Intel shows strong revenue growth in third quarter

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Olumide Adesina

Intel shares surged strongly on Thursday’s extended trading as the chipmaker’s quarterly outlook and better-than-expected results exceeded expectations.
Intel’s revenue decreased 6% YoY in the fiscal third quarter, which concluded on September 28.

The business reported a net loss of $16.99 billion, or $3.88 per share compared to its net earnings of $310 million, or 7 cents per share, during the same period the previous year,

Intel’s restructuring charges of $2.8 billion for the quarter is part of a cost-cutting strategy. Additionally, there were $15.9 billion in impairment costs, partially related to goodwill impairment in the Mobileye unit and accelerated depreciation for Intel 7 process node production sites.

The board’s audit and finance committee authorized cost and capital reduction initiatives on October 28, including cutting Intel’s workforce by 16,500 employees and reducing its real estate footprint, the company stated in a filing. The job cuts were initially announced in August.

Intel also stated that the reorganization will be completed by the fourth quarter of 2025.“One of the largest reorganizations the company has undergone since its founding in 1968 is currently underway.” Intel’s chief, Pat Gelsinger, stated.

The chip-maker predicted revenue of $13.3 billion to $14.3 billion and adjusted earnings of 12 cents per share for the fiscal fourth quarter. Analysts had projected $13.66 billion in revenue and 8 cents adjusted earnings per share.

Intel also declared the release of Gaudi AI accelerators and Xeon 6 server processors. the board’s audit and finance committee approved cost and capital reduction actions, including reducing Intel’s real estate footprint and laying off 16,500 employees.
The job losses were first made public In August. According to Intel, the reorganization will be completed by the fourth quarter of 2025. The Data Center and AI sector generated $3.35 billion in revenue, around 9% higher than the $3.17 billion StreetAccount forecast.

Daily Crypto Roundup: Major Developments as Bitcoin White Paper Turns 16

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Arslan Butt

Bitcoin celebrated the 16th anniversary of its foundational white paper amid surging institutional interest and political maneuvers in the lead-up to the U.S. presidential election.

Trump Courts Crypto Voters as Election Nears

Former President Donald Trump made a strategic appeal to crypto voters by commemorating the 16th anniversary of Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin white paper on his Truth Social platform. Trump, who has previously pledged to end what he terms “Kamala’s war on crypto,” promised to ensure “Bitcoin will be made in the USA” and reiterated his commitment to commute Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht’s sentence if elected.

BlackRock ETF Sets New Inflow Record

In a strong signal of growing institutional adoption, BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) recorded its largest single-day inflow since launch, with $875 million entering the fund on October 30. This marks the thirteenth consecutive day of inflows, bringing the total to approximately $4.08 billion during this period. Market analysts are now speculating about the possibility of reaching billion-dollar daily inflows as Bitcoin’s price momentum continues.

Bitcoin’s Journey: From White Paper to Trillion-Dollar Asset

As the crypto community celebrated the 16th anniversary of the Bitcoin white paper, the leading cryptocurrency has achieved a market value exceeding $1.42 trillion, ranking it as the 10th largest asset globally. Mithil Thakore, CEO of Velar, noted Bitcoin’s remarkable evolution “from a niche digital experiment to a global asset class that rivals traditional stores of value like gold.”

Regulatory Landscape Shifts

The Blockchain Association reported that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s “regulation by enforcement” approach has cost crypto firms at least $426 million in litigation since 2021. Meanwhile, Binance announced a partnership with Amazon Web Services to enhance its KYC procedures, demonstrating the industry’s continued push toward regulatory compliance.

Gaming and Web3 Developments

The crypto gaming sector continues to attract significant investment, with VanEck’s private crypto fund backing Web3 gaming startup Gunzilla Games. However, Immutable, another major player in the space, revealed it received a Wells notice from the SEC regarding potential securities law violations related to its IMX token.

In the mining sector, Bitfarms expanded its operations through a second hosting agreement with Stronghold Digital Mining, deploying an additional 10,000 miners to their Pennsylvania facility.

Amazon’s cloud income grows faster than speed of light

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Olumide Adesina

Amazon’s third-quarter revenue and profitability are above forecasts amid the exponential growth in cloud computing and advertising. The stock rose by about 5% after the announcement.

Amazon Web Services’ cloud income is growing faster than it did at the same time last year while being marginally lower than anticipated. Sales rose 19% during the quarter compared to a 12% increase the previous year. The company faced slower growth in its cloud business in 2023 as consumers cut down on spending due to growing economic concerns.

