Top Financial Stories Friday, September 2: GM's Cruise Recalls Some Robotaxis Over Software Glitch, Chinese Tech Giant Suffers $43M Impairment Loss On Bitcoin and Ethereum Holdings And More..

Wall Street Journal

GM’s Driverless-Car Unit Cruise Recalls Some Robotaxis Over Software Glitch

• General Motors GM driverless-car unit Cruise LLC recalled 80 robotaxis after a crash earlier this year resulted in minor injuries.
• Cruise’s recall follows a June 3 crash involving one of its driverless cars struck by an oncoming vehicle in a San Francisco intersection.
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration disclosed that the recall campaign concerned vehicles with older software that allows them to operate without a driver at the wheel. When those vehicles made an unprotected left turn, in some circumstances, that software might not have correctly predicted the direction of oncoming cars.
• Cruise used the software in 80 company-owned cars operated by Cruise in a robotaxi service in San Francisco that was not made available for sale.

Washington Post

Amazon Workers’ Unionization Gains Momentum

• Federal labor regulator National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) looks to quash Amazon.com Inc’s AMZN objections to a labor union’s historic victory at one of its New York warehouses.
• Amazon strongly disagreed with the conclusion and looked to appeal.
• Amazon believed the NLRB and the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) improperly influenced the election outcome and did not represent most of its team.

CNBC

Motorola Solutions’ CEO Sees ‘Strongest Demand Environment’

• In an interview, Motorola Solutions Inc MSI CEO Greg Brown told CNBC that demand for the company’s public safety and enterprise security products has never been stronger.
• Brown indicated strong business despite concerns of a slowing global economy, saying a major upgrade cycle is underway.
• “What we do is a need to have, not a nice to have. This is the strongest demand environment I’ve ever seen,” said Brown.

Fires, Electrical Explosions, Erupted At Amazon’s US Solar Rooftops Between 2020 - 2021; Had To Be Taken Offline

• Between April 2020 and June 2021, Amazon.com Inc AMZN suffered “critical fire or arc flash events” in at least six of its 47 North American sites with solar installations, affecting 12.7% of such facilities.
• “The rate of dangerous incidents is unacceptable and above industry averages,” as per an employee.
• By June 2021, Amazon took off every U.S. operation with solar.
• Amazon blamed third-party partners and vendors for the most significant problems uncovered.
• Amazon would lose $940,000 million per month, or $20,000 for each of the 47 decommissioned North American sites, as long as the solar remained offline.

Reuters

Credit Suisse Considers Axing 5,000 Jobs In Cost Reduction Drive

• Credit Suisse Group AG CS is planning to cut around 5,000 jobs as part of a cost reduction drive, Reuters reported citing a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
• The source said that the discussion about job cuts is ongoing. Swiss newspaper Blick earlier reported layoffs of over 3,000.
• Credit Suisse is under increasing pressure to turn around the business and improve its financial resilience. The Swiss bank has dubbed 2022 a “transition” year.

Shell’s CEO To Exit Next Year, Four Succession Candidates Shortlisted

• Shell Plc SHEL is looking for a new CEO, as Chief Executive Ben van Beurden is preparing to step down next year after nearly a decade, two company sources told Reuters.
• The board has shortlisted four candidates.
• The sources said that Shell’s board succession committee had met several times to draw up plans for van Beurden’s departure and interview potential successors.

Bloomberg

Alibaba Competitor Downsizes Gaming Arm Workforce Again

• Sea Limited SE slashed the workforce in its money-making gaming arm, marking its second such attempt in 2022 to contain costs as it struggled for growth, Bloomberg reports.
• The move follows Sea’s dismal quarterly results. In June, Sea’s e-commerce arm Shopee laid off staff across multiple markets.
• Sea scaled back its overseas footprint and periphery businesses as rising competition and investor skepticism forced the company to shift focus toward boosting profitability.

Volkswagen, Foxconn Technology Enter Into Closed loop To Withstand Chengdu Lockdown

• Volkswagen AG VWAGY and Foxconn Technology Group have formed a bubble by keeping their workers on-site in their factories in Chengdu.
• The move comes after Chengdu locked down about 21.2 million residents to contain the rising COVID-19 cases.

Comcast Explores Channelizing Resources From TV Networks To Boost Growth

• Comcast Corp CMCSA weighed slashing up to $1 billion from NBCUniversal TV networks’ budget to boost other parts of the business.
• NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell urged top deputies to explore savings at its legacy cable and broadcast TV networks.
• Executives have explored many ways of cutting costs, including layoffs, trimming budgets for developing new programs, and changing the mix of programs on TV to produce more low-cost shows.
• Comcast is amid setting its budget for next year.
• Reallocating money from profitable but slow-growing TV networks could allow Comcast to channel more resources into its streaming service, Peacock, and theme parks.

