Temu, a subsidiary of Pinduoduo, will shift its focus outside the United States. Sharp will stop operating its LCD panel plant for TVs. Tesla faces significant challenges in promoting FSD technology. Anglo American rejects BHP's improved acquisition proposal. Alibaba, Tencent, Sony, Fujifilm, Bayer, Vodafone, and Home Depot announced results. In just over a year, Temu, an online shopping platform founded by a Chinese company, has become the most downloaded app in the United States. Temu, a low-priced goods app popular with U.S. consumers, will shift its focus outside the U.S. to the U.S. Temu, which is owned by Chinese e-commerce giant PDD Holdings, wants to manage risk and seek other sources of growth. TikTok's dispute with the U.S. government is one of the reasons for this shift. With slowing growth and increasing censorship of TikTok, Temu, a low-priced goods app based in China, is looking to reduce its reliance on American shoppers.
Walmart is cutting hundreds of company jobs and requiring most remote employees to return to the office. In addition, the company is asking employees working in smaller offices in Dallas, Atlanta, and Toronto to move to other core hubs, such as Walmart's corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, as well as Hoboken, New Jersey, or Northern California. Walmart will still allow employees to work remotely part of the time, as long as they are in the office most of the time. Walmart is the largest employer in the United States, with 1.6 million U.S. employees.
US semiconductor giant Intel has entered exclusive talks with Apollo Global to finance an $11 billion chip manufacturing plant in Ireland. At present, large corporations are increasingly turning to private capital groups rather than banks to fund their expansion projects. Intel has been in talks to raise funds for a major expansion of its semiconductor manufacturing facility. The company is shifting its supply chain from Asia to Western Europe and North America, and is modernizing its chip manufacturing production facilities to accommodate the rapid development of AI technology.
Sharp will stop operating its LCD panel factory for TVs. This plant was the main reason for Sharp's loss of more than 200 billion yen in fiscal 2022 (ending March 2023). The price of LCD panels for TVs fell to half of their recent highs due to increased production by Chinese companies. In addition, Sharp is also considering seconding human resources from the LCD business to Sony Group's semiconductor plant. Sharp will embark on fundamental structural reforms to rebuild its operations. Sakai Display Products Corporation, a subsidiary of Sharp, will cease production by the end of September. The operating rate of the factory is low and it continues to lose money.
The European Union has launched an investigation into X to assess whether Elon Musk's social network qualifies as an important gateway between businesses and consumers, the latest EU investigation into U.S. companies under its sweeping digital competition law. Under the EU's Digital Markets Act, some of the world's largest tech companies, considered "gatekeepers" by the EU, must comply with numerous rules designed to promote competition in the digital advertising, online search and app ecosystems.
As an aging population could weigh on productivity growth, German companies are experimenting with AI technology, but they are still lagging behind countries such as China in terms of AI adoption and investment. German companies are gradually experimenting with AI to improve productivity, but some warn that the AI dividends may be years away. AI technology is expected to increase productivity by reducing repetitive tasks and freeing up employees to work new, higher-value tasks.
Tesla faces significant challenges in promoting its Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology, with only 2% of free trial users opting to subscribe so far after the company allowed users in the U.S. to try FSD for free for a month. This raises concerns about the future of this technology. The tepid subscription rate casts doubt on market expectations for the new FSD system.
Subaru plans to launch four electric vehicles (EVs) that will be developed in collaboration with Toyota Motor. The four EVs will be launched by the end of 2026 at the latest, mainly in the U.S. market. The EVs produced at Subaru's Yajima plant are supplied to Toyota, while those produced at Toyota's plant in the U.S. are supplied to Subaru. Subaru plans to sell 200,000 EVs annually worldwide by 2026. After that, the company aims to launch its own EV by the end of 2028 and expand its hybrid products. President Atsushi Osaki pointed out that while there are some who believe that demand for EVs is stagnating, the momentum for EV adoption to a certain extent will not change in the medium to long term.
Stellantis Group and Leapmotor announced the completion of the establishment of Leapmotor International, a joint venture led by Stellantis Group, which is 51% owned by Stellantis Group and 49% owned by Leapmotor. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the joint venture management team is currently preparing for the launch of the C10 and T03 electric models in Europe. With the help of Stellantis Group's global distribution channels, Leapmotor International plans to launch Leapmotor in 9 European markets from September this year: France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Greece and Romania.
Stellantis is in talks with Vale and China's Huayou Cobalt to invest in a nickel smelter in Indonesia to secure the supply of battery metals critical to its EV expansion plans. If the deal is finalized, it will bring a rare Western investor to Indonesia's nickel industry. Stellantis, owner of the Peugeot, Fiat and Jeep brands, is in talks with Vale Indonesia to invest in a high-pressure acid leaching plant to convert low-grade nickel ore into battery-grade metal. Indonesia is the world's largest producer of nickel, which is essential for electric vehicles.
Anglo American has rejected an improved takeover offer from rival BHP Billiton, which values the UK-listed miner at £34 billion. The move intensified the rivalry between the two global mining giants. Anglo American's board reiterated that the offer was "extremely unattractive" to its shareholders. The merger of the two groups will create the world's largest copper producer.
