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Tag: TheStreet

  • No Ads In WhatsApp for the Foreseeable Future

    No Ads In WhatsApp for the Foreseeable Future

    WhatsApp users can breathe a sigh of relief, at least for now, with the latest report indicating WhatsApp is not bringing ads to the platform.

    There have been rumors and threats of ads in WhatsApp for years, even leading WhatsApp’s founders to leave Facebook at great financial loss to themselves. Despite the rumors and the obvious appeal for Facebook, sources told TheStreet that Zuckerberg and company have no intention of bringing ads to WhatsApp at this time.

    That’s not to say there won’t be some efforts to monetize the platform. WhatsApp cost Facebook a small fortune, a fortune it has yet to repay. The company is looking at a number of options, including building on WhatsApp’s business services, charging a monthly subscription, and charging for businesses to integrate WhatsApp into their sites and services.

    Ultimately, Facebook needs to start making money off of WhatsApp, meaning that some changes are bound to happen sooner rather than later. At least ads don’t seem to be coming to the platform…at least not yet.

  • Qualcomm Warns of Weaker Profits on Smartphone Headwinds

    Qualcomm Warns of Weaker Profits on Smartphone Headwinds

    Qualcomm has warned of weaker profits as a result of major headwinds in the broader smartphone industry.

    According to TheStreet, Qualcomm is warning that a slump in smartphone demand, along with COVID lockdowns in China, is impacting its profits. As a result, the company will not deliver the profits analysts were expecting, instead coming in somewhere between $9.2 and $10 billion.

    “What we have seen in the smartphone markets is a combination of the weakness of demand, which is related to basically the macroeconomic headwinds, and the prolonged Covid in China,” CEO Cristiano Amon said in a late-Wednesday investor call.

    Interestingly, Amon said the previous supply chain issues were finally resolved, but “with the macroeconomic uncertainty, you have a drawdown to bring inventory to a different level than it was during the situation of demand constraint. That’s the big issue, really.”

  • Musk’s Twitter Deal May Be Subject to National Security Review

    Musk’s Twitter Deal May Be Subject to National Security Review

    The Elon Musk/Twitter drama has taken another turn on news the deal may be subject to a national security review.

    After months of speculation and legal fighting over whether Musk would go through with his offer to buy Twitter, the deal appears to finally be moving forward. The latest challenge may come from the US government itself over concerns about Musk’s foreign connections, according to Bloomberg.

    Elon Musk has made headlines in recent weeks over what appears to be an about-face on his stance on the war in Ukraine. Some of this statements have appeared to be pro-Russia. What’s more, as TheStreet points out, Musk has deep ties to China as a result of so much of Tesla’s production being centered there, and some of Musk’s Twitter investors are from China and Saudi Arabia.

    It’s still too early to know what the US government will or will not do, but if it chooses to investigate, it could create a major wrinkle for Twitter.

  • Meta Looks to Microsoft to Bail Out the Metaverse

    Meta Looks to Microsoft to Bail Out the Metaverse

    Meta is turning to Microsoft to help bail out the metaverse with a new partnership that brings Microsoft Teams to the Quest platform.

    At Meta Connect 2022, the company unveiled the all-new Meta Quest Pro headset, but the real news was a new partnership with Microsoft, no doubt in the hopes that Microsoft will help spur metaverse adoption.

    We’ve also made it clear that we can’t build the metaverse alone, and nowhere is that more obvious than people’s work day. Every company works differently—and uses different tools.

    To that end, we were excited that Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella joined us during Connect to announce that a new version of Microsoft Teams immersive meeting experiences is coming to Meta Quest. Teams connects hundreds of millions of people around the world and is an essential part of how they meet, call, chat, and do business. Bringing Teams to Meta Quest can enable them to work together in ways that simply aren’t possible on a 2D screen. We’re also exploring the ability to support Meta Avatars and Microsoft Avatars so you can collaborate in Teams immersive experiences.

    Meta has been working to push the metaverse, but with limited success. Users and tech CEOs alike aren’t sold on Meta’s vision. Tech icon Mark Cuban recently made the following comment on a Coinbase article, according to TheStreet:

    “It’s Lonely in the Metaverse: Decentraland’s 38 Daily Active Users in a $1.3B Ecosystem,”

    Only time will tell if partnering with Microsoft will help Meta move the metaverse forward, but it certainly can’t hurt.

