Latest news with #JarrettRenshaw
Business Insider
02-08-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Sector Spotlight: Meta, Microsoft stand out following respective Q2 results
Welcome to the latest edition of 'Sector Spotlight,' where The Fly looks at a new industry every week and highlights its happenings. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. MEGACAP NEWS: The U.K.'s CMA has found that Microsoft's (MSFT) software licensing terms harm competition in the cloud market, and may open a probe into Microsoft and Amazon (AMZN) in 2026. The finding by an independent panel of the Competition and Markets Authority said on Thursday that the U.K. cloud market 'is not working well' and recommended the agency impose conduct requirements on Microsoft and Amazon to boost competition. The CMA's panel found that the cloud market was highly concentrated, with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft's Azure each commanding up to 40% of UK customer spending, with Google (GOOGL) trailing in third place. 'The CMA has said that it will keep under review possible options for further SMS designation investigations, and it anticipates that options will be considered by the CMA Board in early 2026. We expect that our findings and recommendations will be taken into account as part of its decision.' Top White House officials told a group of rare earths firms last week that they are pursuing a pandemic-era approach to boost U.S. critical minerals production and curb China's market dominance by guaranteeing a minimum price for their products, five sources familiar with the plan told Reuters, Ernest Scheyder and Jarrett Renshaw reported. The previously unreported July 24 meeting was led by Peter Navarro, President Donald Trump's trade advisor, and David Copley, a National Security Council official tasked with supply chain strategy. It included ten rare earths companies plus tech giants Apple (AAPL), Microsoft and Corning (GLW), which all rely on a consistent supply of critical minerals to make electronics, the sources said. The Italian Competition Authority, acting in close cooperation with the competent departments of the European Commission, has decided to launch an investigation into Meta Platforms., Meta Platforms Ireland , WhatsApp Ireland and Facebook Italy – referred to as Meta – over a suspected abuse of dominant position in violation of article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. As of March 2025, Meta – which holds a dominant position in the market for consumer communications apps – decided to pre-install its artificial intelligence service, named Meta AI, by combining it with its WhatsApp service, without any prior request from users. Furthermore, Meta AI is placed in a prominent position on the screen and integrated into the search bar. By combining Meta AI with WhatsApp, Meta appears capable of channelling its customer base into the emerging market, not through merit-based competition, but by 'imposing' the availability of the two distinct services upon users, potentially harming competitors, the ICA says. According to the Authority, there is thus a risk that users may become 'locked in' or functionally dependent on Meta AI, not least because, by using the information provided over time, it appears that the responses generated by the service become increasingly useful and relevant. EARNINGS RECAP: Apple share grew 2% following its second quarter earnings beat. Apple CEO Tim Cook said in the earnings release: 'Today Apple is proud to report a June quarter revenue record with double-digit growth in iPhone, Mac and Services and growth around the world, in every geographic segment . At WWDC25, we were excited to introduce a beautiful new software design that extends across all of our platforms, and we announced even more great Apple Intelligence features.' The company added that tariffs will add about $1.1B in costs in Q4. Barclays analyst Tim Long raised the firm's price target on Apple to $180 from $173 and maintained an Underweight rating on the shares. The company reported a fiscal Q3 beat, driving by higher iPhones and Macs with slightly better Services, the analyst noted. The firm believes demand pull-ins and China subsidies helped the results. It keeps an Underweight rating on Apple's regulatory, China, and artificial intelligence risk. On the other hand, Amazon shares were down 6% last night after reporting Q2 results despite beating analyst expectations. Andy Jassy, president and CEO, Amazon, said: 'Our conviction that AI will change every customer experience is starting to play out as we've expanded Alexa+ to millions of customers, continue to see our shopping agent used by many millions of customers, launched AI models like DeepFleet that optimize productivity paths for our 1M+ robots, made it much easier for software developers to write code with Kiro, launched Strands to make it easier to build AI agents, and released Bedrock AgentCore to enable agents to be operated securely and scalably. Our AI progress across the board continues to improve our customer experiences, speed of innovation, operational efficiency, and business growth, and I'm excited for what lies ahead.' Barclays increased its price target on to $275 from $240 and reiterated an Overweight rating on the shares post the Q2 report. The firm says nearly every line in Amazon's retail business accelerated in the quarter. While management's tone around the second half of 2025 'sounds upbeat,' the post-earnings share selloff isn't surprising after the underperformance versus Azure, the analyst told investors in a research note. Meta Platform's stock gained 11% after it surpassed street expectations in Q2. The company noted that 3.4B people are using at least one of its apps each day. