TikTok is ready for a protracted legal battle in the United States. UMC and Intel will form a foundry alliance. Tesla said it would accelerate the launch of more affordable models. The US FTC seeks to block the merger of two manufacturers of high-end handbags. SAP Pharmaceutical, Soundfield, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, PepsiCo, United Parcel Service, Newke Steel, Raytheon Technologies, Lockheed Martin, GE Aerospace, General Motors and Tesla announced results. TikTok is gearing up for a protracted legal battle against a piece of legislation in the United States. Under the legislation, if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, refuses to sell the popular video platform, the app will be banned in its largest market. After the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill last weekend, the likelihood of TikTok being banned in the U.S. has increased significantly, so Wall Street is betting on who will benefit the most and who will be hurt. If TikTok does get banned in the United States, it is expected that the main beneficiaries will be those companies that need it the least, with Meta and Google being the winners and Oracle the losers.
Semiconductor giants UMC and Intel will form an alliance in the areas of foundry of mature products used in communications and automotive. Some of Intel's U.S. factories will be jointly operated by the two companies to produce products for infrastructure. Catching up with TSMC, the largest foundry company that is expanding its customer base in the U.S. and increasing production in Japan and Europe. The two companies will jointly develop semiconductor technology equivalent to a mature generation with a wire width of 12 nanometers for contract manufacturing. The company will jointly operate Intel's three existing plants in Arizona, U.S., and will start mass production of semiconductors for communications by 2027.
According to the latest data released by Counterpoint Research, China's smartphone sales increased by 1.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024, marking the second consecutive quarter of positive year-on-year growth. In terms of the share of each manufacturer, vivo ranked first, with a market share of 17.4%, down 0.4% from the same period last year. Honor's share was 16.1%, a year-on-year increase of 11.5%. Apple's share was 15.7%, down 19.1% year-on-year. Huawei's share was 15.5%, up 69.7% year-on-year. OPPO's share was 15.3%, down 15.5% year-on-year. Xiaomi's share was 14.6%, up 8.6% year-on-year.
The prices of domestic home appliances are polarized. In white goods, the price per washing machine has risen by 30% in 10 years, and the refrigerator has risen by 15%. The number of dual-income households has increased, and the "time-saving demand" to reduce the burden of housework has played a driving role. From the point of view of TV prices, large-size TVs have dropped by about 4%. Watching videos on smartphones has increased, and demand for TVs has been sluggish. Depending on whether it is for housework or entertainment, there is a differentiation of home appliances.
After becoming the world's largest auto exporter for the first time in 2023, China maintained a strong growth rate in auto exports in the first quarter of 2024. According to the China Passenger Car Association, exports of 490,000 vehicles in March 2024, up 27%, and 1.32 million units in the January-March period, up 23%. From the perspective of average export prices, the average export price of automobiles from January to March 2024 was 19,000 US dollars, which was basically the same as last year. From January to March 2024, 460,000 units of new energy vehicles were exported, accounting for 34.8% of the total.
Tesla said it would speed up the rollout of more affordable models. The electric car maker previously announced that it would start mass production of such vehicles in the second half of 2025, and now plans to bring production forward. The company has been facing a decline in sales due to weak demand for electric vehicles. As part of a company-wide layoff, Tesla disbanded a newly formed marketing team, reversing a traditional advertising effort endorsed by CEO Elon Musk less than a year ago. The "growth content" team, which consisted of about 40 employees and was overseen by senior manager Alex Ingram, has been laid off.
Iveco Group announces that Olof Persson will succeed Gerrit Marx as Group CEO on July 1, 2024. Gerrit Marx will leave and return to CNH Industrial as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2024. He will succeed Scott Wine, who has requested to leave the company at the end of the current three-year business plan to pursue other interests. During his more than three-year tenure as CEO of Wine, CNH was spun off from Iveco to become a pure agricultural and construction machinery company.
Giant investment firms are taking over the financial system. Now, the money managed by top investment firms is comparable to the total economic volume of many large countries. These companies are moving into new areas of business, blurring Wall Street's division of labor and sidelining the once-dominant banks. According to estimates by Counterpoint Research, traditional asset managers, private equity managers and hedge funds manage $43.5 trillion in assets, nearly double the $23 trillion in assets of banks. The four largest mutual fund managers, BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, State Street and Vanguard Group, have approximately $26 trillion in assets under management.
This week, McKinsey's 3,000 partners met in Copenhagen for the first time in two years, and the firm's leadership sent a positive message, noting that the consulting market appears to be recovering after more than a year of sluggish growth. However, the mood in the hall was a little subtle, as the economic upturn wasn't fast enough to prevent the 45,000-employee company from making another mass layoff. McKinsey's mid-year assessment is the latest attempt to increase "attrition."