  • Twitter Shareholders Vote In Favor of Musk Buyout

    Twitter Shareholders Vote In Favor of Musk Buyout

    Adding another element of intrigue to the Elon Musk/Twitter drama, the company’s shareholders have voted in favor of the deal.

    Musk and Twitter have been locked in a legal battle ever since the tech mogul decided to back out of his bid to purchase the company. The board voted in favor of the deal and encouraged shareholders to approve it. The shareholders have followed the board’s lead, voting in favor of the deal, according to TheStreet.

    In the meantime, Musk is trying to terminate the deal, saying the company has been misleading investors regarding the scope of its spam account and bot problem. Those claims have received a major boost from whistleblower Peiter Zatko, the company’s former head of security and a well-respected figure in the cybersecurity community. Zatko has also accused the company of not being honest about its bot problem, as well as not being serious about cybersecurity.

    It remains to be seen what will happen, but Twitter’s shareholders voting in favor clears the way for the company to continue its legal efforts to force Musk to go through with the deal.

  • GM’s Cruise Robotaxi Service Hits a Speed Bump

    GM’s Cruise Robotaxi Service Hits a Speed Bump

    General Motors’ Cruise has hit a speed bump, forced to recall its robotaxis just a day after getting authorization to operate them in California.

    Like many companies, GM and Cruise are racing to develop autonomous vehicle capabilities. Cruise scored an early victory over its rivals, becoming the first to receive the green light to operate in California.

    According to TheStreet, however, the victory was short-lived. Just a day after receiving its authorization, a Cruise robotaxi was involved in an accident in which its autonomous systems were to blame.

    The company “is recalling certain automated driving systems (ADS),” according to documents filed with the National High Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). “The software may, in certain circumstances when making an unprotected left, cause the ADS to incorrectly predict another vehicle’s path or be insufficiently reactive to the sudden path change of a road user.”

    The news is a major setback for the autonomous vehicle company and further illustrates the challenges involved in making autonomous driving a reality.

  • Tesla Raises Price of Full-Self-Driving Software to $15,000

    Tesla Raises Price of Full-Self-Driving Software to $15,000

    Tesla’s Full-Self-Driving (FSD) software has yet to fully live up to its name, but the company is still raising the price 25% to $15,000.

    Tesla is just one of many automakers racing to develop autonomous driving capabilities, but few others have a CEO that is so open about the company’s goals and timeframes. As TheStreet points out, Musk has famously said his company would roll out fully autonomous driving capabilities by the end of the year.

    In keeping with that goal, the company is deploying the latest FSD beta.

    Musk also says the price will increase 25%, from $12,000 to $15,000 for North American buyers.

  • Microsoft Admits Sony PlayStation Outsells Xbox Two-to-One

    Microsoft Admits Sony PlayStation Outsells Xbox Two-to-One

    No company likes to admit its competitor has a leg up, but Microsoft did just that in an effort to avoid antitrust issues.

    Microsoft is trying to purchase Activision Blizzard, one of the biggest tech acquisitions of all time. In order to convince Brazil’s antitrust authority the deal isn’t a threat, Microsoft is admitting that Sony’s PlayStation sales outpace the Xbox by a factor of two-to-one, according to TheStreet.

    “Sony has surpassed Microsoft in terms of console sales and installed base, having sold more than twice as many [as] Xbox in the last generation,” the company writes in this 25-page document in Portuguese. (TheStreet translated the document. The disclosure is at the beginning of page 18.)

    The revelation is especially notable given the issues Sony has faced keeping up with demand amid the semiconductor shortage. It is widely believed the company would have sold far more units if it could have kept production at higher levels.

  • Battle of the AIs: Walmart Takes on Amazon

    Battle of the AIs: Walmart Takes on Amazon

    Walmart is looking to challenge Amazon using a tool the latter already relies on: artificial intelligence (AI).

    Amazon is the world’s leading e-commerce platform and has been challenging Walmart, Target, and other traditional brands in the broader retail market. A key to Amazon’s success has been its use of AI and machine learning (ML) for more than two decades. According to TheStreet, Walmart is getting in on the action, testing its own AI for the last few years.

    While Amazon made headlines for its new Proteus and Cardinal warehouse robots, its use of AI goes far beyond robots. The company uses AI and ML to handle multiple aspects of customer service and delivery, including product suggestions, re-order reminders, and more.