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO, said: 'We've had a strong quarter both in terms of our business and community. I'm excited to build personal superintelligence for everyone in the world.' HSBC upgraded Meta Platforms to Buy from Hold with a price target of $900, up from $610. The company reported strong Q2 results as its artificial intelligence tools and network effect supported double-digit revenue growth, the analyst told investors in a research note. HSBC believes Meta is well positioned to outpace digital advertising market growth. The company's AI capabilities improve targeting and the quality of content, creating new growth opportunities, contends the firm. It cites higher operational forecasts and a higher valuation multiple for the upgrade. Microsoft jumped 9% following its second quarter beat. 'Cloud and AI is the driving force of business transformation across every industry and sector,' said Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft. 'We're innovating across the tech stack to help customers adapt and grow in this new era, and this year, Azure surpassed $75 billion in revenue, up 34 percent, driven by growth across all workloads.' 'We closed out the fiscal year with a strong quarter, highlighted by Microsoft Cloud revenue reaching $46.7 billion, up 27% year-over-year,' said Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Microsoft. HSBC upgraded Meta to Buy from Hold with a price target of $900, up from $610. The stock in premarket trading is up 11%, or $77.02, to $772.23. The company reported strong Q2 results as its artificial intelligence tools and network effect supported double-digit revenue growth, the analyst tells investors in a research note. HSBC believes Meta is well positioned to outpace digital advertising market growth. The company's AI capabilities improve targeting and the quality of content, creating new growth opportunities, contended the firm. It cites higher operational forecasts and a higher valuation multiple for the upgrade.
Mint
15-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Nvidias resumption of AI chips to China is part of rare earths talks, says US
By Jarrett Renshaw and Karen Freifeld WASHINGTON/BEIJING/HONG KONG -Nvidia's planned resumption of sales of its H20 AI chips to China is part of U.S. negotiations on rare earths, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday, and comes days after its CEO met President Donald Trump. "We put that in the trade deal with the magnets," Lutnick told Reuters, referring to an agreement Trump made to restart rare earth shipments to U.S. manufacturers. He did not provide additional detail. Nvidia said late on Monday that it is filing applications with the U.S. government to resume sales to China of its H20 graphics processing unit, and has been assured by the U.S. it will get the licences soon. The planned resumption is a reversal of an export restriction imposed in April that is designed to keep the most advanced AI chips out of Chinese hands over national security concerns, an issue that has found rare bipartisan support. It drew swift questions and criticism from U.S. legislators on Tuesday. The decision "would not only hand our foreign adversaries our most advanced technologies, but is also dangerously inconsistent with this Administration's previously-stated position on export controls for China," Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, ranking member of the House of Representatives Select Committee on China, said in a statement. Republican John Moolenaar, chair of that committee, said in a statement he would seek "clarification" from the Commerce Department. "The H20 is a powerful chip that, according to our bipartisan investigation, played a significant role in the rise of PRC AI companies like DeepSeek," Moolenaar said, referring to a Chinese startup that claims to have built AI models at a fraction of the cost paid by U.S. firms such as OpenAI. "It is crucial that the U.S. maintain its lead and keep advanced AI out of the hands of the CCP." Shares of Nvidia, the world's most valuable firm, closed up 4% and were nearly unchanged in after-market trading. Nvidia had estimated that the curbs would cut its revenue by $15 billion. Nvidia's plan to resume sales has set off a scramble at Chinese firms to buy H20 chips, two sources told Reuters. The chips that Nvidia will resume selling are the best it can legally offer in China but lack much of the computing power of the versions for sale outside of China because of previous restrictions put in place by Trump's first administration and then President Joe Biden's administration. But critically, H20 chips work with Nvidia's software tools, which have become a de facto standard in the global AI industry. CEO Jensen Huang, who is visiting Beijing and set to speak at an event on Wednesday, has argued that Nvidia's leadership position could slip away if the company cannot sell to Chinese developers being courted by Huawei Technologies with chips produced in China. The significance of the shift depends on the volume of H20 chips that the U.S. allows to be shipped to China, said Divyansh Kaushik, an AI expert at Beacon Global Strategies, a Washington-based advisory firm. "If China is able to get a million H20 chips, it could significantly narrow, if not overtake, the U.S. lead in AI," he said. "The Chinese