National Presto: Q2 Earnings Snapshot
On a per-share basis, the Eau Claire, Wisconsin-based company said it had profit of 72 cents.
The diversified production company that makes everything from household appliances to munitions posted revenue of $120.4 million in the period.
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The Hill
4 minutes ago
- The Hill
McDonald's Japan's Pokemon card Happy Meals promotion comes to an unhappy end
TOKYO (AP) — Fast-food chain McDonald's Japan has canceled a Happy Meal campaign that came with coveted Pokemon cards, apologizing after resellers rushed to buy the meals and then discarded the food, leaving trash outside stores. The meals, called Happy Sets in Japan, were meant for children. They came with a toy, such as a tiny plastic Pikachu, and a Pokemon card. They sold out in a day, according to Japanese media reports. Mounds of wasted food were found near the stores. 'We do not believe in abandoning and discarding food. This situation goes against our longtime philosophy that we have cherished as a restaurant to 'offer a fun dining experience for children and families.' We sincerely accept that our preparations had not been adequate,' the company said in a statement Monday. McDonald's said it was working on ways to prevent such a situation from happening again, such as limiting the number of meals each person can buy and ending online orders. It said it might deny service to customers who fail to abide by the rules. 'We vow to return to the basics of what lies behind the Happy Set, which is about helping to bring smiles to families so we can contribute to the wholesome development of the hearts and bodies of children, who are our future,' the company said. Collecting Pokemon cards is popular among adults and children in many places, with the most popular cards selling for $1,000 or more. Unusually large crowds were seen flocking to McDonald's stores when the meals with Pokemon cards went on sale. The cards were later being resold for up to tens of thousands of yen (hundreds of dollars) online. McDonald's has been selling Happy Meals for more than 40 years. In Japan, they usually sell for 510 yen ($3.40).
CNBC
35 minutes ago
- CNBC
CNBC's The China Connection newsletter: Wonders and woes of China's robotics industry
At the World Robot Conference in Beijing, which concluded Tuesday, the mood was a blend of optimism and caution: Businesses showed off increasingly lifelike humanoid robots even as they conceded that technological gaps keeping these machines from mainstream usage remain wide. Thousands turned up to watch humanoid robots to perform an array of unusual feats: from clumsily serving popcorn and drinks, spinning handkerchiefs, sparring in a boxing ring to playing chess and showcasing football skills. But none of these feats amounted to a technological breakthrough. While there have been improvements in design, maneuverability and appearance, the androids still struggle to process and respond to their surroundings, a limitation that keeps them from most real-life workplace roles. So far, their commercial use is mostly confined to guiding visitors at exhibition halls, shopping malls and, more recently, testing at factories for repetitive tasks like sorting materials and performing quality checks. "When will humanoid robots be able to do 80% of the physical work that human can do? That's decades away," said Jay Huang, managing director and head of Asia industrial technologies sector at Bernstein. "But what we will see is these individual tasks, like material handling, being multiplied into a much bigger scale. They can be used in very different format, different settings," Huang added. Some tasks like using a robot to make a bed are still in the "very early" stage, with low success rate, Huang said, "but that's the right direction to push the industry forward." Take PsiBot's mahjong-playing droid displayed at the event: It still misidentifies tiles, often confuses the game's rules and plays at a relatively slow pace, according to local media reports. The technological bottleneck for large-scale integration of humanoids into daily life stems from a lack of cutting-edge AI models and insufficient training data, said Bob Chen, economist at Shanghai-based FG Venture. The venture-capital firm has invested in robotics startups including Hangzhou-based DEEP Robotics that makes quadruped-robots — machines that mimic movements of four-legged creatures. Androids rely on vast troves of motion-capture, visual, tactile and audio data, along with simulations, to build the sensory and behavioral maps they need to navigate and interact in the real world. "Large language models have rather narrow function: language in, language out. But robots require far more complex, multimodal inputs, and their outputs are not words but actions and behaviors," said Chen, according to CNBC's translation of his comments in Mandarin. Several startups in China have invested in building "data factories," hiring people to operate robots or wearables to capture machine-interaction data to train bots. Humanoid robots are emerging as another front in China's tech rivalry with the U.S.