Benzinga Before The Bell: Tesla's Autopilot Attracts Regulatory Ire Again, Roblox Poaches Meta Official, Snap Cancels Drone Project And Other Top Financial Stories Friday, August 19

Reuters

Pilot Strike, Delayed Aircraft Delivery Force SAS To Cancel 1,700 Flights

• Reuters reported that a two-week pilot strike in July over collective agreements and delayed aircraft deliveries contributed to the Scandinavian airline SAS AB’s SASDY decision to cancel 1,700 flights in the upcoming months.
• According to SAS, 1,700 flights, or around 4% of all flights, were cancelled in September and October.
• “It is the effects from the strike but also delayed deliveries of aircraft and some other factors,” the report quoted a SAS spokesperson, adding that the company does not see lower demand.

Tesla’s Autopilot Attracts Regulatory Ire, Again: Report

• U.S. auto safety regulators questioned Tesla Inc TSLA over its in-car camera to monitor driver awareness, Reuters reports.
• The interrogation was a part of a probe into 830,000 Tesla vehicles that employ the carmaker’s advanced driver assistance system called Autopilot.
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) evaluated the Autopilot after identifying several accidents in which Tesla vehicles struck stopped emergency vehicles.

GM, LG Energy Solution Plan Fourth US Battery Plant In Indiana: Reuters

• General Motors Co GM and LG Energy Solution are planning to establish a fourth U.S. battery cell manufacturing plant in Indiana, Reuters reported.
• General Motors and LG Energy’s joint venture, Ultium Cells LLC, already has three battery cell facilities in the U.S., including Ohio, Michigan, and Tennessee.
• Ultium Cells LLC “is developing a competitive business case for a potentially large investment that could be located in New Carlisle, Indiana,” the report quoted a spokesperson for the JV.

Wall Street Journal

Roblox Poaches Meta Official To Boost Presence In Asia, Remains Bullish On China

• Roblox Corp RBLX roped in a Meta Platforms Inc META executive for the newly created role of Asia-Pacific head of public policy, the Wall Street Journal reports.
• Steve Park, veteran government relations head for South Korea and Japan at Facebook’s parent company, will join Roblox next week. Park has also been a part of Facebook’s Oculus virtual-reality business.
• Roblox is among the leading operator of a metaverse-like realm or a virtual place where people play and make transactions. Higher usage in Asian countries would drive growth beyond its core U.S. and European markets.

Snap Bows To Economic Slowdown; Aborts Plum Drone Project

• Snap Inc SNAP stopped the development of its Pixy flying selfie camera less than four months after launching the product publicly, the Wall Street Journal reports.
• Snap became the latest technology company to downsize product plans amid the economic slowdown. CEO Evan Spiegel reasoned that it was part of a broader reprioritization of company resources.
• Snap introduced Pixy during Snap’s annual partner summit with plans to sell a limited quantity. It will continue to sell the current iteration of Pixy.

Bloomberg

Credit Suisse’s Largest Owner Asks For Sustainable Options For Troubled Investment Banking Unit

• Bloomberg reported that Credit Suisse Group AG’s CS largest shareholder had asked the firm to earn sustainable returns for its investment banking business or look for options, which has been the centerpiece of the losses over a couple of years.
• In an interview, David Herro, the chief investment officer of Harris Associates, said, “it can’t be fixed within the next year or two, then options such as a sale, spin-off or merger must be explored, he said.
• “This has been a problem child,” Herro, whose firm holds a 10% stake in the bank, said in a Bloomberg TV interview. “It sounds simple, but all they have to do is prevent the investment bank from losing money.”

Pimco Buys Struggling Assets To Support Banks Looking To Offload Battered Companies: Report

• In recent months, Pacific Investment Management Co has spent more than $2 billion to snap up consumer companies that have struggled due to the cost of living crisis, surging inflation, and rising interest rates.
• The purchases are part of a broader strategy at the firm to capitalize on depressed prices, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.
• The fund has $1.8 trillion of assets under management, making it well placed for such moves but with risks as the global economy is on the edge of recession.

This Tesla Rival Is Discontinuing The Base Model Of Its EV Pickup Truck

• Rivian Automotive, Inc. RIVN is reportedly canceling the Explorer variant of its R1T electric pickup truck.
• The Explorer is the Irvine, California-based company’s base trim model and is the cheapest version, with a starting price of $67,500. The decision to cancel the model was reported Thursday by Bloomberg, which said the company confirmed the move by email.
• The company attributed the move to the weak uptake of the trim line.

TV Networks, Desperate For Live Sports, Just Showered The Big Ten Colleges With Nearly $8 Billion

• The Big Ten forged a new seven-year contract with Fox Corp FOX, Paramount Global PARA CBS, and Comcast Corp CMCSA NBC worth up to $7.5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports.
• It marks a record amount for a college athletic conference reflecting the surging value of college football’s broadcast rights. Less than two months ago, the Big Ten declared bagging Southern California and UCLA as future members.
• Recently, the SEC disclosed adding football behemoths Texas and Oklahoma by 2025.