    Walmart is looking to roll out similar solutions in an effort to better compete with the e-commerce giant. As TheStreet points out, the pandemic put Walmart’s plans into overdrive. Between labor shortages and wage increases, AI is suddenly a critical component now, rather than being something that may be useful in the future.

    As part of its initiative, Walmart purchased just over 10% of AI firm Symbotic Inc. The company plans to use Symbotic to help run its distribution centers and relieve its employees of some of the manual, labor-intensive tasks.

    Once the realm of science fiction, the last few years have helped make AI an everyday reality that companies of all sizes depend on. Just ask Walmart.

  • DocuSign CEO Is Out, Stock Rebounds

    DocuSign CEO Is Out, Stock Rebounds

    DocuSign CEO Dan Springer is out as the company’s stock has tanked while the company struggles to return to its pandemic-fueled highs.

    Like many companies, DocuSign reached all-new highs during the early days of the pandemic as businesses turned to cloud-based tools to stay productive as employees worked from home. Unfortunately for DocuSign, the company has struggled to maintain its pandemic-level growth rate, and its stock has reflected that. After posting disappointing quarterly results, the company announced that Springer would resign as CEO.

    The company struck a positive tone about its future prospects.

    “DocuSign has the people, the products and the brand to transform the way the world agrees, making us a leader in our Anywhere Economy,” said chairman Pete Solvik, according to TheStreet.

    In the meantime, board member Maggie Wilderotter will serve as interim CEO while the company looks for a permanent replacement. The company’s stock had rebounded 4.1% in early Tuesday trading before settling back down.

  • Intel Spinning Off Autonomous Unit Mobileye

    Intel Spinning Off Autonomous Unit Mobileye

    Intel has filed paperwork to spin off Mobileye, its autonomous driving unit, roughly five years after it acquired it.

    Mobileye is a leading provider of autonomous vehicle technology, including the camera systems some models rely. Since being acquired by Intel, the company has benefited from Intel’s investment and technical expertise, significantly expanding its reach. According to The Wall Street Journal, via TheStreet, Mobileye’s vehicle pipeline has risen from 37 million vehicles in 2021 to 50 million in 2022. The company also increased its revenue 40% from 2020 to 2021, coming in at $1.4 billion.

    Intel clearly wants to maximize the return on its investment, filing confidentially for a Mobileye IPO. The valuation could come in north of $50 billion, making it the largest IPO of the year so far. Intel says it will retain majority ownership.

    The IPO could come as early as mid-2022.

  • Volkwagen Preparing to Take On Tesla, Defend Its Home Turf

    Volkwagen Preparing to Take On Tesla, Defend Its Home Turf

    Volkswagen is preparing to defend its home turf, ramping up electric vehicle (EV) production to take on Tesla in Germany.

    Tesla’s Gigafactory is the company’s first manufacturing operation in Germany, as Tesla works to maintain its dominance in the EV market. Unfortunately for the company, virtually every major automaker is racing to transition to an EV lineup, and Volkswagen is no exception.

    According to TheStreet, Volkswagen is planning on spending some $2.2 billion on a new factory to produce its Trinity EV. Construction will begin in early 2023, with the first vehicles slated to roll off the assembly line in 2026. Volkswagen’s goal is to make the Trinity a carbon-neutral vehicle.

    “We are setting benchmarks in the automotive industry with Trinity and the new factory and turning Wolfsburg into the global lighthouse for cutting-edge and efficient vehicle production,” CEO Ralf Brandstätter said in a statement.

    The company is also “seeking to attract new groups of customers and tap additional sources of income” as it continues to work on autonomous vehicles. Like other automakers, the company has been working on the next evolution of the automobile, developing its own autonomous software and partnering with Microsoft Azure to help power it.

  • Ford CEO Says the Company Will Not Spin Off EV Division

    Ford CEO Says the Company Will Not Spin Off EV Division

    Ford CEO Jim Farley has told a group of investors the company has no plans to spin off its EV division.

    Ford is going all-in on EVs, determined to compete with Tesla and other dedicated EV makers. The company’s Mustang Mach-E recently dethroned Tesla’s Model 3 as Consumer Reports’ top EV recommendation.

    While some investors were hoping the company would spin off its EV division, Farley has thrown cold water on that idea, according to TheStreet.

    “We have too many people, we have too much investment, we have too much complexity and we don’t have expertise in transitioning our assets,” Farley said. “(But) we have no plans to spin off our electric business or our ICE business.”

    The company’s stock was down on the revelation, but keeping its EV business in-house may pay dividends in the long run.