Ahead of the United Nations (UN) talks on the first legally binding treaty aimed at reducing pollution, Exxon is leading a pushback against plans to limit plastic production. Karen McKee, head of product solutions at ExxonMobil, one of the world's largest plastics producers, said, "The problem is pollution. The problem is not plastic. ”
Novartis announced that former Squibb Chairman Giovanni Caforio will be nominated as Chairman of the Board at the 2025 Annual General Meeting to succeed Joerg Reinhardt, who is nearing the end of his term.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit on Monday seeking to block the merger of two premium handbag makers, saying the combined company would have too much power in the affordable luxury handbag market. In blocking Tapestry's $8.5 billion takeover of rival Capri Holdings, the FTC also targeted their joint power as employers. The company said the deal could have a negative impact on employees' wages and workplace benefits. The agency said in a statement that the combination of Tapestry and Capri would employ about 33,000 people worldwide.
JD Sports, Britain's largest sporting goods retailer, announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to buy its U.S. counterpart, Hibbett, for about $1.1 billion to accelerate its expansion in the United States. Hibbett also runs the sporting goods chain City Gear, which has 1,169 stores in the U.S. and sells top brands, including Nike Inc. and Adidas Inc., especially footwear.
Financial Reporting Information
SAP, Europe's largest software company, announced its results for the first quarter of 2024. Quarterly revenue increased 8% year-on-year to €8.04 billion, while cloud services revenue increased 24% year-on-year to €3.93 billion. Operating loss for the quarter was 787 million euros, compared to an operating profit of 803 million euros in the prior-year quarter, due to a loss due to restructuring.
Spotify Technology, a streaming music service giant, has announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2024. Total revenue for the quarter was 3.64 billion euros, up 20 percent year-on-year. Operating profit was 168 million euros, compared to a loss of 156 million euros in the prior-year quarter. Net income amounted to 197 million euros, compared to a net loss of 225 million euros in the prior-year quarter. Spotify's total monthly active users (MAU) in the first quarter were 615 million, still up 19% year-over-year.
Novartis reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter of 2024. Quarterly revenue rose 10% to $11.83 billion. Adjusted operating profit increased 16% to $4.54 billion.
PepsiCo, Inc. Announced results for the first quarter of 2024. Net revenue for the quarter was $18.25 billion, compared to $17.846 billion in the year-ago quarter. Net income attributable to the Company for the quarter was $2,042 million, compared to $1,932 million in the year-ago quarter.
United Parcel Service (UPS) First Quarter 2024 Results. Total revenue for the quarter was $21.7 billion, compared to $22.9 billion in the year-ago quarter, down 5.3% year-over-year. Among them, the U.S. domestic revenue was US$14.2 billion, the international business revenue was US$4.26 billion, and the supply chain solutions revenue was US$3.22 billion. Net income for the quarter was $1,113 million, compared to $1,895 million in the year-ago quarter.
Nucor Corporation announces first-quarter 2024 results. Net sales for the quarter were $8,137 million, compared to $8,710 million in the year-ago quarter. Net income attributable to shareholders of the Company for the quarter was $845 million, compared to $1,137 million in the year-ago quarter.
Raytheon Technologies (RTX) reports first-quarter 2024 results. Quarterly sales were $19.3 billion, compared to $17.2 billion in the year-ago quarter. Net income for the quarter was $1,709 million, compared to $1,426 million in the year-ago quarter.
Lockheed Martin Corporation announced first-quarter 2024 results. Net sales for the quarter were $17,195 million, compared to $15,126 million in the year-ago quarter. Net income for the quarter was $1,545 million, compared to $1,689 million in the year-ago quarter.
GE Aerospace announced its first-quarter 2024 results, including GE Vernova. Total quarterly revenue was $16.1 billion, compared to $14.5 billion in the year-ago quarter, up 11% year-over-year. GE Aerospace's adjusted revenue was $11 billion, up 34% year-over-year, and operating profit was $1.5 billion, up 24% year-over-year.
General Motors announced its first-quarter 2024 results. Quarterly revenue was $43.014 billion, compared with $39.985 billion in the same period last year, a year-on-year increase of 7.6%. Among them, the revenue of the automotive business was US$39.2 billion, compared with US$36.6 billion in the same period last year. Net income attributable to shareholders for the quarter was $2.98 billion, compared to $2.395 billion in the same period last year, an increase of 24.4% year-on-year.
Tesla reported first-quarter 2024 results, with profit and revenue missing expectations for the third consecutive quarter. Total revenue for the quarter was $21.3 billion, compared to $23.3 billion in the year-ago quarter. Among them, the revenue of the automobile business was 17.378 billion US dollars, compared with 19.963 billion US dollars in the same period last year, a year-on-year decrease of 13%. Net income attributable to common shareholders for the quarter was $1,129 million, compared to $2,513 million in the same period last year, a year-on-year decrease of 55%.
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