CNBC
Ford Unveils Lincoln Star Electric SUV Concept
- Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F) plans to launch four new electric vehicles in its Lincoln lineup by 2026, CNBC reports.
- The company unveiled its first concept for an electric vehicle, the Lincoln Star Concept, in an attempt to catch up with its rivals.
- Lincoln expects electric vehicles to make up more than half of its global volume by mid-decade and 90% of its North American sales by 2030.
Reuters
Tourism Industry Growth Rate To Surpass Global GDP Growth
- According to World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the global travel and tourism sectors are projected to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, and the growth rate will outpace global gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
- The industry is expected to grow at around 5.8% annually from 2022 to 2032 versus the 2.7% increase in global GDP and create 126 million new jobs, WTTC said in a report released during the industry group’s conference in Manila.
Boeing 787 Deliveries To Resume In 2H22
- Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) has informed key airlines and parts suppliers that 787 Dreamliner deliveries will begin in the second half of 2022, Reuters reported, citing three people familiar with the matter.
- Boeing’s large 787 inventory, accumulated since deliveries were halted nearly a year ago due to structural issues, has locked up desperately needed cash and reduced airline capacity.
WSJ
This Digital Freight Operator Raises Funds At $3.8B Valuation, Positioning It For Potential IPO
- Digital freight operator Convoy Inc raised $160 million in new funding that values the load-matching business at $3.8 billion positioning it for a potential IPO.
- Convoy also bagged a $150 million line of credit from JPMorgan Chase & Co and a $100 million loan from a specialty finance company Hercules Capital Inc.
- It will also help to bolster a “drop and hook” service as it looks to expand its fleet of trailers for the service, called Convoy Go, by 35% to 40% by the end of 2022.
Bloomberg
Cathay Pacific Plans To Lure Pilots With Special Allowances
- Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (OTC: CPCAY) (OTC: CPCAF) has come up with a slew of allowances for pilots to curb mass resignations, Bloomberg reported.
- The pilots operating in Hong Kong are seemingly upset about the effect of the country’s stringent COVID-19 policies on travel.
- The report noted that starting in 2023, senior captains will get a monthly allowance of HK$36,000 ($4,590), amounting to HK$432,000 annually.
Obamas Look To Move Beyond Spotify To Amazon, iHeartMedia
- Barack and Michelle Obama look to end their association with Swedish streaming giant Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT).
- Obamas’ production company, Higher Ground, discussed a deal worth tens of millions of dollars with other distributors, including Amazon.com Inc’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Audible and iHeartMedia Inc (NASDAQ:IHRT).
- Higher Ground saw that being tied to one service limited the audience for its shows.
- Spotify wanted more shows featuring two of the most famous people globally, while Higher Ground aimed to provide a platform for a range of voices.
Crypto Miner BitRiver Sanctioned By US Over Russian Operations: Bloomberg
- The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned crypto mining firm BitRiver, targeting one of the industry’s top data-center service providers over its operations in Russia, Bloomberg reported.
- The Swiss-based company BitRiver provides Bitcoin miners worldwide with energy sources, mining facilities, and large-scale management solutions, including those in Eastern Europe and Russia.
- Treasury announced restrictions on BitRiver, including 10 of its Russia-based subsidiaries, as the war in Ukraine enters the third month.
Financial Times
Goldman Sachs Reported Morgan Stanley Bulk Share Sales To Hong Kong Regulator
- Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) reported bank Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) to Hong Kong’s financial regulator over a series of block trades, Financial Times reported citing people familiar with the matter.
- As part of an “informal” discussion, Goldman alerted the territory’s Securities and Futures Commission three years ago about share price drops in a few Hong Kong-listed companies.
- According to Bloomberg data, Morgan Stanley executed nine block trade transactions for WuXi between 2020 and 2021.
- There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by WuXi.
Benzinga
Amazon Fires Up Rivalry With FedEx, UPS With Latest Launch
- Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) launched Buy with Prime, allowing third-party merchants to use Amazon’s vast shipping and logistics network to fulfill orders on their sites while appealing to Amazon’s Prime customers.