  • No New Tesla Models In 2022

    Tesla fans looking for a brand-new model in 2022 are in for a disappointment, with Elon Musk indicating there are no such plans.

    Like many companies, Tesla has been struggling with supply chain issues, especially in its efforts to secure enough semiconductors for production. The company has reportedly resorted to buying chips in advance, and may even be looking at the possibility of acquiring its own semiconductor foundry.

    According to TheStreet, CEO Elon Musk says the company has focused almost exclusively on continuing to increase its production, which would rule out the likelihood of new models in 2022.

    “If we were to introduce new vehicles, our total vehicle output would decrease. This is a very important point that I think people do not understand. So last year, we spent a lot of engineering and management resources, solving supply-chain issues, rewriting code, changing our chips, reducing the number of chips we need,” Musk explained.

    “If we actually introduce an additional product that would then require a bunch of attention and resources on that increased complexity of the additional product, resulting in fewer vehicles actually being delivered,” Musk continued.

  • Google Joins Exclusive $2 Trillion Club

    Google Joins Exclusive $2 Trillion Club

    Google has joined the $2 trillion club, becoming only the third US company to cross the threshold, thanks to a surge in its stock price.

    Apple was the first company to cross $2 trillion in valuation, in August 2020, followed by Microsoft in June of this year. According to TheStreet, a surge in Google’s stock price Monday helped the search and ad giant cross over.

    Despite a great deal of hand-wringing over Apple’s various privacy initiatives, the ad industry in general, and Google in particular, has managed to survive relatively intact.

    Google’s valuation shows there’s still plenty of money to be made in the advertising industry, while still respecting user privacy.

  • Wedbush: Microsoft’s ‘Picasso-Like Masterpiece Quarter’ Will Exceed Estimates

    Wedbush: Microsoft’s ‘Picasso-Like Masterpiece Quarter’ Will Exceed Estimates

    Microsoft’s run of good quarters appears poised to continue, with a “Picasso-like masterpiece quarter.”

    Microsoft has been firing on all cylinders, especially in regard to its Azure cloud platform. The company is in second place in the cloud market, but has the advantage of onboarding companies and organizations that have been using its desktop OS and software for decades.

    Daniel Ives, analyst at Wedbush, is once again raising his target price, this time from $350 to $375. According to TheStreet, Ives says the company “will deliver another Picasso-like masterpiece quarter with numbers that should handily exceed Street estimates.”

    Ives also believes Microsoft is continuing to benefit from the accelerated shift to the cloud.

    “We are seeing deal sizes continue to increase markedly as enterprise-wide digital transformation shifts are accelerating,” he continued.

    Microsoft reports its earnings on October 26.

  • White House Wades In As Chip Crisis Poised to Cost Auto Industry $210 Billion

    White House Wades In As Chip Crisis Poised to Cost Auto Industry $210 Billion

    The White House is discussing the ongoing semiconductor crisis with companies as the auto industry is poised to lose $210 billion in revenue.

    The semiconductor crisis has taken a major toll on the auto industry, with manufacturers around the world being impacted. For example, GM recently announced it would shut down most of its American plants as a result of the shortage, and had previously said it would ship some 2021 trucks without their full complement of chips, leading to 1 MPG less than previous models.

    Companies are taking various measures to ease the shortage. Intel has said it will start producing chips for the auto industry, but warned it would take months before its first chips were produced.

    In the meantime, a report from AlixPartners is warning the crisis will cost auto makers $210 billion in revenue in 2021, exacerbated by a COVID-19 outbreak in Malaysia, a main hub for automotive semiconductor manufacturing.

    “Of course, everyone had hoped that the chip crisis would have abated more by now, but unfortunate events such as the COVID-19 lockdowns in Malaysia and continued problems elsewhere have exacerbated things,” said Mark Wakefield, global co-leader of the automotive and industrial practice at AlixPartners. “Also, chips are just one of a multitude of extraordinary disruptions the industry is facing—including everything from resin and steel shortages to labor shortages. There’s no room for error for automakers and suppliers right now; they need to calculate every alternative and make sure they’re undertaking only the best options.”

    At the same time, the White House is engaging with companies in an effort to determine what measures can be taken to ease the crisis. According to TheStreet, executives from Apple, Ford, General Motors, Intel, Microsoft and Samsung were expected to attend a meeting at the White House Thursday to discuss the issues.

