JPMorgan Chase Begins Layoffs, With More Planned, After Record Profits

/ / Financials /

Managers at JPMorgan Chase started to notify employees of job cuts last week, people familiar with the matter said, as part of a series of layoffs the bank plans to make throughout 2025. Some employees in the U.S. were notified of layoffs on Feb. 5, according to the people, who requested anonymity to discuss private matters. At least several of those layoffs were in the Houston offices. JPMorgan plans to announce additional cuts in mid-March, May, June, August, and September, the people said. Not every line of business will be impacted in each round of those layoffs. In February, fewer than 1,000 employees are going to be laid off, and was it unclear how many employees the firm plans to cut this year. The firm had some 317,000 employees as of December. A spokesperson for JPMorgan said on Wednesday that the cuts are “part of our regular management of the […]

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Micron expects margins to decline in the next quarter, and its stock price fell sharply after the open

/ / Technology

Micron CFO mentions various factors that could weigh on margins for next quarter but also says that period should mark the low point Micron Technology Inc. sees a few factors that could weigh on margins next quarter, and that’s pressuring the stock on Wednesday. The maker of memory chips already forecast a 38.5% gross margin at the midpoint for its February quarter, which would be down from the 39.5% level seen in the last quarter. But speaking at a Wolfe Research conference on Wednesday, Chief Financial Officer Mark Murphy said while that outlook is still intact, the company now expects “a few hundred basis points” of sequential margin decline in the May quarter. Micron’s stock (MU) is off 2.6% in Wednesday morning action, having pared losses after being down as much as 7.1% earlier in the session. It’s currently the worst performer in the PHLX Semiconductor Index SOX on the

Micron expects margins to decline in the next quarter, and its stock price fell sharply after the open Read Post »

Tesla Stock Is on a Terrible Run. It’s About Much More Than Musk and OpenAI

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

$Tesla (TSLA.US)$ stock is mired in a terrible losing streak, and there is no shortage of suspects to blame for the decline. So Barron’s gathered a police lineup and asked people to identify the culprit. We also asked market technicians what’s next for the stock. Coming into Wednesday trading, Tesla stock dropped for five consecutive trading days, losing about 16% in the process. Shares were down about 23% since the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration and about 32% from a record closing high of almost $480 in mid-December. Tesla stock was down 0.5% in after-hours trading at $326.75, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were both falling 0.1%. Why the drop? Investors might blame Elon Musk’s role in the newly created Department of Government Efficiency or his unsolicited $97 billion bid to control OpenAI. It could be the competitive threat from China’s BYD or just market randomness. Barron’s put

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Nvidia Stock Gains. Why Stargate and Meta Are in Focus for Investors.

/ / Technology /

Nvidia stock was edging up early Wednesday. The future of the Stargate Project infrastructure plan and the potential expansion of Meta Platforms’ in-house chip efforts are in focus for investors. Nvidia shares were rising 0.2% to $133.05 in premarket trading. The stock fell 0.6% on Tuesday. In the build up to the chip maker’s earnings report on Feb 26., the focus is on big spending commitments for AI infrastructure. Japan’s SoftBank Group said Wednesday that the Stargate Project — which aims to spend as much as $500 billion on AI infrastructure in the U.S. — won’t rely on SoftBank’s equity for funding after it booked a $2.42 billion loss for the last quarter of 2024. That could relieve concerns over the Japanese group’s volatile earnings posing an obstacle to Stargate. Nvidia is a technology partner for the project, which aims to build new AI data centers in the U.S. SoftBank

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Apple Collaborates With Alibaba for AI Features on IPhones in China

/ / Technology /

Apple teamed up with Alibaba (HKG:9988) to bring artificial intelligence features to iPhone users in China, South China Morning Post reported Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the deal. The US tech firm is eyeing to use Alibaba’s Qwen AI model and its “cutting edge” capabilities to make up for the absence of Apple Intelligence in iPhones in China, the report said. South China Morning Post is owned by Alibaba.

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Dan Ives Says Palantir Could Be Next Oracle Or Salesforce As AI Boom Drives Massive Software Spending, Highlights 8-10x Multiplier Effect

/ / Technology /

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives predicts Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) could emerge as a dominant force in the artificial intelligence software landscape, comparing it to industry giants Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) and Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM). What Happened: In a CNBC interview on Tuesday, Ives highlighted the multiplier effect of AI infrastructure spending, noting that “for every dollar spent on Nvidia chip, there’s an 8 to $10 multiplier across tech, across the ecosystem software.” He emphasized that this trend is particularly evident in companies like Palantir and Salesforce. The analyst’s bullish stance on Palantir comes amid the company’s remarkable stock performance, with shares up nearly 350% over the past year. The AI software firm recently reported strong fourth-quarter results, with revenue reaching $827.52 million, exceeding analyst expectations of $775.91 million. Ives pointed to Jevons Paradox – an economic theory suggesting increased efficiency leads to higher demand – as a key driver of AI software adoption. “This is the software age that’s

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McDonald’s Discounts Could Hurt Profit. Watch the Earnings on Monday.