market is massive, dynamic, and highly innovative, and it's also home to many AI researchers," Huang told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday. China generated $17 billion in revenue for Nvidia in the fiscal year ending January 26, or 13% of total sales, based on its latest annual report. Internet giants ByteDance and Tencent are also in the process of submitting applications for H20 chips, the sources familiar with the matter said. Central to the process is an approved list put together by Nvidia for Chinese companies to register for potential purchases, one of the sources said. ByteDance and Tencent did not respond to a request for comment. Nvidia declined to comment on the approved list system. Asked at a regular foreign ministry briefing in Beijing about Nvidia's plans to resume AI chip sales, a spokesperson said: "China is opposed to the politicisation, instrumentalisation and weaponisation of science, technology and economic and trade issues to maliciously blockade and suppress China." China halted exports of rare earths in March following a trade spat with Trump that has showed some signs of easing. It dominates the market for rare earths, a group of 17 metals used in cellphones, weapons, electric vehicles, and more. Huang's visit is being closely watched in both China and the United States, where a bipartisan pair of senators last week sent the CEO a letter asking him to abstain from meeting companies working with military or intelligence bodies. The senators also asked Huang to refrain from meeting with entities named on the United States' restricted export list. Rival AI chipmaker AMD also said the Department of Commerce would review its licence applications to export its MI308 chips to China; it plans to resume those shipments when licences are approved, it said. Its shares gained 7% in trading on Tuesday. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump says he will impose 50% tariff on copper imports on Tuesday
By Andrea Shalal and Jarrett Renshaw WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump said he will announce a 50% tariff on imported copper on Tuesday, an effort to boost U.S. production of a metal critical to electric vehicles, military hardware, the power grid and many consumer goods. U.S. Comex copper futures jumped more than 10% after the announcement. Trump told reporters at a White House cabinet meeting that he planned to make the copper tariff announcement later in the day but he did not say when the tariff would take effect. The Trump administration announced a so-called Section 232 investigation into U.S. imports of the red metal in February. The deadline for the investigation to conclude is in November. The National Mining Association and the American Critical Minerals Association did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Freeport-McMoRan, the largest U.S. copper producer, did not immediately respond to request for comment. (Reporting By Andrea Shalal and Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Franklin Paul and Cynthia Osterman) Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Reuters
07-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Critical minerals part deux: China's dominance
Follow on Apple or Spotify. Listen on the Reuters app. Decades ago, China foresaw what the U.S. didn't - a future dependent on critical minerals. Now, the U.S. is playing catch up as China's export controls threaten global supply chains. Join Laurie Chen, Ernest Scheyder and Jarrett Renshaw to hear the latest on critical minerals, particularly what China's dominance means for the modern world. Listen to part one here. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit to opt out of targeted advertising. Further Reading China's rare earth weapon changes contours of trade war battlefield, opens new tab China's rare earth export curbs hit the auto industry worldwide, opens new tab Global alarm as China's critical mineral export curbs take hold, opens new tab
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Trump set to waive Defense Production Act requirements to boost critical minerals
By Ernest Scheyder and Jarrett Renshaw (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is set to slash some legal requirements, including congressional approval for larger projects, to help boost domestic production of critical minerals and weapons, according to a document seen by Reuters. The document is expected to be published on the Federal Register on Wednesday, the government web site shows. The action applies to the Defense Production Act, a U.S. law that grants the president broad emergency powers to control domestic industries and resources during national security emergencies. Trump invoked the Korean War-era law in March to help boost domestic production of critical minerals, a critical industry dominated by Washington's top economic rival China. The law places some restrictions on the president's authority, such as requiring the White House to seek congressional approval for projects over $50 million and forcing project delivery dates within a year time frame. The president can waive those requirements in the event of an emergency and Trump is expected to invoke those powers, according to a document seen by Reuters. President Joe Biden invoked similar waivers to speed up production of vaccines and medical equipment during the COVID pandemic. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting By Ernest Scheyder and Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Trevor Hunnicutt and Chizu Nomiyama)