    Unfortunately, in the short term, there appears to be no quick fixes or easy answers to the problem.

  • Coinbase Getting Into ‘Ill-Advised’ War With SEC

    Coinbase is calling out the SEC for what it believes is “sketchy” behavior, but TheStreet’s Jim Cramer is not a fan of its strategy.

    The issue involves Coinbase’s crypto lending program, called Lend. The service would allow individuals to lend their crypto assets and earn interest on the loans. Unfortunately, for Coinbase, the SEC seems to have an issue with Lend and has sent the company a Wells Notice.

    “Last Wednesday, after months of effort by Coinbase to engage productively, the SEC gave us what’s called a Wells notice about our planned Coinbase Lend program,” writes Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer, on the company’s blog. “A Wells notice is the official way a regulator tells a company that it intends to sue the company in court. As surprised as we were at the SEC’s threat to sue without ever telling us why, we want to be transparent with you about the course of events leading up to it.”

    CEO Brian Armstrong has gone even further, calling the SEC’s behavior “sketchy.”

    TheStreet’s Jim Cramer believes Armstrong and Coinbase are playing a dangerous game, especially since SEC chair Gary Gensler “taught crypto at MIT,” and has the full weight of a government agency backing him up on his already knowledgable position.

    “[Coinbase] is declaring war against a man who has unlimited firepower,” Cramer said.

  • United Wholesale Mortgage Will Accept Crypto By Year’s End

    United Wholesale Mortgage Will Accept Crypto By Year’s End

    United Wholesale Mortgage has announced it will accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency by year’s end.

    Cryptocurrencies are gaining mainstream traction, with multiple companies accepting them, or investigating the possibility. According to TheStreet, United Wholesale Mortgage plans to accept Bitcoin initially, with support for Ethereum and others coming later.

    “We’ve evaluated the feasibility, and we’re looking forward to being the first mortgage company in America to accept cryptocurrency to satisfy mortgage payments,” said CEO Mat Ishiba “That’s something that we’ve been working on, and we’re excited that hopefully, in Q3, we can actually execute on that before anyone in the country because we are a leader in technology and innovation.”

    “I think we’re starting with Bitcoin, but we’re looking at Ethereum and others,” Ishiba later added. “We’re going to walk before we run, but at the same time, we are definitely a leader in technology and innovation and we are always trying to be the best and the leader in everything we do.”

    The announcement is good news for crypto fans, and shows just how far the technology has entered the mainstream.

  • Jefferies Raises Microsoft Stock Target on Fundamentals

    Jefferies Raises Microsoft Stock Target on Fundamentals

    Jefferies analyst Brent Thill has raised his price target for Microsoft’s stock on what he sees as strong fundamentals.

    Microsoft has been on a tear in recent quarters, boosted by its Azure cloud computing platform. The company is currently in second place in the cloud industry, behind AWS, but many experts see Microsoft’s cloud platform continuing to benefit from its legacy business. Given how much of the business world runs on Microsoft, migrating to Azure is a no-brainer for many Microsoft-based shops.

    With the company set to announce its quarterly results tomorrow, Brent Thill has raised his target price for the stock from $310 to $335, according to TheStreet.

    “Microsoft been a significant outperformer year to date, up 30% vs the software index, setting the bar slightly higher for MSFT shares going into the” earnings report, Thill said.

    “Key items to watch are fiscal 2022 margin pressure, elevated expectations and more color on recent merger acquisition and broader aspirations,” Thill added.

  • SpaceX Owns Bitcoin and Ethereum Jumps on News Musk Owns Some

    SpaceX Owns Bitcoin and Ethereum Jumps on News Musk Owns Some

    There were a number of revelations at The B Word conference, including that SpaceX owns Bitcoin and Elon Musk owns Ethereum.

    Elon Musk and his companies have had a complicated relationship with cryptocurrencies. Tesla made headlines when the company purchased $1.5 billion in Bitcoin in February, before announcing it would accept the crypto as payment in March. Just two months later, Tesla suspended purchases via Bitcoin as a result of the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining.

    There had been rumors Musk’s other company, SpaceX, had also purchased Bitcoin, with Anthony Scaramucci saying so in March.

    According to TheStreet, Musk has now confirmed the rumors at The B Word conference, saying: “I own Bitcoin, Tesla owns Bitcoin, SpaceX owns Bitcoin.”

    The International Business Times reports Musk also said he owns Ethereum crypto as well, driving the price up as much as 12% on the news.