Alphabet to cut staff of health sciences unit Verily by 15%

Published

3 years ago

January 11, 2023

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The Verily website is displayed on a laptop computer in an arranged photograph taken in Arlington, Virginia, on Thursday, May 7, 2020.

Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

In an email to employees on Wednesday, Verily CEO Stephen Gillett said the company will lay off 15% of its staff in a restructuring move, as it strives for financial independence from parent company Alphabet. The cuts will affect about 240 people, a Verily spokesperson confirmed.

Verily, which specializes in health sciences, is one of Google’s sister companies, operating within Alphabet’s “Other Bets” category.

It’s the first known layoff to hit the Google parent company following a wave of industry layoffs and fears of a recession. Although Google has so far avoided the widespread job cuts that have hit other tech companies like Meta, employees have grown anxious if they could be next, CNBC has reported.

Gillett’s email instructed staff to work from home for the remainder of the week as Verily’s physical offices will be closed on Thursday and Friday. “Those who are in the office the office today can return home now,” it stated, specifying that the instruction also goes for employees who work from Google offices.

Some of Verily’s projects have included a contact lens that can detect diabetes symptoms, which was halted in 2018, and Project Baseline, an effort to aggregate health data with research organizations. It also provided a Covid-19 testing platform, which former President Trump highlighted at the start of the pandemic.

Some of Alphabet’s Other Bets include their own equity structure, CFO Ruth Porat explained in 2019, and Verily has been raising money from outside investors for several years. In 2017, Verily took in $800 million of outside capital from Singapore’s Temasek, and has since raised more than $2 billion in several more equity rounds.

Gillett said the cuts reflect discontinued programs and team “redundancy,” according to the emails, which were viewed by CNBC. It says it will offer severance and outplacement services “in the coming weeks and months” but did not provide details yet.

Gillett’s note stated that it will be “reducing or sunsetting” some parts of the business while increasing investment in others. Specifically, Verily will be discontinuing some early stage products, including “remote patient monitoring for heart failure and micro needles for drug delivery,” the email states. “We cannot do everything and have had to make some difficult choices,” wrote Gillett. The email said the company would hold an all-hands meeting Jan. 18 to explain the changes in more detail.

Gillett’s note also outlines several executive changes and the departure of Jordi Parramon, the president of Verily’s devices businesses who had been with the company “since its early days.”

The note said the company will notify laid off employees with an email sent to their Verily and personal emails entitled “Important Update Regarding Your Role.” Those who still have jobs will receive an email titled “Your Role at Verily.” Those who work out of the U.S. will hear from their business leaders on Wednesday or Thursday, the note stated.

“While communicating via email is not ideal, this was a deliberate decision, enabling us to communicate as efficiently and simultaneously as possible. We’re also taking today and the rest of the week to ensure each impacted Veep has a personal discussion with a leader and HR partner to discuss the details, answer questions, and provide support through the transition,” read the note.

“As we move into Verily’s next chapter, we are doubling down on our purpose, with the goal to ultimately be operating in all areas of precision health,” the note stated. “We will do this by building the data and evidence backbone that closes the gap between research and care. We will also focus on building a financially independent company and a thriving company culture.”

Alphabet and Verily declined to comment further.

Technology

Super Micro shares plunge 15% on weak results, disappointing guidance

Published

2 hours ago

August 5, 2025

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Super Micro shares plunge 15% on weak results, disappointing guidance

Charles Liang, CEO of Super Micro, speaks at the Computex conference in Taipei, Taiwan, on June 1, 2023.

Walid Berrazeg | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Super Micro Computer shares slid 15% in extended trading on Tuesday after the server maker reported disappointing fiscal fourth-quarter results and issued weak quarterly earnings guidance.

Here’s how the company did in comparison with LSEG consensus:

Earnings per share: 41 cents adjusted vs. 44 cents expected
Revenue: $5.76 billion vs. $5.89 billion expected

Super Micro’s revenue increased 7.5% during the quarter, which ended on June 30, according to a statement.

For the current quarter, Super Micro called for 40 cents to 52 cents in adjusted earnings per share on $6 billion to $7 billion in revenue for the fiscal first quarter. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were looking for 59 cents per share and $6.6 billion in revenue.

For the 2026 fiscal year, Super Micro sees at least $33 billion in revenue, above the LSEG consensus of $29.94 billion.

Super Micro saw surging demand starting in 2023 for its data center servers packed with Nvidia for handling artificial intelligence models and workloads. Growth has since slowed.

