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Benzinga
Benzinga
Business
Vandana Singh

Vietnam Law May Impact Facebook, Twitter; Amazon Has A Sleep Tracker; India Lures Apple, Dell, HP: Top Financial Media Stories Thursday, Sept. 29

Reuters

Vietnam's Social Media Law May Impact Facebook, YouTube, Twitter

  • Vietnam plans to introduce new laws to limit which social media accounts can post news-related content. This could come as a setback for social media giants such as Meta Platforms Inc.'s (NASDAQ:METAFacebookAlphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGLYouTube, and Twitter Inc. (NASDAQ:TWTR).

BP-Cenovus Energy Ohio Refinery Remains Closed After Fire Incident

  • BP plc (NYSE:BP) laid off most contractors at the Toledo, Ohio, refinery it owns with Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE).
  • Approximately 160,000 barrel-per-day plant will experience a prolonged shutdown following last week's explosion and fire.

Merck Inks Supply Deal To Commercialize COVID-19 Pills In China

  • Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) signed a cooperation framework agreement in China for its COVID-19 antiviral pills, which were co-developed by Ridgeback Therapeutics
  • The pharma giant has granted Sinopharm exclusive import and distribution rights to Lagevrio (molnupiravir).
  • The companies will also negotiate the feasibility of a technical transfer under the framework so that the drug molnupiravir could be produced and provided in the Chinese mainland market.

CNBC

Porsche Shares Race Higher In Landmark Frankfurt IPO

  • Shares of Porsche's parent company Volkswagen AG (OTC:VWAGY) rose in its Frankfurt stock market debut.
  • Touted as one of the biggest initial public offerings in Europe, the shares traded at €84 ($81) in Frankfurt on Thursday morning, after the IPO was priced at €82.50.
  • The IPO is expected to provide Porsche with a financial boost of €19.5 billion.

McDonald's Rejects Owners' Plea To Delay Changes In Franchise Policy

  • The National Franchisee Leadership Alliance representing McDonald's Corp. (NYSE:MCD) restaurant owners said the company had rejected their proposal to delay franchising policy change.
  • In a letter to the owners of the alliance, McDonald's denied the request to make changes in June 2023 instead of Jan. 1, 2023.
  • The new franchise policy changes left several owners unhappy, expressing their lack of confidence in CEO Chris Kempczinski.

Bloomberg

India Offers Incentives To Apple, Dell, HP

  • India plans to boost the financial incentives for tablet and laptop manufacturers, wooing companies like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL), and HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) to broaden or begin local production.
  • Notably, India wants to court Apple, which already assembles iPhones in India, to make iPads locally.
  • India weighed offering up to INR 45 billion ($549 million) per manufacturer. Foreign companies must invest INR 7 billion in India over five years.

Great News For Alibaba And Peers As HSBC Finds The Sector Promising

  • HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HSBC) saw prospects in Chinese sectors, including internet firms with better-than-expected earnings growth, developers to win from significant industry consolidation, renewable firms blessed with favorable policies, and consumer goods producers that benefit from demographic shifts.
  • HSBC analysts highlighted an apparent disconnect between the gloomy macroeconomic picture and the more positive bottom-up view of Chinese equities.
  • Additionally, most funds are underweight, and valuations are low.
  • Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE:BABA), Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU), and Tencent Holding Ltd. (OTC:TCEHY) top the list of Chinese tech titans.

Wall Street Journal

Chevron Sells Global HQs In California, Expands In Texas

  • Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX) has sold its current California headquarters and plans to move into a leased space about one-third of the size. 
  • Chevron also signed a lease for nearly 400,000 square feet of space in a nearby office building that could house about 2,000 employees after interior construction finishes in late 2023.

Benzinga

Musk Touts Starlink's Utility In 'Heavy Seas & Hurricane Winds' As Ian Rages

  • Elon Musk highlighted the advantages of having a Starlink internet connection during rough weather as Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful storms to make landfall in the U.S.
  • Musk took to Twitter late on Wednesday and said the Starlink Maritime system enables high-speed internet connectivity even in "heavy seas & hurricane winds."

Apple May Build 'New' Car Project Team By End-2022, Says Analyst: What It Means For Cupertino's Self-Driving EV Plans

  • Apple's self-driving car continues to be pushed out despite on-and-off rumors about the project getting started.
  • Cupertino could soon have a well-set team in place for the car project, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from Taiwan-based TFI Securities. 
  • "My latest survey indicates that Apple will likely build the new Apple Car project team before the end of 2022," Kuo said in a tweet.

Amazon Bumps Payout For US Warehouse, Delivery Workers

  • Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) boosted pay for its U.S. front-line employees.
  • Average starting pay for front-line employees in customer fulfillment and transportation (or warehouse and delivery workers) increased from $18 per hour to more than $19 per hour, with employees earning between $16 and $26 per hour in the U.S.
  • Anytime Pay provides Amazon employees access to up to 70% of their eligible earned Pay whenever they choose and without fees.
  • Amazon also announced additional investments in career development programs.

Amazon Unveils Bedside Sleep Tracker

  • Amazon announced a contactless gadget that can monitor people's sleep.
  • The online retailer said its $139.99 sleep gadget, dubbed Halo Rise, tracks room temperature, humidity, and light, plus the breathing patterns of the person closest to it. 
  • Advanced machine learning and sensor technology provide highly accurate ambient analysis of sleep patterns.
  • The device can personalize a person's bedtime and morning routines when paired with Alexa.

Gilead Investigation: 2 Kingpins Associated With Fake HIV Medicine

  • U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly has ordered the freeze of several assets related to people and entities accused of operating a U.S. supply chain that distributes counterfeit bottles of Gilead Sciences Inc's (NASDAQ:GILD) HIV drugs.
  • Gilead has identified and named as defendants two individuals responsible for leading and orchestrating the counterfeit scheme.

H&M Proposes Cost Cut To Offset Economic Pressure

  • Fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB (OTC:HNNMY) has unveiled a SEK2 billion (~$178 million) cost savings plan to streamline the business further.
  • The company expects the savings from the program to become visible in the second half of 2023.
  • H&M's Q3 net sales increased by 3%. In local currencies, net sales decreased by 4%.
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