusted fourth-quarter earnings per share in the range of $1.80 and $2, compared to estimates of $1.91.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Cristiano Amon, Chavi Mehta, Stephen Nellis, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Qualcomm, REUTERS, MediaTek, Revenue, Thomson Locations: China, Bengaluru, San Francisco

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationAug 2 (Reuters) - Qualcomm (QCOM.O) forecast fourth-quarter sales below market expectations on Wednesday and said it would likely cut jobs as consumer spending on gadgets like smartphones remained stubbornly weak amid slowing global economic growth. The company estimated fourth-quarter revenue of $8.1 billion to $8.9 billion, while analysts polled by Refinitiv expected $8.70 billion. Qualcomm forecast a fourth-quarter adjusted earnings range with a midpoint of $1.90, in line with analysts' consensus estimate of $1.91 per share according to Refinitiv data. It forecast adjusted fourth-quarter earnings per share of $1.80 and $2, compared to estimates of $1.91. The automotive sector was a bright spot as Qualcomm seeks to diversify beyond smartphone chips.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Akash Palkhiwala, Palkhiwala, Refinitiv, Cristiano Amon, MediaTek, Apple, Bob Bruggeworth, NXP, Amon, Kinngai Chan, Chavi Mehta, Cherney, Stephen Nellis, Arun Koyyur, Richard Chang Organizations: Qualcomm, REUTERS, Huawei, Philadelphia, Semiconductor, SOX, Apple, Summit, U.S, Thomson Locations: San Diego , California, China, U.S, Bengaluru, San Francisco

☆ AMD forecasts third-quarter revenue below estimates
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A smartphone with a displayed AMD logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoAug 1 (Reuters) - Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) forecast third-quarter revenue below market expectations on Tuesday, hit by a slowdown in cloud computing spending. While AMD has announced its own competitor to market leader Nvidia's (NVDA.O) AI chips, those would not hit the market until the fourth quarter this year. The company forecast current-quarter revenue of about $5.7 billion, plus or minus $300 million. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expect revenue of $5.82 billion.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Nvidia's, Lisa Su, Chavi Mehta, Arun Koyyur Organizations: REUTERS, Devices, Microsoft, Google, AMD, Center, Gaming, Refinitiv, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Meta starts process to end news access in Canada over law on paying publishers
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Morning commute traffic streams past the Meta sign outside the headquarters of Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc in Mountain View, California, U.S. November 9, 2022. REUTERS/Peter DaSilva/File PhotoAug 1 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) has begun the process to end access to news on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada, it said on Tuesday, in response to a legislation requiring internet giants to pay news publishers. The Online News Act, passed by the Canadian parliament, would force platforms like Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O) and Meta to negotiate commercial deals with Canadian news publishers for their content. Canada's legislation is similar to a ground-breaking law that Australia passed in 2021 and had triggered threats from Google and Facebook to curtail their services. But on the Canadian law, Google has argued that it is broader than those enacted in Australia and Europe as it puts a price on news story links displayed in search results and can apply to outlets that do not produce news.

Persons: Peter DaSilva, Rachel Curran, Meta's, Pascale St, Meta, Justin Trudeau, Chavi Mehta, David Ljunggren, Ismail Shakil, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Facebook, Meta, REUTERS, Canadian Heritage, Google, Canadian, Thomson Locations: Mountain View , California, U.S, Canada, Australia, Europe, Bengaluru, Montreal, Ontario

☆ Apple supplier Foxconn plans $500 mln component factories in India - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 31 (Reuters) - Apple's (AAPL.O) main supplier, Foxconn Technology Group (2317.TW), is planning to invest close to $500 million to build two component factories in India, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. These factories will be built in the southern state of Karnataka and at least one of them will produce Apple parts, including for iPhones, the report said. Foxconn and Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Karnataka has already approved investment to the tune of 80 billion rupees ($972.88 million) by a Foxconn unit in March, making it the third southern Indian state after Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to allow Foxconn plants. ($1 = 82.2300 Indian rupees)Reporting by Urvi Dugar and Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Urvi Dugar, Chavi Mehta, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Foxconn Technology, Bloomberg, iPhones, Apple, Tamil, Thomson Locations: India, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, China, Kancheepuram, Chennai, Bengaluru

