Platform Executive

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Amazon expects spring windfall as US reopens, posts record profits Amazon.com posted record profits from pandemic shopping and indicated sales would keep growing even as customers emerged from their homes in the reopening US economy. Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, shoppers have relied increasingly on Amazon for delivery of home staples and supplies. While brick-and-mortar stores closed, Amazon has now posted four consecutive record quarterly profits, attracted more than 200 million Prime loyalty subscribers, and recruited over 500,000 employees to keep up with surging demand. Amazon said it expects operating income for the current quarter to be between $4.5 billion and $8 billion, which assumes about $1.5 billion of costs related to COVID-19. Shares rose 4% in after-hours trade. Throughout the pandemic, the world's largest online retailer has been at the centre o...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Twitter breaks tech’s blockbuster streak, shares fall on tepid outlook Twitter Inc shares sank 9% in post-market trading yesterday as it offered tepid revenue guidance for the second quarter, warned of rising costs and expenses and said user growth could slow as the boost seen during the COVID-19 pandemic fizzles. The controversial social media business posted revenues and user numbers mostly in line with analyst estimates in stark contrast to the better performing digital ad firms like Facebook and Alphabet's . It said it expected second quarter revenue between $980 million and $1.08 billion, lower than Wall Street estimates of $1.06 billion on average, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. It also said stock based compensation for new hires would be more than expected this year. Twitter says it wants to reset after years of product stagnation, announcing in February bold goa...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Why Apple has chips for iPhones while Ford got caught short On the same day that automotive giant Ford said it would be able to produce only half as many cars as planned due to a global chip shortage, Apple announced blowout quarterly earnings as smartphone and computer sales soared, with the chip shortage having only a small impact on its business. The contrasting results show how major players in the electronics industry, accustomed to the long time horizons of chip production, have mostly avoided major disruptions from the chip shortage. Automakers and their suppliers, with "just-in-time" production lines that can more easily be spun up or changed to produce different varieties of parts, have not. Apple said Wednesday that it would lose $3 billion to $4 billion in sales in the current quarter due to limited supplies of certain older chips. Still, that represents just a ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Blocking Google class action would deny justice, UK court told Blocking a proposed UK class action against Google, that alleges it secretly tracked millions of iPhone users a decade ago, risks allowing big business to behave with impunity, a lawyer told the Supreme Court yesterday. Hugh Tomlinson, a lawyer for former consumer rights champion and class representative Richard Lloyd, told senior judges that although the case was "novel and innovative", it was an appropriate way to ensure access to justice and compensation. "If we are wrong about this, there is no civil remedy," Tomlinson told the final day of a two-day hearing, adding that pursuing Google with a US-style class action was the only way to attract the necessary commercial funding for a claim. A lawyer for Google has said the case is not viable, arguing in part that English law only offers redress for ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: IBM to acquire software provider Turbonomic for over $1.5 billion IBM has said it has agreed to acquire Turbonomic, a provider of software that helps companies monitor the performance of their business applications, the latest in a series of cloud computing acquisitions by the tech giant. The transaction values Turbonomic at between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. The deal, which confirmed an earlier report, would be IBM's largest since it acquired Red Hat for $34 billion in 2019. IBM shares were up slightly in early afternoon trading. The acquisition is IBM's 11th since Arvind Krishna became CEO last year. Krishna has been leading a major transformation, doubling down on the hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence areas. "Turbonomics is the next piece in our strategy around automation," said Rob Thoma...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: 4 business ideas for young entrepreneurs So you have decided that working a traditional 9-5 job is not for you. You’re not ready to commit to working the same schedule for the rest of your life, and instead you want to do something different. You don’t want to work under anyone else and want the freedom to create your own schedule. If this sounds tempting to you, you should consider starting your own business. An entrepreneur has to be a go-getter and have a distinct way of looking at things. They have to be dedicated, a hard-worker, and confident in their own ideas. But even if you feel like you have all these traits, coming up with a business idea isn’t always easy. To create your own business , you first need to have a unique idea that will make you stand out. And once you have that, then comes the hard part: actually starting your business. If you’re thinking that the 9-5 lifesty...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Apple soars past sales, profit targets with strong iPhone demand Apple Inc has posted sales and profits far ahead of expectations and announced a $90 billion share buyback as customers continued to upgrade to 5G iPhones but warned that supply constraints from a global chip shortage would cost it billions in revenue in the current quarter, hitting Macs and iPads. Sales to China nearly doubled and results topped analyst targets in every category, led by $6.5 billion more in iPhone sales than predicted and Mac sales about a third higher than estimates. Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company sees an economic recovery coming. "I think the US will be very strong. Certainly, all indications that I see would be very positive on the US economy," Cook told journalists at our partner news agency Reuters in an interview. The results came the midst of a global semiconductor shortage that ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Facebook beats estimates but warns Apple change could impact growth Facebook beat expectations for both quarterly revenue and profit, but warned that growth later this year could "significantly" decline as new Apple privacy policies will make it more difficult to target ads. The company's shares were up 5% in extended trading. The world's largest social network has blasted Apple over its requirement that iPhone app developers begin asking users' permission to collect certain data for ads, saying the change would harm its business and hurt small companies that rely on personalized advertising. At the same time, it has built shopping and e-commerce features within Facebook and Instagram , which are expected to bring additional revenue to the company and make its ad inventory more valuable. Total revenue, which primarily consists of ad sales, rose to $26.17 billi...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Britain’s BT Group in talks to divest stake in television unit BT Group Plc is in talks with Amazon.com, Walt Disney Co and Sport streaming company DAZN to divest a stake in its television unit BT Sport, the UK newspaper, The Telegraph has reported. A British broadcaster is also involved in the discussions and potentially leading the bidding, the report said, citing City sources. BT , the UK's biggest broadband and mobile operator, moved into sports broadcasting in 2012 when it won the rights to show a package of live Premier League soccer matches. Its current package, which cost 885 million pounds, allows to show 32 matches for three seasons from 2019-20. It also has the rights to show Champions League soccer until 2024 under a three-year 1.2 billion pound deal. The Premier League would in normal circumstances have auctioned the next packages of domestic rights by now, but the...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Uber app to enable US users to book vaccines and rental cars Uber Technologies has said it is launching new features in its app to allow US customers to book COVID-19 vaccine appointments and reserve rental cars. Customers would be able book an appointment at a Walgreens pharmacy to receive a vaccine and an Uber ride to travel there, the company said in a product presentation. The feature, which expands an Uber and Walgreens partnership announced in February, reflects the wider availability of COVID-19 vaccines in the US, where every state has opened up vaccinations to all adults. For Uber, more vaccinations mean a quicker return to pre-pandemic travel and higher revenue, which has tumbled during the health crisis. Business has already begun to improve with March the best month since the pandemic's full force was felt. Sundeep Jain, Uber's chief product officer, said the ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Labor Board: Evidence presented by union in Amazon vote ‘could be grounds for overturning election’ The National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday said evidence submitted by the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) "could be grounds for overturning" Amazon.com Inc's union election in Alabama if introduced at a hearing. The labor board will hold a hearing on the 7th of May to consider objections filed by the RWDSU, which failed to secure enough votes from Amazon warehouse workers to form a union. The vote count announced on the 9th of April showed that workers at Amazon's Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse rejected the union by a more than 2-to-1 margin. "The evidence submitted by the union in support of its objections could be grounds for overturning the election if introduced at a hearing," the labor board said. The RWDSU submitted nearly two ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Spotify shares fall after muted paid subscriber growth forecast Shares of Spotify fell 8% in pre-market trading on Wednesday after its forecast of subdued current quarter paid subscriber numbers overshadowed upbeat first-quarter growth in countries such as the US and India. While Spotify has seen a sharp rise in subscribers during the pandemic as people stayed at home due to lockdowns, it faces growing competition from Apple Music, Amazon Music and a handful of smaller rivals. "Some markets are more advanced in recovering, some are still very much in the sort of pandemic landscape and I think that's going to play out over the course of the year," Chief Executive Daniel Ek said in an interview. Spotify Technologies , which launched its services in 86 new countries in the first quarter, said growth in the US, Mexico, Russia, and India offset lower-than-expected growth i...