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Discounts and promotions from McDonald’s might attract more customers back to its restaurants, but they might not be helpful to its earnings. McDonald’s is set to post quarterly results on Monday before the market opens. For the three months ended in December, analysts polled by FactSet expect the firm to post $2.85 in earnings per share and $6.45 billion in total revenue. While revenue is expected to come slightly higher than the year-ago period, earnings estimates are 3.4% down from a year ago. The fast food giant rolled out a series of discounts and promotions over the past few quarters, which could have cut into its profit. The stock is largely flat year to date, but has come down 6.6% from the recent high reached in October. McDonald’s has been trying to refuel growth in response to sluggish sales as consumers pulled back from restaurant spending amid inflation pressures. The

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Apple Ramping Up Hiring For Home Robotics Team, Says Top Analyst: What’s Brewing?

/ / Technology /

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is reportedly ramping up its recruitment efforts for its home robotics division. What Happened: In his latest weekly “Power On” newsletter, Bloomberg columnist Mark Gurman said that the company has posted several job listings for robotics specialists over the past few weeks. “As a member of the team, you’ll have the opportunity to work with a small team of highly skilled engineers and scientists to bring new experiences to Apple products,” the tech giant stated. Apple’s robotics development is handled by two teams: the Home Labs hardware engineering group and Kevin Lynch’s AI special projects team. They are focused on a tabletop robot and, in the future, possibly a humanoid model, Gurman said. The company is still in the early stages of researching mobile robots, both humanoid and non-humanoid. However, the tabletop robot is expected to debut by 2027. Why It Matters: Last month, Apple also published a research paper detailing a tabletop robot

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Amazon Capex Plans Signals Demand for AWS Still Outpaces Supply

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Amazon is planning to allocate more than $100 billion in capital expenditure this year as part of a push to build generative AI services. UBS analysts in a research note say the capex plans are a sign of higher demand, particularly as demand for on-premise to cloud infrastructure continues as IT budgets return to form. They estimate that about 70% will be allocated to Amazon Web Services. “Even as Amazon and the broader industry continues to face a shortage in chips/components, we believe the main takeaway here is that demand for AWS continues to outpace supply,” they say. Shares tick down 2.7% premarket after 1Q sales and operating income projections came up short of Wall Street’s expectations.

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ASML Posts Lower FY24 Net Income; Net Sales Up

/ / Technology /

ASML Holding (ASML.AS) said Wednesday that net income dropped, while net sales for full-year 2024 rose year over year. Net income for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2024, was 7.57 billion euros, compared with 7.84 billion euros earlier. EPS moved to 19.24 euros from 19.89 euros. The Dutch semiconductor equipment developer’s net sales were 28.26 billion euros, compared with 27.56 billion euros a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting 28.06 billion euros in sales, 7.48 billion euros in net income, and 19.1 euros in EPS. Meanwhile, the board proposed a third interim dividend of 1.52 euros and a final dividend of 1.84 euros per share. The third interim dividend is payable on Feb. 19. This will take the full-year dividend to 6.40 euros per share, up from 6.10 euros in the previous year.

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ASML Results Will Provide Significant Relief to Market

/ / Technology /

ASML Holding reported a strong set of earnings and orders for the fourth quarter that should inject some relief into the market after the DeepSeek fallout earlier in the week, Citi analysts write in a note to clients. The Dutch semiconductor-equipment maker ended the year with a strong fourth-quarter order intake of 7.09 billion euros, the analysts say, noting the figure is well ahead of even the most bullish expectations. Analysts had forecast 3.99 billion euros in orders, according to consensus estimates by Visible Alpha.

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ASML’s 1Q Guidance Is Better Than Expected

/ / Technology /

ASML Holding’s sales and gross margin forecasts for the current quarter are stronger than expected, Citi analysts write in a note to investors. The Dutch semiconductor-equipment maker expects sales between 7.5 billion euros and 8 billion euros in the first quarter, with a gross margin between 52% and 53%. Analysts note that the mid-point of sales guidance at 7.75 billion euros is above consensus of 7.11 billion euros. The margin mid-point is also about 140 basis points above consensus of 51.1%, they say.

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