Benzinga
Mark Zuckerberg Takes Blame For Over-Optimism As Meta To Lay Off 13% Of Its Staff: 'I Was Wrong'
- Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META)
- , said he was accountable for missteps at the social media giant as the company announced the mass firing of thousands of employees on Wednesday.
- Zuckerberg interacted with hundreds of Meta employees on Tuesday and was downcast, the company disclosed in an SEC filing.
- Meta is laying off more than 11,000 employees, about 13% of its workforce, the CEO said in his letter.
- A collection of Microsoft Corp's (NASDAQ:MSFT) rivals, including OVH and Amazon.com Inc's (NASDAQ:AMZN) AWS, fired off an antitrust complaint to European Union watchdogs alleging unfair licensing practices to lure customers in the region to its cloud infrastructure.
- CISPE, a European cloud-company policy group, called for a probe into Microsoft's business model before some companies go extinct.
- It's the fourth current complaint targeting Microsoft at the Brussels-based European Commission.
- Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) has settled one of its ongoing lawsuits targeting AirPods technologies before a retrial was supposed to begin. However, another lawsuit is still hanging over the tech giant's head.
- A patent lawsuit between hands-free headphone maker Pinn and Apple has been settled outside of court. The settlement conditions are yet unknown.
Elon Musk's Tesla Stock Sale May Be Scary, But Is Overhang Finally Lifted? Analysts React
- Elon Musk has sold about $4 billion worth of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares since Friday, and the news will likely weigh down on the beaten-down stock.
- Advertisers' Pause Catch Musk Unawares, Says Munster: The recent disposals represent about 3% of Musk's holdings, Loup Funds' Gene Munster said. "Looks like he's preparing for Twitter to be a money hole for the next year," Munster added.
- According to the venture capitalist, the selling is not a sign of his confidence in Tesla. The news may not sit well with some investors, he added.
Vodafone Divests Stake In $16B Tower Business
- Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ: VOD) agreed to sell a stake in its towers unit to KKR & Co Inc (NYSE: KKR) and Global Infrastructure Partners at a €16.2 billion ($16.3 billion) valuation.
- The British telecommunications group announced the €32-a-share deal for Vantage Towers AG (OTC: VTAGY).
- Vodafone will move its 81.7% holding in Vantage into a new joint venture with KKR and GIP.
Zoom Expands Into Email And Calendar Software — Pitching Itself As Closer Rival To Microsoft
- Zoom Video Communications Inc (NASDAQ: ZM) is releasing new Mail and Calendar services.
- What Happened: Zoom is releasing beta versions of its Outlook-like Mail and Calendar as part of its latest round of business features. The new features will slot clearly into the unified Zoom One interface next to Team Chat, Whiteboard, Phone, and Meeting tools.
Adidas Cuts FY22 Outlook After Kanye West Split
- Adidas AG (OTC: ADDYY) has slashed its FY22 outlook, impacted by the termination of its partnership with American rapper, Kanye West.
- Adidas now expects its currency-neutral revenue to grow at a low-single-digit rate in 2022. Previously it expected revenue growth to be in the mid-single-digit rate.
- It expects an operating margin of around 2.5%, down from the previous outlook of 4%.
Nissan Raises Profit Outlook Helped By Favorable Currency Exchange Rate
- Nissan Motor Co Ltd (OTC:NSANY) has raised its profit outlook for FY22 as a weak yen boosted repatriated income.
- The company now expects an FY22 operating profit of 360 billion yen versus the previous outlook of 250 billion yen.
- Significant yen weakening has helped compensate for a persistent shortage of chips and supply-chain constraints that have curtailed output in the industry.
Wall Street Journal
Netflix Eyes Sports Leagues, Streaming Rights Bids To Expanding Streaming, Boost Revenue
- Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) recently bid for the streaming rights for the ATP tennis tour for some European countries, including France and the U.K., but dropped out.
- It also discussed bidding for other events, including U.K. rights to the Women's Tennis Association and cycling competitions.
- Netflix also discussed buying lower-profile leagues to bypass the surging costs of bidding for sports rights.
- Netflix's potential foray into sports comes as many of its streaming rivals splurged on access to high-profile sporting events.
This Key Apple Supplier Eyes Second Multibillion-Dollar Advanced Semiconductor Chip Plant In Arizona
- The largest contract chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd (NYSE:TSM), prepared for another multibillion-dollar factory investment in Arizona.
- The leading Apple Inc supplier plans to announce building a cutting-edge semiconductor plant north of Phoenix beside another chip factory that the company committed to in 2020.
- The scale of the investment will likely be similar to the $12 billion it committed two years ago.
Reuters
FedEx Sees Current-Quarter Volumes In US Below Projections
- FedEx Corp (NYSE:FDX) said its second-quarter package volumes in the U.S. seem below its projections.
- Delivery firms like FedEx and United Parcel Service Inc (NYSE: UPS) experienced a spike in e-commerce volumes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- As the pandemic faded and business and social restrictions lifted, the companies were left with excess delivery capacity as demand plunged.
Boeing And China Based Planemaker Agree To Expand Joint Research Pact
- China-based Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) signed an agreement to expand cooperation on their joint research center.
- The pact aims to support aviation's sustainable development further.
- The deal comes as Boeing remains determined to maintain a strong presence in China, even though it no longer factors the country into its financial forecasts because China will not accept deliveries of new MAX planes.
Bloomberg
Return To Office: Pfizer To Enforce 2-3 Days In Office Starting January
- Pfizer Inc's PFE CEO Albert Bourla said the U.S. employees would have to return to their workplaces two to three days a week starting in January.
- About one-third of Pfizer's employees have still not returned to the office as concerns about the pandemic have begun fading, Bourla said in a panel discussion at the Paley International Council Summit in New York.
Financial Times
TikTok Takes A Big Cut On Global Revenue Guidance As Online Spending Dries Up
- ByteDance Ltd-owned TikTok has slashed its worldwide revenue targets for 2022 by at least $2 billion, becoming the latest tech giant hit by a global slump in online spending.
- TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew slashed its targets by 20% in late September in a virtual "all-hands" meeting.
- TikTok initially projected revenues between $12 billion - $14.5 billion this year, but actual revenue will likely be closer to $10 billion.
Techcrunch
Marc Benioff led Salesforce Downsizes, Lays Off Hundreds Of Workers
- Salesforce Inc (NYSE: CRM) laid off hundreds of people this week.
- Salesforce said it was less than a thousand and informed the people yesterday.
- The news comes on the heels of activist investor Starboard Value taking an undetermined stake in the company last month.
