Top Stories Wednesday, Oct 4: Palantir And PwC Team Up To Accelerate Data-Driven Operations, OpenAI Rival Secures Billions In Big Tech Backing, Six US States Brace For Healthcare Strike - Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Benzinga

Palantir Technologies Inc PLTR is expanding its collaboration with PwC to combine its latest AI capabilities.
The collaboration will combine Palantir's latest AI capabilities with PwC's industry experience to help clients realize value with data and AI-enabled operations.
Palantir has chosen the U.K. as its European headquarters for AI research and development.

Anthropic, a prominent competitor to OpenAI in generative artificial intelligence, is securing additional funding despite having already raised billions of dollars.
The AI startup is currently discussing with potential investors, including Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL Google, for a new $2 billion funding round. This development follows Amazon.com Inc's AMZN recent commitment to invest up to $4 billion in the company.

Sanofi SA SNY and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd TEVA have collaborated to co-develop and co-commercialize asset TEV ‘574.TEV ‘574 is currently in Phase 2b clinical trials for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, two types of inflammatory bowel disease.
Under the terms of the new collaboration agreement, Teva will receive an upfront payment of €469 million ($500 million) and up to €940 million ($1 billion) in development and launch milestones.

Medical device company Insulet Corp PODD disclosed that Wayde McMillan has decided to resign as Executive Vice President, CFO, and Treasurer, effective October 20, 2023.
McMillan will join 3M Company MMM as Chief Financial Officer of its Health Care business, which 3M has announced it plans to spin off into an independent company.

United Airlines Holdings Inc UAL has announced orders for 110 more aircraft for delivery beginning in 2028.
The order includes 50 Boeing Company BA 787-9 and 60 Airbus SE EADSY A321neo aircraft.
The orders build on the early success of United Next strategy. A key component of the plan is growth in gauge, essentially flying larger planes with more available seats on the same route.

Bloomberg

Zoom Video Communications Inc ZM unveiled a series of AI-powered innovations at Zoomtopia 2023, significantly enhancing collaborative and communication tools for the modern workspace.
The centerpiece of the unveiling is Zoom Docs, a next-generation collaborative platform. Integrated with Zoom and third-party apps, it offers a flexible, AI-driven workspace with traditional document capabilities and intuitive features like drag-and-drop content blocks.

Over 75,000 employees of Kaiser Permanente initiated a three-day strike, posing a significant threat to one of the nation's largest healthcare providers and contributing to the ongoing labor disruptions sweeping across various US industries.
This mass strike is anticipated to disrupt services for nearly 13 million people in several states. Routine medical appointments are expected to be temporarily halted.

Wall Street Journal

Masayoshi Son, the CEO of Softbank Group Corp SFTBF SFTBY, emphasized the transformative power of artificial general intelligence (AGI) during the company's annual SoftBank World event.
He asserted that AGI would outstrip human intelligence within a decade, urging businesses to embrace this technology or risk obsolescence.

CNBC

Uber Technologies, Inc UBER is expanding its service offerings, stepping into the realm of package return.
The ride-hailing and food delivery giant announced a new feature that enables customers to return packages through mail carriers directly via the Uber and Uber Eats apps, marking the company's foray into a domain traditionally reserved for courier services.
The move reflects the ride-hailing giant's desire to create stickiness in the app by cross-selling products and services akin to Amazon.Com Inc's AMZN strategy.

Reuters

UBS Group AG UBS is reportedly offering enticing interest rates on deposits to attract and retain clients following its acquisition of Credit Suisse, a move aimed at repairing the outflows experienced by the latter.
The Swiss banking giant is offering approximately 1.8% interest on deposits exceeding 50,000 Swiss francs held for a minimum of three months, a rate that is notably higher than competitors Zuercher Kantonalbank and Raiffeisen.

A New Jersey appeals court overturned a $223.8 million verdict linked to asbestos exposure in Johnson & Johnson's JNJ talc powder products. The verdict had been awarded to four plaintiffs who claimed that they developed cancer due to exposure to asbestos in J&J's talc products.
In a statement, J&J Worldwide Vice President of Litigation Erik Haas hailed the decision as rejecting "junk science" presented by "experts" paid by the mass tort asbestos bar.

BP PLC BP is reportedly looking to sell a 49% stake in its U.S. oil and gas pipeline network in the Gulf of Mexico.
The British oil and gas company expects to raise as much as $1 billion from the divestiture and plans to meet its targets to lower debt and maintain its dividend.
BP will place its interest in U.S. Gulf of Mexico pipelines in a new company where it will hold a 51% stake and sell the rest.

Earnings

Helen Of Troy's Shares Slip After Q2 Earnings

Helen Of Troy Limited HELE reported a second-quarter FY24 sales decline of 5.7% year-on-year to $491.56 million, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $484.80 million.
Adjusted EPS of $1.74 beat the consensus estimate of $1.64.
The company's sales outlook, which implies a decline of 5.2% to 2.8%, reflects what it believes will be a continued slower economy and uncertainty in spending patterns, especially for some discretionary categories.

Acuity Brands, Inc AYI reported a fourth-quarter FY23 net sales decline of 9% year-over-year to $1.01 billion, marginally missing the consensus of $1.02 billion.
Adjusted EPS of $3.97 beat the consensus of $3.72.
Adjusted EBITDA was $175.1 million, down from $182.9 million a year ago.

Palantir And PwC Team Up To Accelerate Data-Driven Operations, OpenAI Rival Secures Billions In Big Tech Backing, Six US States Brace For Healthcare Strike: Today's Top Stories