— where they could prevail with cheaper prices and faster deployment. "China, the U.S. and other countries are playing on a quite leveled playing field," Huang said. "Just like in electric vehicles, autonomous driving, in humanoid robots, China acts extremely fast in product and use-case multiplication, while U.S. players seem to shoot for the holy-grail solution." In robot manufacturing, Tesla's humanoid project Optimus appears to be leading in the U.S., with CEO Elon Musk saying the company plans to produce about 5,000 units this year. While Musk's ambitious plans could give it a leg up on other American competitors that have yet to hit the mass market, Chinese companies have been racing to make their models more affordable. They are also believed to have been undercutting global peers in terms of price, thanks to superior cost controls. That's despite the real-world applications of robots remaining uncertain. In the lead up to the WRC, Unitree rolled out its third version of R1 model, priced at 39,900 yuan ($5,249) on e-commerce site significantly cheaper than the its other models. The company's H1 model was sold for 650,000 yuan per unit and G1 robot for 99,000 yuan. At the conference, prices for a humanoid robot ranged from tens of thousands of yuan to over 100,000 yuan, and the high-end models capable of more complex tasks were priced above 500,000 yuan. UniX AI touted its entry-level humanoid droids at just 88,000 yuan each. Shenzhen-based Engine AI has announced plans for a rival model starting at 38,500 yuan. Some U.S. companies such as Apptronik could see their attempt to rival Chinese humanoid robots be further undercut by U.S. tariffs as they still rely on some components from China. China already has an edge in integrating machinery into factory workflows and, in many cases, is outpacing rivals in marrying artificial intelligence with robotics, said Arthur Kroeber, founding partner of China-focused economic research firm Gavekal Dragonomics. Kroeber predicts that within two to four years, Chinese factories will achieve major efficiency gains across industries by combining top-tier industrial robots with AI systems that make them far more effective in varied settings. Some of UBTech Robotics' humanlike droids have been deployed at factories of carmakers BYD and Geely, at electronics manufacturer Foxconn and logistics giant SF Delivery, Chinese state media reported in April. However, during trainings, humanoid robots moved slowly, operating at just 20% of human efficiency, the report pointed out. "Enabling humanoid robots to map their moving routes, speed up movements and operate for long periods of time in uncomfortable temperature environments still requires vast amounts of data," it said. While widespread deployment of humanoid robots that enhance productivity might still be a distant prospect, Chinese companies are pushing ahead as their tech race with the U.S. heats up. Jeff Moon, founder and president of China Moon Strategies and former assistant U.S. trade representative for China, said the U.S. and China's overtures are well-choreographed and happening in a planned sequence, but they won't solve many of the underlying problems between the two countries. Graham Allison, Harvard professor and former assistant secretary of defense, said he expects a "grand rapprochement" or friendship between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, especially as Trump needs a strong economy heading into the midterm elections. Hao Hong, managing partner and CIO of Lotus Asset Management, said traders and fund managers are not very concerned about weakening fundamentals in the Chinese markets as long as liquidity remains strong. U.S. and China secured a truce extension. The two countries agreed to delay by another 90 days the higher tariffs, imposed in April, on each other's goods. Beijing discouraging companies from using Nvidia chips. Chinese officials have asked companies to explain why they need to buy Nvidia chips instead of ones from domestic suppliers, according to a Reuters report. Trump says open to Nvidia selling downgraded version of advanced chip to China. Trump indicated that he will meet with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang regarding the company's high-end Blackwell chip. Huang has said he hopes to sell more advanced chips to China. China and Hong Kong stocks rose as Asian markets tracked gains on Wall Street after the latest U.S. inflation data raised expectations that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates next month. Mainland China's CSI 300 added 0.74%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index — which includes major Chinese companies — had gained 2.2% as of 2:22 p.m. local time (2:22 a.m. ET). The mainland benchmark is up over 6% year to date, data from LSEG showed. The Hang Seng Tech index, which tracks the some of the largest mainland Chinese technology companies listed in Hong Kong, rose over 2%, lifted by Tencent Music Entertainment, which surged over 14%, a day after the company beat estimates for second-quarter revenue and profit. China's 10-year government bond yield currently stands at 1.723%.Aug 14: NetEase, June-quarter earnings Aug 14-17: World Humanoid Robot Games Aug 15: Urban investment, industrial output and retail sales, urban unemployment rate, house prices for July Aug 19: Xiaomi, Xpeng June-quarter earnings