AWS continues to develop more slowly than its main rivals. Alphabet’s Google Cloud revenue grew by about 35%, while Microsoft’s income from Azure and other cloud services was 33%.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy estimates that the company will spend around $75 billion on capital expenditures in 2024, and he thinks the figure will rise in 2025.
Jassy on a call with analysts, “Generative AI is driving the increase bumps here.”

He states that stockholders “will feel good about this long term, that we’re aggressively pursuing it.” He called the opportunity “an unusually large, maybe once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity.”

Advertising was another edge. Sales in the unit increased 19% year over year to $14.3 billion during the quarter, outpacing growth in Amazon’s primary retail segment.

Amazon continues to invest in data centers and hardware such as Nvidia GPUs to power its artificial intelligence products, resulting in an 81% increase in capital expenditures from $12.48 billion to $22.62 billion year over year. Amazon will unveil a new iteration of its Alexa voice assistant is driven by generative AI.

The company has already introduced AI products in its cloud and e-commerce operations. During an earnings call, Brian Olsavsky, the company’s chief financial officer, stated that 2024 capital expenditures will support the increasing need for IT infrastructure.

Amazon also stated that its revenue for the current quarter is expected to be between $181.5 billion and $188.5 billion, representing a 7% to 11% increase from the previous year. According to LSEG, the average analyst forecast of $186.2 billion was exceeded by the midpoint of that range, $185 billion.

Apple’s net income falls after a one-time charge in European tax

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Olumide Adesina

Apple’s fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and earnings per share were above Wall Street’s expectations, however, the company’s net income fell after it had to pay a one-time charge related to a European tax ruling.

Apple’s net income for the quarter was $14.73 billion, or 97 cents per share, as opposed to $22.96 billion, or $1.47 per share, during the same period last year. After deducting the one-time tax penalty, Apple’s adjusted earnings per share grew by 12% annually.

During Thursday’s extended trading, Apple’s stock dropped as much as 2%. The first indication of how well the iPhone 16 is doing in the market is the 6% increase in overall iPhone revenue. Apple had around a week of new product sales throughout the quarter after the release of its product on September 20. With about 49% of all sales, it remains Apple’s most significant product.

Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that the iPhone 15’s sales were “stronger than 14 in the year-ago quarter, and 16 was stronger than 15.”

Cook said the business was looking forward to Apple Intelligence, the AI system for Macs and iPhones that began rolling out this week as part of the iOS 18.1 update.

“We have already received positive feedback from developers and customers, and based on just three days of data, we have an extremely early statistic: Users are adopting iOS 18.1 at twice the rate they did 17.1 in the same quarter last year,” Cook stated.

During a call with analysts, Apple stated that it anticipates “low to mid-single digit” growth in sales for the December quarter. Additionally, it indicated that it anticipates services growth to be almost equal to its 12.87% growth rate from the previous year.

Apple’s iPad division grew the fastest in the hardware division, with sales rising 8% to $6.95 billion. Part of that resulted from pent-up desire. After not releasing any new iPads for 2023, Apple unveiled the iPad Pro and Air models in May. Mac’s revenue increased 2% annually to $7.74 billion during the quarter.

The Mexican stock market recorded a decline of 3.46% in October.

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Ignacio Teson

The domestic stock market declined for the third consecutive day, further widening its monthly losses after a mixed local earnings season.

Mexican stock exchanges closed with losses on Thursday. Local stock indices fell for the third straight day, expanding the accumulated loss in October following a mixed quarterly earnings season.

The benchmark index of the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV), the S&P/BMV IPC, lost 0.42% to close at 50,661.05 points. The FTSE BIVA, from the Institutional Stock Exchange (Biva), decreased by 0.37% to 1,042.33 points.

Within the benchmark index, most stocks closed lower. Notable declines included Becle, the producer of José Cuervo, down 3.77% to 26.3 pesos, Grupo México, which fell 3.15% to 104.69 pesos, and Coca-Cola Femsa, down 2.74% to 166.52 pesos.

The Mexican stock market has recorded three consecutive days of losses, with the local exchange suffering declines in eight of the last ten sessions. In October, the benchmark index fell 3.46%, coinciding with mixed quarterly results.

The Mexican peso regained some ground on the last trading day of October but closed the month with significant accumulated losses. The local currency advanced during the session due to a weakening dollar but remained pressured around the psychological level of 20 pesos.

The exchange rate ended the day at 20.0109 pesos per dollar. Compared to yesterday’s official close of 20.1695 pesos, data from Banco de México (Banxico) indicated a recovery of 15.86 cents, or 0.79%.