Pfizer plans to regain some of the goodwill it gained from launching its best-selling COVID vaccine three years ago by putting the Pfizer for All brand on a direct-to-consumer drug platform. According to a filing from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the drugmaker filed a trademark application in mid-April for a website and app that provides medical information, mail-order pharmacies and telehealth services to U.S. patients under the brand name Pfizer for All. These early-stage plans are the latest in an effort by pharmaceutical companies to bypass industry middlemen and sell drugs directly to patients in the United States.
Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical has struck a deal worth up to $2.2 billion to develop an Alzheimer's vaccine developed by Swiss startup AC Immune. Pharmaceutical companies are currently racing to invest in potentially lucrative new therapies for this condition. The vaccine is part of a wave of new drugs that are on the way to the market, including lecanemab (Leqembi), developed by Japan's Eisai and approved by U.S. regulators last year.
Financial Reporting Information
Alibaba Group announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of fiscal 2024 ended March 31. The revenue in the fourth fiscal quarter was 221.874 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7%. Among them, Taotian Group's quarterly revenue was 93.216 billion yuan, Cloud Intelligence Group's revenue was 25.595 billion yuan, International Digital Business Group's revenue was 27.448 billion yuan, Cainiao Group's revenue was 24.557 billion yuan, Local Life Group's revenue was 14.628 billion yuan, and Dawen's entertainment Group's revenue was 4.945 billion yuan. quarterly net profit was 919 million yuan, down 96% year-on-year; Non-GAAP, net profit was 24.418 billion yuan, down 11% year-on-year. The annual revenue was 941.168 billion yuan, the net profit was 71.332 billion yuan, and the net profit according to US generally accepted accounting principles was 157.479 billion yuan.
Tencent Holdings released its financial results for the first quarter of 2024. Quarterly revenue was 159.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6%. Profit attributable to equity holders was RMB41.9 billion, up 62% year-on-year. Non-IFRS profit attributable to equity holders was RMB50.3 billion, up 54% year-on-year. In the first quarter, online advertising revenue was 26.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26%; The revenue of financial technology and enterprise services business was 52.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7%. Value-added service revenue was 78.6 billion yuan, down 0.9% year-on-year. Among them, the game revenue in the international market was 13.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3%; local game revenue was 34.5 billion yuan, down 2% year-on-year; Social network revenue was 30.5 billion yuan, down 2% year-on-year.
MINISO announced that for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, its revenue was RMB3.724 billion, up 26.0% year-on-year. The profit during the period was 586 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.4%. Adjusted net profit was RMB617 million, up 27.7% year-on-year. Adjusted EBITDA was $965 million, up 36.7% year-over-year. As of March 31, 2024, the retail business of the MINISO brand has reached an important milestone of 6,630 stores. The number of MINISO stores in Chinese mainland reached 4,034, and the number of MINISO stores in overseas markets was 2,596.
Sony Group announced its results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024. Sales and revenues were 130208 billion yen, compared to 109744 billion yen in the previous year. Operating profit for the fiscal year was 1,208.8 billion yen, compared to 1,302.4 billion yen in the previous year. Net income attributable to Group shareholders for the fiscal year was 970.6 billion yen, compared to 1,005.3 billion yen in the previous year. By business, the game and network services business generated sales of 4,267.7 billion yen, the music business sales of 1,619.0 billion yen, the film and television business sales of 1,493.1 billion yen, the entertainment technology and services business sales of 2,453.7 billion yen, and the imaging and sensing solutions business sales of 1,602.7 billion yen. Financial services revenue was 1,770 billion yen.
Fujifilm Holdings announced its results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024. The Group's sales revenue increased by 3.6% year-on-year to 2,960.9 billion yen. Operating profit reached 276.7 billion yen, up 1.3% year-on-year. Net income attributable to Fujifilm Holdings increased by 11.0% year-on-year to 243.5 billion yen. By business segment, sales revenue from healthcare sales was 975.1 billion yen, and operating profit was 97.4 billion yen. Sales of high-performance materials were 690 billion yen, and operating profit was 42.9 billion yen. Revenue from video sales reached 469.7 billion yen, and operating profit reached 101.9 billion yen. Business Innovation had overall sales of 826.1 billion yen and operating profit of 70.8 billion yen.
Bayer Group announces results for the first quarter of 2024. Group sales amounted to 13,765 million euros in the quarter, compared to 14,389 million euros in the prior-year quarter. Net income for the quarter was 2.0 billion euros, compared to 2.178 billion euros in the prior-year quarter. By business, Crop Science generated sales of 7,907 million euros and EBIT profit of 2,063 million euros. The Pharmaceuticals division generated sales of 4,358 million euros and EBIT profit of 872 million euros. The Consumer Health division generated sales of 1,432 million euros and EBIT profit of 229 million euros.
Vodafone announced its results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024. Group revenues for the fiscal year amounted to 36,717 million euros, compared to 37,672 million euros in the previous fiscal year. Adjusted EBITDAaL, excluding the sale of its Spanish and Italian operations, increased organically by 2.2 percent to EUR 11.02 billion. Net profit attributable to owners of the parent company amounted to 1.14 billion euros in the fiscal year, compared to 11.838 billion euros in the previous fiscal year.
The Home Depot, a U.S. home building materials retailer, announced its results for the first quarter of fiscal 2024. Quarterly net sales of $36.418 billion fell 2.3% year-over-year, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of year-over-year sales declines as Home Depot struggles to overcome a weak housing market and declining demand for big-ticket goods. Net profit was US$3.600 billion, down 7.0% from US$3.873 billion in the same period last year.
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