The company avoided being delisted from the Nasdaq after falling behind on quarterly financial filings and seeing the departure of its auditor.

As of Tuesday’s close, Super Micro shares were up around 88% so far in 2025, while the S&P 500 index has gained 7%.

Executives will discuss the results on a conference call starting at 5 p.m. ET.

WATCH: We have a runaway bull market right now, says Jim Cramer

Technology

Hinge Health stock pops 6% after first quarterly report since IPO

Published

2 hours ago

August 5, 2025

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Hinge Health stock pops 6% after first quarterly report since IPO

Hinge Health co-founders, Gabriel Mecklenburg and Daniel Perez celebrate its initial public offering at the New York Stock Exchange on May 22, 2025.

NYSE

Shares of Hinge Health popped 6% in extended trading on Tuesday after the digital physical therapy company reported quarterly results for the first time since its debut on the New York Stock Exchange in May.

Here’s how the company did based on average analysts’ estimates compiled by LSEG:

Loss: Loss per share of $13.10. That may not compare with the 9 cents per share earnings expected
Revenue: $139 million vs. $125 million expected

Revenue at Hinge increased 55% in the second quarter from $89.8 million during the same period last year, according to a release.

Hinge reported a net loss of $575.65 million, or $13.10 per share, compared to a loss of $12.93 million, a loss of 96 cents per share, during the same period a year earlier. The company said its GAAP loss from operations was $580.7 million, which included $591.0 million from stock-based compensation expenses.

“We’re still introducing ourselves to the world,” Hinge CEO Daniel Perez told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday. “The most important thing I’d hope for people to take away is the long-term potential of using software and connected hardware to automate care delivery itself.”

AMD reports weaker-than-expected earnings even as revenue tops estimates

Published

2 hours ago

August 5, 2025

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AMD reports weaker-than-expected earnings even as revenue tops estimates

Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, testifiy during the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing titled “Winning the AI Race: Strengthening U.S. Capabilities in Computing and Innovation,” in Hart building on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

Advanced Micro Devices reported quarter earnings on Tuesday that missed estimates. The stock slid about 4% in extended trading.

Here’s how the chipmaker did versus LSEG expectations for the quarter ended June:

Earnings per share: 48 cents adjusted versus 49 cents expected
Revenue: $7.69 billion versus $7.42 billion expected

For the current quarter, AMD expects sales of $8.7 billion, plus or minus $300 million, versus expectations of earnings of $8.3 billion.

AMD reported net income during its fiscal second quarter of $872 million, or 54 cents per share, increasing from $265 million, or 16 cents per share in the year-ago period. Nvidia’s overall sales rose 32% in the period from $5.84 billion a year earlier.

AMD is the second-biggest maker of graphics processing units (GPUs) for artificial intelligence behind Nvidia, which has the vast majority of the market. But big AI customers such as Meta and OpenAI are increasingly looking to AMD to provide an alternative to Nvidia’s pricey chips, especially for inference, or when AI models are deployed to the public.

During the quarter, AMD announced new AI chips called the MI400 that are expected to hit the market next year. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman committed to using AMD’s newest GPUs.

AMD is also grappling with chip export controls which have been placed on some of its AI chips because the U.S. government worries that powerful GPUs could be used by adversaries to surpass American capabilities or be used for military purposes.

The MI308 was previously barred for export to China in April, which the company said cost it $800 million in the June quarter. However, the company said in July that it expected shipments to resume after the Trump administration signaled that it would approve waivers. AMD said its outlook doesn’t include any revenue from its China-focused AI chip called the MI308 and its license applications are currently being reviewed by the Department of Commerce.

AMD’s adjusted gross margin during the quarter was 43%. The company said it would have been 54% if not for export control costs.

AMD’s main business, aside from GPUs, is making central processors, called CPUs, which compete with Intel to power more traditional servers.

Both are reported in the company’s data center segment, which had $3.2 billion in revenue, up 14% on an annual basis.

The other major segment for AMD is called Client and Gaming, which includes the company’s CPUs for laptops and desktops, and its GPUs for 3D gaming. That was up 69% on an annual basis to $3.6 billion. Client revenue by itself rose 57% to $2.5 billion, in line with the StreetAccount expectations of $2.56 billion, partially driven by strong demand for the company’s latest desktop CPUs, which it calls AMD Ryzen Zen 5.

Gaming revenue by itself was up 73% year-over-year to $1.1 billion, versus StreetAccount estimate of $784 million, with its growth due to increased demand for custom chips for game consoles and gaming GPUs, AMD said.