Oil prices extended their gains for a second consecutive session.

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Ignacio Teson

At the close of regular trading, Brent crude futures rose by 61 cents, or 0.84%, to $73.16 per barrel. December Brent futures expired on Thursday, while the more actively traded January contract settled at $72.81. WTI futures gained 65 cents, or 0.95%, to $69.26.

Israeli intelligence suggests that Iran is preparing to launch an attack on Israel from Iraqi territory in the coming days, possibly before the U.S. presidential election on November 5, Axios reported Thursday, citing two unnamed Israeli sources.

The attack is expected to be conducted from Iraq using a large number of drones and ballistic missiles, according to the Axios report. Launching the assault via Iran-backed militias in Iraq may be an attempt by Tehran to avoid a direct Israeli strike on strategic targets within Iran. This has renewed concerns that Israel may consider striking Iran again.

[[USOIL-graph]]

Iran, an OPEC member, produces approximately 3.2 million barrels per day, or about 3% of global output.

The week began with a significant sell-off, with Brent and WTI futures plummeting over 6% on Monday after Israel showed some restraint in its retaliatory strikes against Iran over the weekend.

The possibility that OPEC+ may delay a planned increase in oil production also provided support for prices on Thursday. A decision could be made next week, according to Reuters. OPEC+ is scheduled to meet on December 1 to discuss its next steps in policy.

The Mexican peso recorded a sharp decline in October.

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Ignacio Teson

The Mexican peso appreciated on the last trading day of October but still closed the month with a sharp cumulative decline, as markets brace for the U.S. presidential elections.

The peso regained ground on the final day of October due to a weakening U.S. dollar, though it remained under pressure near the psychological level of 20 pesos. The exchange rate closed at 20.0109 pesos per dollar, recovering 15.86 cents (or 0.79%) from the previous official close of 20.1695, according to data from Banco de México (Banxico).

During the session, the dollar traded in a range between a high of 20.1890 and a low of 19.9851 pesos. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the dollar against six major currencies, fell by 0.09% to 103.90 points.

Compared to September’s official close of 19.6921 pesos per dollar, the peso depreciated by 31.88 cents or 1.62%. Some analysts attributed part of this decline to market concerns about upcoming constitutional changes in Mexico.

[[USD/MXN–graph]]

The peso appreciated after hitting a two-year low the previous day, with traders weighing U.S. labor market and inflation data that did not alter expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts. If the 19.97 resistance holds on Friday, a weaker peso may be expected next week; however, if the peso strengthens, a drop in the exchange rate to 19.80 could be possible.

Earlier in the day, U.S. data showed a decline in weekly initial jobless claims and a slightly higher-than-expected rise in consumer spending in September, seasonally adjusted.

The peso’s sharp decline in October was largely due to market caution ahead of the U.S. presidential election, with the potential for a Trump victory, as well as rising U.S. Treasury yields. Political developments in the U.S. and recent legal adjustments in Mexico have added to the nervousness surrounding short-term peso buying.

Wall Street tumbles amid concerns over AI spending

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Ignacio Teson

The U.S. stock market declined in the last session of October, a day after Microsoft and Meta Platforms highlighted the costs tied to investments in the AI trend.

Wall Street’s main indices ended Thursday with losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which tracks 30 large-cap companies, fell by 0.90% to 41,763.46 points, while the S&P 500, representing 500 companies, dropped 1.86% to 5,705.45. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 2.76% to 18,095.15.

Shares of Meta Platforms (-4.09%) and Microsoft (-6.03%) fell despite both companies exceeding analyst earnings expectations in their recent reports. Both companies’ reports underscored high capital expenditure projections.

Apple surpassed Wall Street’s sales and earnings expectations for its fiscal fourth quarter on Thursday, driven by early sales of the iPhone 16—a new line of phones designed for advanced AI features, which launched near the end of the quarter.

[[SPX-graph]]

AI-related stocks in particular closed lower, as these reports raised doubts about a trend that has propelled the market this year. Alphabet’s shares (-1.96%), which had risen after its report the previous day, also took a hit.

Other stocks among the so-called “Magnificent Seven” tech giants closed lower as well. Amazon.com (-3.28%) and Apple (-1.92%) declined ahead of their quarterly results, while Tesla (-2.99%), which had already reported, also slid. Nvidia (-4.72%) remains the only one yet to report.

Wall Street closed out October with overall losses. The Dow Jones posted a monthly decline of 1.34%, while the S&P 500 fell by 0.99%, and the Nasdaq slipped 0.52%.