Benzinga

Apple Could Look To Beat Recession Risk By Shipping iPhone 14 Earlier, Says Analyst

• Apple Inc AAPL may ship its iPhone 14 models earlier than it had shipped the previous iterations, said analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
• What Happened: The Taiwan-based noted Apple analyst said on Twitter that the “announcement/shipping” date could be earlier than iPhone 13 and iPhone 12 models and this could be one of the “one of the reasons why Apple offered a positive outlook for [the the 2022 third quarter] from the last earnings call.”
• Kuo shared a Bloomberg piece by Mark Gurman, which said, citing people familiar with the matter, that Apple is aiming to hold the launch event for the iPhone 14 models on Sept. 7.

Home Depot Adopts $15B Stock Buyback Program; Declares Dividend

• Home Depot Inc HD said its board of directors authorized a new $15 billion share repurchase program, replacing its previous authorization.
• The company’s board has also declared a second-quarter cash dividend of $1.90 per share.
• The dividend is payable on Sept. 15, 2022, to shareholders of record on the close of business on Sept. 1, 2022.

Elon Musk Singles Out One Thing As The ‘Primary Villain Of Real Life’

• Tesla, Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk expressed concern about green energy and sustainable development — a cause he has long championed — in a more subtle manner than usual in a tweet on Friday.
• A Twitter handle named @CChomp13 asked the broader Twitter audience as to who they thought was the primary villain of real life. The question was structured as a multiple-choice once and the options he provided were 3 well-known video game villains — Bowser in Nintendo Co., Ltd’s NTDOY Mario franchise, Sephiroth in Square Enix’ Final Fantasy VII and Dr. Eggman in Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog.
• Musk, an avid video gamer himself, chimed in with a reply to the question. “Entropy,” he said.

Samsung Breaks Ground On R&D Complex in Giheung, Korea

• Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd SSNLF broke ground for a new semiconductor research and development complex in Giheung, Korea, seeking to extend its presence in state-of-the-art semiconductor technology.
• Samsung looks to invest about KRW 20 trillion by 2028 for the complex in an area covering about 109,000 square meters within its Giheung campus.
• The new facility will lead advanced research on next-generation devices and memory and system semiconductors processes, developing innovative new technologies based on a long-term roadmap.

Tesla, SAIC Suppliers Should Get ‘Priority’ Access To Power: Shanghai’s ‘Request’ Invites Ire Of Chinese Citizens

• The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization has written a letter to Sichuan authorities asking them to prioritize access to power for 16 local suppliers of Tesla Inc. TSLA and SAIC Motor Corporation Limited considering supply chain stability, reported Nikkei Asia. SAIC Motor is the state-owned automaker based in Shanghai.
• “Tesla and SAIC Motor have raised their concerns to us recently that their key auto parts suppliers are affected by the partial power restrictions in Sichuan, which will impact the assembly of their vehicles. Please reduce the power restriction time during the day for the suppliers mentioned above,” the document read, according to the report.

Putin Ally Rebrands Starbucks Stores In Russia As’ Stars Coffee,’ Frappuccinos Become’ Frappuccitos’

• Months after multinational coffee chain Starbucks Corporation SBUX announced the closing of operations in Russia, its restaurants were reopened by a restaurateur and rapper duo under the brand name ‘Stars Coffee.’
• A pro-Putin rapper Timati and restaurateur Anton Pinskiy reopened the shut stores with new branding after acquiring the rights to the chain in Russia, The Guardian reported.
• In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Starbucks, in May, decided to shut down business in Russia after operating in the country for 15 years. It came as the second major exit of a global American brand after McDonald’s MCD also closed operations in early May.

CME To Launch New Ethereum (ETH) Futures In September

• The world’s largest financial derivatives exchange CME Group Inc CME, plans to launch Ethereum ETH/USD options in September.
• The new futures contracts will deliver one ETH futures, sized at 50 ETH per contract, CME said in a press release.
• The contracts will be tradeable on the derivatives exchange on Sept. 12 and will follow the CME CF Ether-Dollar reference rate.

Bored Ape Yacht Club Loan Deathspiral Could Nuke Entire NFT Market, Warns Crypto Analyst

• A series of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) loan liquidations on NFT liquidity pool BendDAO could wipe out the entire NFT market, warned pseudonymous crypto analyst “doubleQ.”
• BAYC holders that deposited their NFTs on BendDAO in exchange for short term Ethereum ETH/USD are at risk of being liquidated and losing their assets, as per data from BendDAO.
• BendDAO is a peer-to-peer decentralized lending platform for NFTs. Users could deposit their Bored Ape NFTs on the platform as collateral and get a loan worth up to 40% of the NFT’s value.

EXCLUSIVE: Meme Stock Hero Ryan Cohen Used Retail Investors To Pump ‘Extremely Underwater’ Bed Bath & Beyond Position, Strategist Says

• Retail traders were quick to flock to the side of Chewy Inc CHWY founder and GameStop Corp GME chair Ryan Cohen when he purchased a stake in Bed Bath & Beyond Inc BBBY in March.
• Less than six months later, Cohen has filed intent to sell his stake in the embattled retailer and accusations are flying. One institutional investor has suggested that Cohen used retail investors to pump the stock for his own benefit.
• What To Know: Luke Lloyd, wealth advisor and investment strategist at Strategic Wealth Advisors, told Benzinga that Cohen was “extremely underwater” in the Bed Bath and Beyond position, he purchased earlier this year.

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