Facebook Stalls Portal & Smartwatch Projects, Visa Breaks Debit Card Tie Up With FTX, $3B Bitcoin Withdrawn From Crypto Exchanges: Top Stories Monday, Nov. 14

Reuters

Meta's Mass Layoffs' Repercussion? Facebook Parent Reportedly Pulls The Plug On Portal, Smartwatch Project

• Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc META stopped all development work on its Portal smart displays and smartwatch project following 11,000 job cuts a few days ago, which is 13% of the company's total workforce.
• Meta has stopped working on Portal smart display devices and smartwatches, according to Reuters. Earlier this year, the company had halted marketing efforts for Portal devices, known for video-calling capabilities.

After FTX Bankruptcy, Visa Breaks Debit Card Tie-Up With Sam Bankman-Fried's Crypto Exchange

• Visa Inc V has reportedly suspended its month-long partnership with the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX (FTT/USD)
• On Oct. 7, Visa and FTX partnered to offer FTX-branded Visa debit cards to customers internationally — with a focus on countries in Latin America, Europe, and Asia in the initial phases of the rollout.

Tesla Reportedly Aiding China Police Probe Into Fatal Model Y Crash: What You Should Know

• Tesla Inc said it would support a probe carried out by Chinese authorities into a crash that killed two people in the country's southern Guangdong province on Nov. 5.
• The crash involved a Tesla Model Y and killed a motorcyclist and a high school girl.
• A video of the incident was shared by Jimu News that showed the car crashing into other vehicles and a cyclist at high speed.

When Will US Inflation Decline? Goldman Sachs Gives Timeline

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS forecasts core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) falling to 2.9% by December 2023 from 5.1% currently.
• PCE is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation.
• The decline is attributable to softened supply chain constraints, a peak in shelter inflation, and slower wage growth.

Wall Street Journal

JPMorgan Chase Says It Refrained From Loan Funding Large Takeovers, Including Elon Musk's Twitter Buyout

• JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM said it did not provide loan backing to takeovers such as Twitter Inc, Citrix Systems Inc, and Nielsen Holdings PLC, which fell in value as markets turned volatile.
• Competitors attribute JPMorgan's absence as a lender on big deals in 2022 to a diminished relationship with private-equity firms in recent years.
• JPMorgan ranks fourth among U.S. arrangers of buyout bonds and loans this year, while Bank of America is third, according to data from Dealogic.

Bloomberg

Softbank Disappoints Investors And Analysts With Lack Of Buyback Post Q2 Results

• Softbank Group Corp's SFTBF SFTBY shares plunged as much as 12% Monday in its most significant intraday drop since the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020, following a lack of widely-expected stock buyback.
• The Vision Fund segment posted a $7.2 billion loss in the July-September quarter, following a record 2.33 trillion yen ($17 billion) loss in the preceding period.
• The lack of a buyback prompted analysts at Deutsche Bank, CLSA, and Jefferies to downgrade their ratings on the stock.

Biden's $7.5B EV Pledge Draws This Finnish EV Charging Specialist Into The Market

• A Finnish maker of high-speed chargers accelerated its foray into the U.S. following President Joe Biden's $7.5 billion pledge to tackle a sparse network of power sources for electric vehicles.
• Kempower Oyj hired a sales team to kick off sales in the U.S. by the end of 2023, two years ahead of its original plan, to ensure it gets a piece of the lucrative pie, CEO Tomi Ristimaki said.
• "We have a recruitment plan ready for the US-market entry, and the first wave of the recruitment has just started."
• Kempower is focusing on the east coast to identify a state with a top-notch environmental, social, and governance offering, the CEO said.

Alibaba Doesn't Disclose Singles' Day Sales For First Time

• Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA decided not to disclose full sales results for its signature Singles' Day shopping festival for the first time after forecasting an unprecedented decline in the event's 14-year history.
• Alibaba said gross merchandise value was "in line with last year's GMV performance despite macro challenges and Covid-related impact."

New York Times

TikTok Flourishes As Ads Juggernaut At Expense Of Twitter, Snap, Google And Meta

• ByteDance Ltd owned TikTok, once best known for viral dance videos and pop songs, and gradually built itself into a digital advertising juggernaut.
• TikTok sold access to its growing internet foothold to brands and developed products that make it easier to advertise on the platform.
• In 2022, TikTok is on track to make nearly $10 billion in ad revenue, more than double what it generated last year, according to Insider Intelligence estimates.

Benzinga

$3B Bitcoin Withdrawn From Crypto Exchanges In A Week As Investors Flock To Safe Custody After FTX Collapse

• Over $3 billion in Bitcoin (BTC/USD) has been withdrawn in the past seven days from cryptocurrency exchanges as FTX (FTT/USD) collapsed, sending ripples through the industry.
• According to data from Coinglass, 190,000 BTC have been withdrawn in the week through Nov. 13, estimated to be around $3 billion at today's price.

Tesla Earns 8 Times More Profit Per Vehicle Than Auto Industry Volume Leader Toyota

• Toyota Motor Corp TM is the world's largest automaker in terms of the number of cars but pureplay electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc TSLA is way ahead of the legacy automaker in terms of profit generated per vehicle sold.
• Tesla's GAAP net income for the September quarter was $3.29 billion compared to the 434.26-billion-yen ($3.15 billion) profit Toyota made for the same period, an analysis by Nikkei showed.

Warren Buffett-Backed BYD, Only Chinese EV Maker Well-Positioned, To Be A Global Player, Shows Data Point

• Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD Manufacturing Company Limited BYDDY BYDDF has been a consistent performer even amid the production and supply chain issues seen in China. A report highlighted one data point that goes on to prove the company, backed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, has what it takes to be a global player in the automotive industry.
• BYD has taken an "overwhelming" lead in EV technology patent filings, reported Nikkei, citing an analysis of patent applications filed by China's four largest sellers of EVs. The study was done in collaboration with Tokyo-based analytics firm Intellectual Property Landscape.

After Elon Musk's Twitter Blue Chaos, Platform Now 'Rolling Out' New Feature To Enable Companies to Authenticate Users

• Tesla Inc TSLA CEO and now Twitter chief Elon Musk has announced that the microblogging site will soon enable organizations to manage affiliated accounts.
• On Sunday, Musk tweeted that the platform would soon roll out a feature allowing organizations to verify genuine accounts associated with them.
• When asked if anyone would be able to avail of this feature, Musk said that ultimately Twitter will be the "final arbiter," although he is "open to suggestions."

Roche's Another Alzheimer's Hopeful Flops In Phase 3 Program, Second Trial Setback Within Months

• MorphoSys AG's MOR partner Roche Holdings AG RHHBY due to Alzheimer's and mild Alzheimer's dementia.
• The studies did not meet their primary endpoint of slowing clinical decline.
• The level of beta-amyloid removal, the protein that builds up to make plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease, was lower than expected.

Indivior To Pay Over 100% Premium To Buy Opioid Focused Player Opiant Pharmaceuticals

• Indivior PLC INVVY has agreed to acquire Opiant Pharmaceuticals Inc OPNT for $20.00 per share in cash, plus contingent value rights (CVRs) of up to $8.00 per share.
• The upfront payment of $20.00 per share represents a premium of approximately 111% to Opiant's closing share price on November 11.
• Pending approvals, the parties anticipate completing the transaction in the first quarter of 2023.