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: German regulator warns Binance over stock tokens Germany's financial regulator, BaFin, warned that Binance, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, risked being fined for offering security-tracking tokens without first publishing an investor prospectus. On Monday, Binance announced it would offer tokens, denominated in the exchange's own cryptocurrency, giving investors exposure to MicroStrategy, Microsoft and Apple. These joined tokens representing Tesla and Coinbase that were already trading. But the regulator said on Wednesday there seemed to be no prospectus on the exchange's website for the MicroStrategy, Tesla and Coinbase issues, a violation of European Union securities law that could result in Binance , as issuer, being fined 5 million euros (approximately $6.04 million) or 3% of last year's turnover. "BaFin has grounds to suspect tha...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Impact of Apple ad tracking changes will hinge on app developers The impact of Apple Inc's new privacy controls over digital advertising tracking is likely to depend greatly on how app developers implement a new pop-up notification, Apple's user privacy chief told journalists. Apple on Monday started enforcing a rule introduced last year requiring developers to use a pop-up notification seeking permission to gather data that can be used to track users across third-party sites and apps. Facebook Inc has said the rules could harm its customers. Some mobile advertising analysts believe fewer than one in three users will opt-in, which could diminish the effectiveness and profitability of ad targeting. Erik Neuenschwander, Apple's user privacy chief, said in an interview that opt-in rates are likely to hinge on how developers make their case to users before showing the promp...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Taiwan says China waging economic warfare against tech sector Taiwan's government has accused China of waging economic warfare against the Chinese-claimed island's tech sector by stealing technology and enticing away engineers, as parliament considers strengthening legislation to prevent this. Taiwan is home to a thriving and world-leading semiconductor industry, used in everything from fighter jets to cars, and the government has long worried about China's efforts to copy that success, including by industrial espionage and other underhand methods. Four Taiwanese lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party are leading a proposal to amend the commercial secrets law to widen the scope of what is considered a secret and toughen penalties. In a report to parliament about the proposed amendments, Taiwan's National Security Bureau blamed China for most cases of ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Microsoft sales grow on cloud strength, shares dip on heightened valuation Microsoft Corp met analysts' quarterly sales expectations and beat profit estimates, but its shares fell slightly as investors hoped for an even stronger performance after a year-long rally to a massive market valuation. The Redmond, Washington company has become one of the world's most valuable companies, worth close to $2 trillion after its stock jumped 50% over the past year, by entering the booming market for cloud computing. Microsoft has remained a household name during the pandemic through its Teams collaboration software. Sales have even boomed for its Windows operating system for PCs, which had waned for decades as smartphone have proliferated. Microsoft's Azure cloud service is closing ground on market-share leader Amazon Web Services, and it is doubling down on productivity software use...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Google sales top estimates; Alphabet plans $50 billion buyback Alphabet beat quarterly revenue estimates and announced a $50 billion share buyback as the recovering economy and surging use of online services combined to accelerate its advertising and cloud businesses. The results are the first sign that Google services may hold on to gains in usage brought on by lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions that forced people to shop and communicate online over the last year. Alphabet Inc shares were up about 4.7% at $2,398.61 in extended trading. The results "reflect elevated consumer activity online and broad based growth in advertiser revenue," Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat said in a statement. Google ad sales surged 32% in the first quarter compared with a year ago, above expectations of analysts tracked by Refinitiv. Cloud sales increased 45.7%, in line with estimates. About ...