☆ Western Digital's first-quarter forecast disappoints as weak cloud demand weighs
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 31 (Reuters) - Memory chipmaker Western Digital Corp (WDC.O) forecast a bigger-than-expected loss in the first quarter and revenue below Wall Street targets on Monday as weak demand, mainly for its cloud business, forces it to cut production. Cloud companies will take another "couple of quarters" to clear out excess inventory, finance chief Wissam Jabre said in June. Western Digital forecast its adjusted loss per share to be in the range of $2.10 to $1.80, compared to an estimated loss of $1.40 per share. It also forecast revenue for the same period below estimates. Rival Seagate Technology (STX.O) also forecast downbeat revenue for its first quarter last week, on weakness in major market China and lower tech spending.

Persons: Wissam Jabre, David Goeckeler, Goeckeler, Chavi Mehta, Stephen Nellis, Pooja Desai Organizations: Digital Corp, Seagate Technology, Western Digital, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Thomson Locations: China, South, Bengaluru, San Francisco

☆ Chipmakers signal supply glut easing but demand recovery still slow
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Joyce Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"Demand is recovering very gradually," Woohyun Kim, chief financial officer at SK Hynix, said on an earnings call this week. "The recent improvement in PC shipments has been mainly led by promotions and low-end models, meaning it provided limited impact on chip demand recovery," he said, adding that shipment forecasts for PCs and smartphones this year have been downgraded from earlier predictions. Chipmakers are also increasing production of the high-end chips used to support AI related chips. SK Hynix said demand for AI server memory had more than doubled in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. The company leads the market in high bandwidth memory (HBM) DRAM used in generative AI.

Persons: Florence Lo, Canalys, Woohyun Kim, ChatGPT, Pat Gelsinger, SK Hynix, Logan Purk, Edward Jones, Lam, Tim Archer, 1,278.7400, Joyce Lee, Akash Sriram, Akshita, Chavi Mehta, Tanya Jain, Max A, Cheney, Stephen Nellis, Miyoung Kim, Miral Organizations: REUTERS, Intel, Samsung, SK Hynix, SK, chipmaker Texas, Wall, Manufacturers, KLA Corp, Lam Research, Thomson Locations: SEOUL, China, HBM, Seoul, Bengaluru, Max, San Francisco

☆ Intel results boost chip stocks on optimism PC market slump is ending
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Aditya Soni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Intel is poised to add about $10 billion to its market value, based on its current price of $37. Intel's results lifted Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) and Nvidia (NVDA.O) by 3.2% and 2.3%, respectively, while Qualcomm (QCOM.O) advanced 2.6%. Although a titan of the American chip industry, Intel has fallen behind rivals such as Taiwan's TSMC and Nvidia both in terms of margins and market value as the PC market downturn and stiff competition in the data center market battered its business. Earnings reports from other chipmakers including Samsung (005930.KS) have also shown that the glut in the smartphone and PC markets is ending, but the outlook for demand from customers outside the AI industry remains gloomy. Intel has a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of 31.10, compared with Nvidia's 43.26 and an industry median of 19.95.

Persons: Glenn O'Donnell, Forrester, Pat Gelsinger, Aditya Soni, Chavi Mehta, Savio D'Souza, Shounak Organizations: Intel, Devices, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Samsung, Rosenblatt Securities, Thomson Locations: KS, Bengaluru

☆ Intel forecasts third-quarter profit above estimates
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 27 (Reuters) - Chipmaker Intel (INTC.O) forecast third-quarter profit above Wall Street expectations on Thursday as a slump in the PC market started to ease, sending its shares up 8% in extended trading. The market for personal computers has tumbled over the past year, with inventory piling up because consumers had already purchased the machines needed during the pandemic. Sequentially, they rose 11.9%, signaling that vendors' appetite for fresh stock will rebound in the second half of the year. The company forecast adjusted current-quarter earnings per share of 20 cents. The company forecast adjusted current-quarter revenue to roughly be between $12.9 billion and $13.9 billion, compared to estimates of $13.23 billion.

