Top Stories Wednesday, Apr. 19: Meta Prepares For Further Job Cuts, Google To Allow Developers To Use Alternative Payment Options, Intel Ditches Production Of Bitcoin Mining Chip - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bloomberg

Meta Platforms Inc META notified managers to prepare to announce job cuts on Wednesday under a cost-cutting push likely to pare 10,000 positions at the company.
The downsizing will impact Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Reality Labs, which houses the firm's virtual reality efforts and Quest hardware.
The memo indicates Meta will restructure teams and reassign the remaining employees under new managers.

Benzinga

Google Opens Up Payment Walled Gardens After UK Probe

Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL Google agreed to allow developers to use alternative payment options after the CMA investigation into its control over Google Play in-app purchases.
Google Play accounts for over 90% of native app downloads on Android devices and requires app developers to use Google Play's billing system for in-app transactions involving digital content.
The CMA launched a new probe into the app payment rules after its market study into 'mobile ecosystems' and concerns flagging Google's control over payment processing in Google Play, potentially leading to higher prices and reduced choice for Android users.

Glencore Plc is willing to improve its $22.5 billion takeover offer of told Teck Resources Ltd TECK, said Gary Nagle, Glencore CEO, in a letter to Teck shareholders.
The European company is putting pressure on the Canadian miner, saying the Proposed Merger/Demerger is superior to the Proposed Teck Separation as it provides the most compelling value proposition to Teck shareholders.
In an open letter, Glencore said it would consider taking the offer to Teck's shareholders directly if the board failed to engage.

Morgan Stanley MS reported Q1 net revenues of $14.5 billion, down from $14.8 billion a year ago, exceeding the consensus of $13.9 billion.
Institutional Securities net revenues declined to $6.8 billion from $7.7 billion in Q1 2022, owing to a decline in Investment Banking (-24% Y/Y), Equity (-14% Y/Y), and Fixed Income (-12% Y/Y) revenues.
Net income declined to $3.0 billion from $3.7 billion a year ago, with EPS of $1.70 beating the consensus of $1.62.

Abbott Laboratories ABT has reported Q1 FY23 adjusted EPS of $1.03, down 40.5% Y/Y, better than the consensus of $0.99.
Q1 sales of $9.75 billion decreased 18.1% on a reported basis and 14.5% on an organic basis, beating the consensus of $9.64 billion.
Organic growth, excluding COVID-19 tests, increased by 10%.
Global COVID-19 testing-related sales were $730 million, compared to $3.3 billion a year ago.

WeWork Inc WE received a notice from NYSE on April 12, 2023, notifying that the company is not in compliance with the continued listing standards.
WE's average closing price of its Class A Common Stock was less than $1.00 per share over a consecutive 30 trading-day period.
The company intends to respond to the NYSE within ten business days of receipt of the Notice affirming its intent to cure the deficiency. It has a six-month period to regain compliance.

The U.S. Justice Department has secured a settlement agreement with General Motors Company GM regarding the department's allegation that the automaker violated Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
Under the terms of the agreement, the automaker will pay $365,000 in civil penalties to the U.S.
The department's investigation of GM revealed that the company's violations stemmed in part from its failure to properly consider the INA's nondiscrimination requirements when also complying with export control laws.

Reuters

Intel Corp INTC halted production of its Bitcoin mining chip series just a year after its introduction.
Intel expects to stop taking orders for the series, called Blockscale, by October 20 this year and end shipping by April 20, 2024.
"As we prioritize our investments in IDM 2.0, we have end-of-life the Intel Blockscale 1000 Series ASIC while we continue to support our Blockscale customers," a company spokesperson said.

TechCrunch

Citizen Lab researchers lauded Apple Inc AAPL iPhone's Lockdown Mode feature for defending against notorious NSO Group spyware.
In 2022, Apple launched a feature to protect journalists or human rights defenders against spyware.
On Tuesday, the cybersecurity group's report analyzed three new zero-day exploits in iOS 15 and iOS 16, implying Apple's unawareness of the vulnerabilities at the time they targeted at least two Mexican human rights defenders.

Wall Street Journal

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd TSM negotiated some of the terms of the U.S. Chips Act as it seeks $15 billion in subsidies.
TSMC, which proposes to invest $40 billion in two chip factories in Arizona, flagged rules that could require it to share profits from the factories and provide detailed information about operations.
TSMC Chairman Mark Liu has said the U.S. terms could dissuade chip makers from working towards the country's chip-manufacturing capacity.

Meta Prepares For Further Job Cuts, Google To Allow Developers To Use Alternative Payment Options, Intel Ditches Production Of Bitcoin Mining Chip: Today's Top Stories