Benzinga

Ethereum Upstages Bitcoin, Dogecoin As Merge Nears: Analyst Warns This Data Could Trigger Crypto’ Summer Lows’

• Bitcoin traded flat, while Ethereum rose Thursday evening as the global cryptocurrency market cap inched up 0.3% to $983.9 billion.
• The second-largest coin was buoyant amid the buzz surrounding its move to a proof-of-stake mechanism. The apex coin failed to make any significant moves.
• Michaël van de Poppe said that Ethereum “carries the entire market.” The cryptocurrency trader tweeted, “If the regular markets are making a slight bounce, we’ll probably accelerate quite fast with crypto to the upside.”

Okta Stock Is Sliding Down, Despite 6 Analysts’ Mixed Takes on Q2 Earnings, Guidance

• Shares of Okta Inc OKTA fell in after-hours trading, despite the company reporting a lower-than-expected loss for the second quarter.
• JMP Securities reiterated a Market Outperform rating while reducing the price target from $165 to $145.
• “The stock traded down ~11% during the aftermarket due to management’s reported sales integration challenges and heightened employee attrition leading to a disappointing FY23 outlook,” Walsh said in a note.

Snap Said To Be Shuttering Web3 Team Amid Layoffs, Revamp

• Social media giant Snap Inc SNAP is dissolving its Web3 team amid company-wide layoffs, according to a prominent member of that team.
• Earlier this week, reports emerged that the Snapchat parent planned to cut 20% of its workforce, joining a cohort of tech companies like Tesla Inc TSLA and Shopify Inc SHOP that have announced layoffs in the last six months.

Chinese Tech Giant Suffers $43M Impairment Loss On Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) Holdings

• Chinese tech giant Meitu Inc MEIUY reported a significant impairment loss on its cryptocurrency holdings.
• Meitu recorded a loss of over 300 million yuan or $43.4 million on its Bitcoin (BTC/USD) and Ethereum (ETH/USD) holdings, reported a local media outlet on Wednesday.
• The impairment loss on cryptocurrencies held on its balance sheet doubled to 305 million yuan from a loss of 112 million yuan reported in the same period last year.

Twitter’s Edit Button Feature Could Add $150M To Company’s Revenue, Says Munster

• Twitter Inc’s TWTR plan to roll out an edit feature initially to Twitter Blue subscribers in the coming weeks has caught the attention of noted analyst and Loup Ventures Managing Partner Gene Munster.
• To use the edit feature, at least in the near term, a user may have to have a Twitter Blue subscription, which currently costs about $4.99 a month following a steep upward adjustment from an earlier $2.99 per month.
• Twitter’s subscription offering just got more “compelling” with the edit button, Loup Funds’ Gene Munster said in a tweet.

$102M Ethereum (ETH) Moved From Binance US To Unknown Wallet

• An Ethereum (ETH/USD) wallet moved 64,000 ETH worth $102 million in a single transaction earlier this week.
• Blockchain wallet tracker Whale Alert picked up the high-value transaction.
• Data from Etherscan shows that the transaction originated from a wallet belonging to Binance US, the U.S.-based subsidiary of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Judge Issued Favorable Decision To Illumina In FTC Challenge Regarding $8B Grail Acquisition

• Illumina Inc ILMN said it received a favorable initial decision from the judge overseeing the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s challenge to the Grail transaction.
• The company said Administrative Law Judge Michael Chappell “ruled for Illumina and rejected the FTC’s position that the deal would adversely affect competition in a putative market for multi-cancer early detection tests.”
• In the antitrust action, the FTC had argued that Grail competitors rely on Illumina’s DNA sequencers that dominate the market.

US Restriction On Nvidia, AMD Selling Chips To China Poses Structural Risk For Semiconductor Industry, Analyst Says

• The stock price of Nvidia Corporation NVDA tanked in response to the U.S. government’s decision to impose license restrictions on AI chip exports to China.
• TFI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the government’s move will ensure that the U.S. maintains its leadership position in the field of AI. However, the analyst noted that China was the frontrunner in terms of AI patent filings.
• “The uncertainty could be a structural risk for the semiconductor sector,” the analyst said.

Porsche To Hire Former Mercedes Executive To It Board

• Volkswagen AG VWAGY owned sports car maker Porsche AG is planning to bring former chief technology officer (CTO) of Mercedes-Benz Group AG DMLRY, Sajjad Khan to its executive board.
• As CTO of Mercedes, Khan was responsible for development in the areas of Connectivity, Autonomous, Shared & Services and Electric.

US Offers Relaxations To Nvidia For AI Chip Development In China

• Nvidia Corp NVDA informed that the U.S. government would allow it to continue developing its H100 artificial intelligence chip in China.
• The U.S. granted permission to Nvidia to perform exports needed to support U.S. customers of A100 through March 1, 2023.
• Additionally, it permitted A100 and H100 order fulfillment and logistics through Nvidia’s Hong Kong facility through September 1, 2023.
• It acknowledged that U.S.’s new export restrictions could hamper its operations in the country.