Persons: Refinitiv, Chavi Mehta, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Intel, Cloud, Microsoft, Nvidia, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Ebay forecasts third-quarter revenue above estimates
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 26 (Reuters) - E-commerce platform eBay (EBAY.O) forecast third-quarter revenue slightly above market expectations on Wednesday, banking on its focus categories such as refurbished goods and auto parts to draw in new buyers to the marketplace. Price-conscious customers turned to eBay, which since 2020 has focused on selling secondhand goods as well as new sneakers, handbags and collectibles like trading cards such as for baseball. Still, Ebay faces tough competition from larger online retailers including Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Shopify . The company forecast third-quarter revenue in the range of $2.46 billion and $2.52 billion, compared to analysts' average estimates of $2.47 billion, according to Refinitiv data. Revenue in the quarter ended June 30 was $2.54 billion, compared to expectations of $2.51 billion.

Persons: Chavi Mehta, Pooja Desai Organizations: eBay, Ebay, Revenue, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Maxlinear scraps nearly $4 bln deal for Taiwan's Silicon Motion
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 26 (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Maxlinear (MXL.O) said on Wednesday it has scrapped a near $4 billion deal to acquire Taiwan-based Silicon Motion . MaxLinear had agreed to buy the memory controller-maker Silicon Motion in May last year in a cash-and-stock deal worth $4 billion. Memory controllers are used to manage data in memory chips. NAND flash memory chips do not need power to retain data and are used in smartphones, personal computers and data center servers. MaxLinear was to pay $93.54 in cash and about 0.4 of its share for each Silicon Motion's American depositary shares, representing a total consideration of $114.34 per ADS.

Persons: chipmaker, MaxLinear, Akash Sriram, Chavi Mehta Organizations: Kioxia, Micron Technology, Samsung, SK Hynix, Western, Silicon, Thomson Locations: Taiwan, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ AI industry leaders create forum to regulate big machine learnings models
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 26 (Reuters) - OpenAI, Microsoft (MSFT.O), Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google and Anthropic are launching a forum to regulate the development of large machine learnings models, the industry leaders of artificial intelligence said on Wednesday. The group will focus on ensuring safe and responsible development of what is called "frontier AI models" that exceed the capabilities present in the most advanced existing models. They are highly capable foundation models that could have dangerous capabilities sufficient to pose severe risks to public safety. Generative AI models, like the one behind chatbots like ChatGPT, extrapolate large amounts of data at high speed to share responses in the form of prose, poetry and images. The industry body, Frontier Model Forum, will work to advance AI safety research, identify best practices for deployment of frontier AI models and work with policymakers, academic and companies.

Persons: Sam Altman, Brad Smith, Chavi Mehta, Jeffrey Dastin, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Microsoft, Google, European Union, Frontier Model, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru, Palo Alto

☆ Texas Instruments forecasts third-quarter revenue below estimates
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 25 (Reuters) - Analog chipmaker Texas Instruments (TXN.O) forecast third-quarter revenue below Wall Street targets on Tuesday, bogged down by sluggish recovery in consumer and enterprise demand that has kept clients from placing fresh chip orders. The company forecast revenue in the current quarter to be in the range of $4.36 billion to $4.74 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expect revenue to come in at $4.60 billion. Revenue in the quarter ended June 30 was $4.53 billion, compared to estimates of $4.36 billion. Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja DesaiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Chavi Mehta, Pooja Desai Organizations: Texas, Texas Instruments, TSMC, Infineon, Refinitiv, Revenue, Thomson Locations: Dallas , Texas, Bengaluru

☆ NXP forecasts third quarter above estimates on steady automotive demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Growing electrification of cars and the use of advanced driver-assistance systems have kept demand for automotive chips steady, helping NXP, which made over half of its revenue from that sector last year. Revenue in those segments rose in the second quarter on a sequential basis. On an adjusted basis, the company forecast current-quarter revenue in the range of $3.30 billion to $3.50 billion, compared to analysts’ estimates of $3.31 billion, per Refinitiv data. Revenue in the quarter ended July 2 was $3.30 billion, compared to estimates of $3.21 billion. Excluding items, NXP earned $3.43 per share, beating estimates of $3.29.