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
Asian shares charge higher after US stocks rally to records on hopes for interest rate cuts
BANGKOK (AP) — Shares advanced Wednesday in Asia after the U.S. stock market rallied to records when data showed inflation across the United States improved slightly last month. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 added to its record set a day earlier. Shares in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia also gained more than 1%. The recent rally in share prices has been driven partly by relief over an extended truce in President Donald Trump's trade war with China, and partly by persisting hopes the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. Those were reinforced by a moderation in the consumer price index in July. 'Asia woke up in full risk-on mode, riding the coattails of a U.S. session that looked like someone hit the 'infinite bid' button after CPI didn't blow the inflation doors off,' Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary. China and the U.S. agreed to extend by 90 days the pause in drastically higher tariff rates to allow more time for talks on a broad trade agreement. Although uncertainty over what the negotiations will yield remains, the truce has relieved pressure on companies and countries across Asia that rely heavily in supply chains routed through China. Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 1.9% to 25,439.91, while the Shanghai Composite index added 0.6% to 3,686.34. In Japan, relief over the Trump administration's confirmation that its exports will face a flat 15% U.S. import duty has driven strong buying of computer chip-related companies and other exporters. The Nikkei 225 gained 1.6% to 43,407.46. Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.8% to 3,215.43. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.5% to 8,840.30. Taiwan's Taiex was up 0.8% and the Sensex in India gained 0.4%. In Bangkok, the SET climbed 0.9%. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 1.1% to top its all-time high set two weeks ago. It closed at 6,445.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.1% to 44,458.61, while the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.4% to set its own record of 21,681.90. Intel's stock rose 5.6% after Trump said its CEO has an 'amazing story,' less than a week after he had demanded Lip-Bu Tan's resignation. Circle Internet Group, the company behind the popular USDC cryptocurrency that tracks the U.S. dollar, climbed 1.3% despite reporting a larger loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It said its total revenue and reserve income grew 53% in its first quarter as a publicly traded company, which topped forecasts. The better-than-expected report on inflation raised hopes the Federal Reserve will have the leeway to cut interest rates at its next meeting in September. Tuesday's report said U.S. consumers paid prices for groceries, gasoline and other costs of living that were overall 2.7% higher in July than a year earlier. That's the same inflation rate as June's, and it was below the 2.8% that economists expected. Lower rates would give a boost to investment prices and to the economy by making it cheaper for U.S. households and businesses to borrow to buy houses, cars or equipment. President Donald Trump has angrily been calling for cuts to help the economy, often insulting the Fed's chair personally while doing so. The Fed has hesitated, worried that Trump's tariffs could make inflation much worse. The Fed will get one more report on inflation and another on the U.S. job market, before its next meeting, which ends Sept. 17. The most recent jobs report was a stunner, coming in much weaker than economists expected. Critics say the broad U.S. stock market is looking expensive after its surge from a bottom in April. That's putting pressure on companies to deliver continued growth in profit. In other dealings early Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil edged 4 cents higher to $63.21 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, was up 8 cents at $66.20 per barrel. The U.S. dollar rose to 147.94 Japanese yen from 147.84 yen. The euro climbed to $1.1686 from $1.1677.