- Buy with Prime pricing will depend on payment processing, fulfillment, storage, and other fees.
- Experts see the move firing up rivalry with United Parcel Service Inc (NYSE:UPS), FedEx Corp (NYSE:FDX), and the U.S. Postal Service to be the fastest in the online delivery race.
Largest US State Pension Fund To Vote For Removing Warren Buffett As Berkshire Chairman
- The largest state public pension fund in the U.S. has sided with a minority shareholder, which has sponsored a proposal to remove Warren Buffett from the post of chairman of the board of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B).
- The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, aka CalPERS, would vote in favor of a proposal brought by the National Legal and Policy Center that calls for amending the bylaws to make an independent member the chair of the board.
- NLPC, which owns Berkshire shares with a value in excess of $2,000, argues that the roles of CEO and chairman are separate and come with different responsibilities that are critical to the success of a company. When held by a single person, these roles are greatly diminished, it said.
Elon Musk Will Not Face ‘Gag Order’ Over 2018 Tweet, Judge Rules
- A federal judge has ruled that Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk will not be subjected to a “gag order” that stops him from discussing a lawsuit claiming he defrauded shareholders with his 2018 tweet about taking the electric vehicle firm private, Reuters reported on Thursday.
- U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco called the proposed temporary restraining order overbroad as it prevented Musk from speaking to “anyone” about the case.
- Tesla shareholders sued Musk and the company in 2018 over a controversial tweet that led to a massive share sell-off.
Elon Musk Says Come Work At Boring Company As It Fetches $5.7B Valuation In Fresh Funding Round
- Fresh off his earnings call exploits, Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk canvassed for jobs at the Boring Company.
- Musk sent out a plea for people to join his boring company, substantiating his recommendation by suggesting the company’s business has huge potential.
- “Our goal is to solve traffic, which plagues every major city on earth,” Musk tweeted, quoting an earlier tweet by Boring Company that said it has raised $675 million at a $5.67 billion valuation from A-list investors, led by Vy Capital and Sequoia Capital.
- The company said the proceeds would go toward recruiting people, scaling up boring machine production and building thousands of miles of tunnels.
Apple Toppled As Smartphone Market Leader In Q1: Here’s What Hurt Cupertino’s Performance
- Apple Inc’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) short stint as the market’s smartphone leader ended in the first quarter, reflecting seasonal softness and the sluggish performance of the overall market amid inclement economic conditions.
- Apple held 18% of the overall global smartphone market in the first quarter, according to data released by market research firm Canalys. That represented a decline from a 22% share in the fourth quarter but an improvement from 15% a year earlier.
- Apple’s loss was Samsung’s gain, with the South Korean electronics giant reclaiming the top spot that the former held in the fourth quarter.
Bill Ackman Exits Netflix Stock After $400M Loss
- Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management exited its position in Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) on Wednesday, the billionaire hedge fund manager told shareholders in a letter.
- The Loss: Pershing Square built the Netflix stake three months ago, buying 3.1 million shares at an average price of about $354 per share.
- Netflix shares plunged by over 35% on Wednesday to $226.19 as the streaming video on demand platform clocked a subscriber loss after a decade and gave downbeat guidance for the current quarter.
EXCLUSIVE: Irwin Simon, CEO, ‘Tilray Will Own Canada, And It Will Get Bigger’
- “Almost 4:20 on 4/20, pretty exciting,” said CNBC reporter Frank Holland as he welcomed the crowd at Benzinga’s Cannabis Capital Conference before interviewing Irwin Simon, CEO of Tilray inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY), the leading global cannabis-lifestyle and consumer packaged goods company with operations in Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia and Latin America.
- “This industry reminds me so much of the natural organic food industry, the natural organic food industry in the U.S. today is well over $100 billion dollars in size and this industry will actually surpass that,” Simon said and then advanced his vision for Tilray.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