Persons: ”, Kurt Sievers, NXP, Chavi Mehta, Pooja Desai Organizations: Wall, Nasdaq, Revenue, Thomson Locations: Eindhoven, Netherlands, United States, China, Bengaluru

☆ China's sagging economy looms over quarterly results around the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Noel Randewich | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

July 20 (Reuters) - China's frail growth could weigh on companies with exposure to the world's second-largest economy, including Apple (AAPL.O), big chipmakers and luxury retailers as they report quarterly results in the next few weeks. China accounted for 36% of NXP's revenue last year and half of Texas Instruments' revenue. Analysts estimate NXP reporting a 3.2% drop in quarterly revenue, with Texas Instruments' revenue tumbling 16%, which would be its steepest drop since 2009, according to Refinitiv. The specialty glass maker blamed "anticipated recession-level demand" for weak results in its previous quarterly report last April. Coffee maker Starbucks (SBUX.O) in May reported quarterly results that beat estimates, powered by recovering demand in China.

Persons: Ross Mayfield, Baird, Cartier, Richemont, Bernstein, Tesla, Jonathan Golub, hobble, David Klink, Noel Randewich, Chavi Mehta, Caroline Valetkovitch, Mimosa Spencer, David Gaffen, Nick Zieminski Organizations: Apple, U.S, Shanghai, ABB, HK, NXP Semiconductors, Texas, Texas Instruments, . Credit Suisse Chief, Equity, Corning Inc, Samsung Electronics, Huntington Private Bank, Reuters, Thomson Locations: China, U.S, Swiss, Asia, ., China . U.S, Washington, Beijing, Oakland , California, Bangalore, New York, Paris

☆ YouTube hikes prices for US premium subscribers for the first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 20 (Reuters) - YouTube, Google's video streaming platform, hiked prices on its monthly and annual premium plans in the United States for the first time since the subscription service was launched in 2018. The YouTube Premium plan would cost $13.99 a month in the U.S., up $2 from before, according to the company's website on Thursday. YouTube had in April introduced new features for its premium users including letting them host Google Meet sessions to watch videos on the platform together with other users. It has also hiked prices for YouTube Music by $1 to $10.99 in the U.S. The move follows similar price increases by Amazon Music, Apple Music and Tidal.

Persons: Chavi Mehta, Shilpi Majumdar Organizations: Google, YouTube, U.S, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Thomson Locations: United States, U.S, Bengaluru

July 19 (Reuters) - Enterprise software provider IBM's (IBM.N) second-quarter revenue fell short of Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, bogged down by tepid spending from businesses. Revenue growth in the U.S. and Western Europe was "muted" as the company wrapped up the cycle for its mainframe computers it launched last year, Chief Financial Officer James Kavanaugh said in an interview. Total revenue for the quarter ended June 30 fell 0.4% to $15.48 billion compared with analysts' average estimate of $15.58 billion, according to Refinitiv data. Analysts expect watsonx to aid the software business, which grew 7.2% to $6.6 billion during the reported quarter, thanks to enterprise digitization projects. Net income rose to $1.58 billion, or $1.72 per share, compared with $1.39 billion, or $1.53 per share, a year earlier.

Persons: James Kavanaugh, Chavi Mehta, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: Enterprise, Accenture, India's Tata Consultancy Services, North, IBM, Thomson Locations: North America, U.S, Western Europe, Bengaluru

☆ Activision, Microsoft extend deal deadline to secure UK approval
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Aditya Soni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 19 (Reuters) - Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) on Wednesday extended the deadline for the close of their $69 billion deal by three months to Oct. 18 as the American companies work to secure UK approval for the biggest gaming deal in history. The extension will "provide ample time to work through the final regulatory issues," Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a tweet. Strength in those titles helped Activision beat market estimates for second-quarter net bookings and adjusted profit in the second quarter, it announced on Wednesday. The deadline extension came after the companies had to contend with varying concerns from regulators in the UK and the United States. Microsoft responded to these concerns by offering 10-year licensing deals to rivals after the deal closes.

Persons: Brad Smith, Bobby Kotick, Chavi Mehta, Yuvraj Malik, Devika Organizations: Activision, Microsoft, Reuters, HK, Sony, Diablo, FTC, Nintendo, PlayStation, CMA, Sony Group, Xbox, Thomson Locations: United States, Bengaluru

Search resuls for: "Chavi Mehta"

25 mentions found