Russia Fines TikTok, Amazon's Twitch, India Exported $1B iPhones, Sony Eyes Investment For PC & Mobile Push: Top Stories Tuesday, Oct. 04

Bloomberg

India-Made iPhone Exports Meets With Success As China's COVID-19 Lockdowns Weigh 

• Apple Inc's AAPL iPhone exports from India crossed $1 billion in the five months since April.
• At the current rate, outbound shipments of India-made iPhones, mainly to Europe and the Middle East, are set to double, reaching $2.5 billion in the 12 months through March 2023.

Analysts Offer Premium Valuation To Vodafone-Three Merger, Subject To Regulatory Approval

• Vodafone Group Plc VOD and CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd's CKHUF potential U.K. merger would create a wireless giant worth about €16.5 billion (£14.3 billion), analysts said.
• Vodafone U.K. carries an enterprise value of €9.8 billion, and Three U.K. is worth €4.4 billion, while bringing them together would yield some £2 billion ($2.3 billion) in synergies.
• Analysts at Oddo BHF SCA put the joint enterprise value at £14.5 billion. However, this could take a while because long-term contracts with tower companies and other operators bound the companies.

Russia-Owned Energy Giant Strikes Natural Gas Deal With Pro-Putin Hungary After Stopping Supply To Italy

• Russian energy giant Gazprom PJSC OGZPY will reportedly permit Hungary to delay payments for natural gas if necessary, as surging imports threaten to derail the country's strained budget. 
• The move comes days after the company suspended natural gas deliveries to Italy in an apparent tussle over regulations in Austria.
• Hungary has won a three-year delay on gas bills due in the next six months.

American Airlines Sought JetBlue Alliance For Economic Survival During COVID-19

• American Airlines Group Inc AAL pursued an alliance with JetBlue Airways Corp JBLU in order to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic-induced economic uncertainty.
• The airline needed the collaboration to stay competitive in the heavily trafficked U.S. Northeast.
• American Airlines CEO Robert Isom testified in a Boston federal court on Monday, saying, "Our business was hemorrhaging cash" in the spring of 2020.

Reuters

Approval For Boeing's 737 MAX 10 Not Expected Until Next Year

• Boeing Co BA does not anticipate winning approval for the 737 Max 10 before next summer, according to a report that cited a Federal Aviation Administration letter that indicated intensifying concerns about the company's delivery timeline.
• Boeing faces a December deadline to win regulatory approval for the Max 10. Unless it gains an extension from Congress, Boeing must meet new modern cockpit-alerting requirements.

Amid PlayStation 5 Supply Snarls, Sony Eyes Further Investment For PC, Mobile Push

• Sony Group Corp's SONY gaming business is expecting new investments to bolster its push into PC and mobile.
• Due to supply chain challenges, Sony's push onto other platforms comes as it has struggled to produce enough PlayStation 5 units.
• "Further investments in areas that will strengthen the expansion on to PC, on to mobile and into live services, that's definitely a possibility for us," Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation Studios.

World's Largest Miner Aims To Boost Its Green Credentials - Read How

• BHP Group Ltd BHP expects to induct three bulk carriers powered by liquefied natural gas in six to nine months.
• The move is a part of the company's plan to cut shipping emissions. BHP is looking into the potential for biofuels to enhance its green quotient.
• The miner received its first two LNG-fueled vessels earlier in 2022.

After Failing To Find Merger Partner(s), Bill Foley-Backed SPACs Seek Liquidation

• Two blank-check companies backed by investor Bill Foley plan to liquidate by the end of this year. Together, the firms raised $2 billion.
• The sponsors said the firms Austerlitz Acquisition Corp I AUS and Austerlitz Acquisition Corp II ASZ have failed in finding merger partners despite dozens of negotiations.
• Both companies went public in 2021. Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) typically have two years to find a company to take public.

Benzinga

As Credit Suisse Woes Inspire Parallels To 2008 Financial Crisis, Analyst Says 'Much Different Environment, Much Different Situation'

• A senior analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, Alison Williams, said the "key issue" with Credit Suisse Group AG CS is structural profitability and dismissed parallels drawn with the 2008 financial crisis which saw the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
• "The key issue for Credit Suisse is that it needs to come out with a new strategy to address some structural profitability challenges," said Williams.

Russia Fines TikTok, Amazon's Twitch For LGBT Propaganda, Refusal To Remove Content On 'Special Operation In Ukraine'

• A Russian court fined Amazon Inc AMZN-owned Twitch streaming service and Chinese short-video app TikTok for not adhering to censorship regulations.
• Twitch Interactive video streaming service and Wikimedia Foundation face a fine of up to 4 million rubles each for refusal to remove an interview with a Ukrainian political figure, reasoning that it carried "false information about the special operation in Ukraine."

Meta Launches AI Software Tools Offering Flexibility Between Nvidia, AMD Chips

• Meta Platforms Inc META launched a new open-source AI platform that can help code run up to 12 times faster on Nvidia Corp's NVDA flagship A100 chip or up to four times faster on Advanced Micro Devices Inc's AMD MI250 chip.
• Meta said the software would help to quickly swap between chips without being locked in.

More Trouble For Activision Blizzard: NLRB Rules In Union's Favor

• Activision Blizzard, Inc ATVIsubsidiary Raven Software's QA testers, who operate under Game Workers Alliance (GWA), clocked a historic victory in May.
• While the GWA was in the process of unionizing, Activision Blizzard converted about 1,100 QA contractors to full-time staffers and increased the minimum wage to $20 per hour. But workers at Raven Software, among the lowest paid in the studio, were denied these wage increases.
• The NLRB has officially ruled in the union's favor, declaring that it was illegal for Activision Blizzard to withhold wages.

Korea's Naver Buys Poshmark For Less Than Half Its IPO Price, But Market Is Questioning

• Korea-based internet company, Naver Corp, has agreed to acquire Poshmark Inc POSH for $17.90 in cash, representing an enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion.
• Poshmark agreed to sell itself in a deal that values the company at less than half the price where it went public in early 2021.
• The market is skeptical about whether this is the best timing. Since COVID-19 became endemic, many platform companies have lost their shine. And the falling Korean won doesn't help.

Apple Is Bringing 5G For iPhone Users In India — But There's A Catch

• iPhone users in India would soon be able to enjoy 5G services on their devices.
• There has been some confusion regarding the availability of the 5G network on Apple's devices in India.
• Airtel, one of India's telecommunications services companies, has now said that iPhone users in the country will soon be able to access its 5G networks.

Coffee Brewing Get Green - Nestle Invests $1B In Sustainable Coffee Farming

• Food processing giant Nestle ADR NSRGY coffee brand Nescafé has unveiled the Nescafé Plan 2030 for sustainable practices in coffee farming.
• The brand will invest more than ~$1 billion by 2030.
• The plan is expected to accelerate the transition to a regenerative food system and help achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions.