Connect with us

Published

on

Todd Haselton | CNBC

Apple will soon allow iPhone users to put credit card rewards from Apple Card and additional funds from separate bank accounts into an interest-bearing savings account.

In a press release on Thursday, Apple said the feature is expected to launch in the “coming months,” and the FDIC-insured account will be administered by Goldman Sachs, the bank and lender behind the Apple Card. Apple said it isn’t announcing an annual yield yet as interest rates are moving rapidly.

Apple is expanding its consumer financial services offerings as it seeks to broaden the use of iPhones with banking and simple payment and credit features. The company operates a payments network with Apple Pay and offers a credit card. It has plans to allow people to use iPhones as point-of-sale devices and to offer buy-now-pay-later lending later this year.

Goldman Sachs, long known as a premier Wall Street investment bank, is also bolstering its consumer business, partially through partnerships with Apple. Earlier this year, Apple announced a buy-now-pay-later product that used some Goldman infrastructure, but Apple said it planned to handle its own credit decisions and extend loans.

By jumping into interest-bearing accounts, Apple is capitalizing on rising rates as the Federal Reserve tries to tamp down soaring inflation. Many traditional brick-and-mortar banks haven’t raised interest rates on savings accounts even as rates broadly are going up. The national average interest rate for a savings account is only 0.16%, according to a Bankrate survey.

Apple representatives said the savings account would offer an interest rate that’s competitive with the best rates available and will be the same for all users.

Goldman Sachs already offers savings accounts through its Marcus brand that have a 2.15% annual percentage yield.

Apple said it won’t require accounts to have minimum balances and it won’t charge fees. Users can automatically deposit the Apple Card rewards, called Apple Cash, into the account.

Within the Wallet app, users will be able to access a dashboard showing account balance and interest accrued. Apple said the feature would first start to roll out for beta testers through a future iOS release.

WATCH: Goldman Sachs is approving subprime credit scores for Apple Cards

Goldman Sachs is approving subprime credit scores for Apple Cards

Continue Reading

Technology

CoreWeave CEO responds to data center delays as stock plunges. Core Scientific shares fall

Published

on

By

CoreWeave CEO responds to data center delays as stock plunges. Core Scientific shares fall

CoreWeave CEO responds to data center delay as stock falls

CoreWeave shares sank 13% on Tuesday after CEO Mike Intrator addressed delays at a third-party data center developer that hit full-year guidance in its latest earnings report.

“Quite frankly, every single part of this quarter went exactly as we planned, except for one delay at a singular data center,” Intrator told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Tuesday.

He then clarified that a “singular data center provider” is more accurate.

“Some people might think it’s one complex, but when I go over the numbers, we’re talking about multiple places,” CNBC’s Jim Cramer said. “And it just so happens that the places are all connected to an outfit called Core Scientific that you tried to buy.”

Cramer noted delays at complexes in Texas, Oklahoma and North Carolina.

Intrator said the companies have been working together on infrastructure for a long time a would continue work to bring it online. He did not directly confirm that Core Scientific is the third-party provider.

CoreWeave tried to acquire Core Scientific for $9 billion earlier this year. Core Scientific shareholders voted against the proposed deal. Core Scientific shares sank 7% Tuesday.

During CoreWeave’s quarterly earnings call on Monday, JPMorgan Securities analyst Mark Murphy asked if the delay was related to Core Scientific, but Intrator declined to name the company. At another point in the call, the CEO suggested that just one data center, not multiple sites, were affected.

“There was a problem at one data center that’s impacting us, but there are 41 data centers in our portfolio,” Intrator said.

Read more CNBC tech news

At a different point in the call, CoreWeave’s CFO Nitin Agrawal said the delays stem from “a single provider, data center provider partner.”

When reached for comment about how many sites were affected, CoreWeave did not provide a number and pointed to Intrator’s statements on the earnings call and during his “Squawk on the Street” interview.

CoreWeave, which provides infrastructure for artificial intelligence companies, reported third-quarter results on Monday that showed $1.36 billion in revenue for the period, up 134% from $583.9 million a year ago. But CoreWeave now sees 2025 revenue coming in between $5.05 billion and $5.15 billion, below the average analyst estimate of $5.29 billion.

Intrator told CNBC on Tuesday that CoreWeave has teams of employees working with contractors and Core Scientific at those sites “every single day” to get things back on track.

“It became apparent to us in Q3 that there were delays at the facility,” Intrator said. “CoreWeave responded by deploying our own boots on the ground to ensure that everything was being done in order to move those facilities along as quickly as possible.”

Intrator told analysts on Monday that the delays would not affect its backlog or get the full value from contracts.

Core Scientific did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CoreWeave has been on a deal-making blitz as big tech companies and AI startups race to build out their computing infrastructure.

The company announced in September that it agreed to provide Meta with $14.2 billion of AI cloud infrastructure, just days after expanding its contract with OpenAI to $22.4 billion.

CoreWeave slides after earnings: Here's what to know

Continue Reading

Technology

Analysts call this lagging portfolio stock a buy — plus, what’s behind Nvidia’s decline

Published

on

By

Analysts call this lagging portfolio stock a buy — plus, what's behind Nvidia's decline

Continue Reading

Technology

Rocket Lab rises 3% on record third-quarter revenue, launch backlog

Published

on

By

Rocket Lab rises 3% on record third-quarter revenue, launch backlog

Cheng Xin | Getty Images

Rocket Lab‘s stock rose as much as 3% on Tuesday after the space company posted record revenues in the third-quarter as it scoops up more launch deals and builds its backlog.

The company, which makes satellites and rockets and provides launch services to its customers, on Monday reported revenue of $155 million for the period. That surpassed the $152 million forecast from analysts polled by LSEG, and it was up 48% from about $105 million a year ago. Rocket Lab also posted a smaller-than-expected loss of 3 cents per share, versus the 10-cent per share loss anticipated.

Additionally, Rocket Lab issued strong guidance for the current quarter, saying it expects revenues between $170 million and $180 million. Analysts had forecast $172 million in revenues.

Rocket Lab said it’s experiencing a record backlog, with 49 rocket launches on contract. The company said it signed 17 of those deals during the third quarter and plans to close out the year with over 20 launches.

In an earnings release, CEO Peter Beck said the Long Beach, California, company is “just days away” from reaching a new annual launch record. Rocket Lab is also tackling mergers and acquisitions that target key defense initiatives such as President Donald Trump’s missile defense system plan known as the ‘Golden Dome,” Beck added.

Competition is intensifying in the space technology sector as the U.S. government and NASA lean on more independent contractors, including Elon Musk‘s SpaceX, to power missions to return to the moon. Growing excitement has also brought a wave of space companies to the public markets this year, including Texas-based Firefly Aerospace.

Last month, Rocket Lab’s stock jumped more than 31% after announcing a slew of new launch deals. Shares have more than doubled this year and surged nearly 270% over the last twelve months. The stock has pulled back about 13% in November amid a broader market selloff.

During the third quarter, the company closed its acquisition of satellite sensor maker Geost and opened a new launch site for its Neutron rocket.

Rocket Lab reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $26.3 million, topping the $21 million to $23 million loss range previously forecast. Analysts anticipated a $22.2 million adjusted EBITDA loss, according to FactSet.

The company expects adjusted EBITDA losses to range between $23 million and $29 million in the fourth quarter, surpassing the $13 million loss forecast by FactSet.

WATCH: Rocket Lab CEO talks competing for Space Force contracts

Rocket Lab CEO talks competing for Space Force contracts

Continue Reading

Trending