Priority Bicycles has just released an eye-catching electric version of the company’s Coast cruiser bike. Known as the e-Coast, the new e-bike is designed to be as “hassle-free” as possible, including weather protection, hydraulic disc brakes, and a Gates carbon belt drive.
New York-based Priority Bicycles is one of the rare pedal bicycle companies that puts just as much effort into its electric bike designs. Instead of white labeling generic e-bikes, Priority has launched nicely refined and high-end e-bikes sporting mid-drive motors and quality components.
Since the new e-Coast is designed to target more budget-friendly shoppers, this e-bike comes with a 500W rear hub motor instead of a mid-drive motor. But the rest of the bike is still replete with the same type of components we have come to expect from Priority.
The e-Coast is based on the company’s pedal version of the bike, but features several modifications as part of its electric upgrade.
As the company’s CEO and founder David Weiner explained:
After the success of our traditional Coast model, we began working to bring an electric version to customers who seek the beach cruiser aesthetic with the mobility of an e-bike. We purposely designed The e-Coast to be like a seafaring vessel; it is the perfect marriage of beach cruiser comfort, extended travel distance of an electric bicycle, and the hassle-free maintenance Priority is known for. It always feels good to be an innovator and bring something to market people have never seen before, especially for riders who want to focus more on enjoying the sand and water and less about how it’s creating wear and tear on their ride.
That hassle-free design can be attributed to three main areas. First, the bike is built to be weather-resistant by using non-corroding hardware and materials. Beach cruisers are often ridden in areas with significant salt spray, and so non-corroding hardware is a major differentiator to keep a quality bike working well for years.
Next, the Priority e-Coast comes with a Gates Carbon Drive, which is a carbon-fiber reinforced belt that replaces a chain on a traditional bike. A belt drive is essentially maintenance-free and lasts for longer than chains. There’s no need to oil it and it is actually more efficient over its entire lifespan than a chain (since chains may start out slightly more efficient but reduce their efficiency as they age and wear).
Lastly, the e-Coast is outfitted with hydraulic disc brakes. This is another nearly maintenance-free component that removes the need to adjust the brakes due to the stretch in mechanical brake cables. Hydraulic brakes also give stronger stopping power with less force needing to be applied to the brake levers.
That extra stopping power is a nice thing to have on a bike like this, which can be set into Class 3 mode with a top speed of 28 mph (45 km/h) on pedal assist. That requires user reprogramming though, since the bike ships in Class 2 mode with a top speed of 20 mph (32 km/h) on both throttle and pedal assist. Riders are recommended to check with their local e-bike laws before unlocking the full 28 mph top speed.
The e-Coast sports a pair of 26″ balloon tires and holds its battery in back as part of a rear cargo rack. That 500 Wh removable battery offers a range of between 20-60 miles (32-96 km), depending on how fast you ride and whether or not you’re doing more power-hungry throttle riding or just cruising along with battery-sipping pedal assist.
The new bike is priced at $1,799 for launch when using the code LAUNCH200. But that promotion only lasts a week, and the model is expected to increase to its MSRP of $1,999 after February 5.
Electrek’s Take
This is a beautiful e-bike, even if it does carry the battery in a rear rack. I get it, there’s just not a lot of place to hide a big battery on a beach cruiser.
I love low-maintenance bikes, and the combination of hydraulic disc brakes and a belt drive is incredible. If they had given me an internally geared hub then that would have been the trifecta, but of course most beach cruisers are typically single-speed. I can’t imagine this is going to be a comfortable pedaler at 28 mph, but it’s probably going to be a pleasure to pedal in the mid-speed range. Single-speeds are usually geared somewhere for the middle speed range so they aren’t too daunting to get rolling but can still provide some reasonably comfortable pedaling at higher speeds.
The price seems a tad loftier than what I’d expect, but then again there are some nice parts on here and some very high-quality construction. The price puts Priority right between the more affordable entry-level e-cruisers from Electric Bike Company and the costlier e-cruisers from Pedego, so they might be a nice Goldilocks solution for those wanting higher-end parts without spending a fortune.
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Venmo, long a centerpiece of PayPal‘s growth story but often criticized for its lack of monetization, is becoming a bigger contributor to the business.
PayPal said Tuesday in its first-quarter earnings release that revenue at Venmo increased 20% year-over-year in the first quarter, though the company didn’t provide a dollar figure. PayPal acquired Venmo in 2013 through the acquisition of parent company Braintree.
While it’s long been a popular consumer service for sending money to friends, Venmo’s ability to drive meaningful revenue has been a major question mark for investors, especially as competition from rivals like Zelle and Square Cash has intensified.
Venmo’s total payment volume rose 10% from a year earlier, but revenue grew twice as fast, reflecting the business opportunity. Venmo only gets revenue from specific products like Pay with Venmo at online checkout, Venmo debit cards, and instant transfers, but not from peer-to-peer payments.
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Ahead of the earnings report, Jefferies analysts noted that Venmo revenue growth appeared to be “accelerating sharply” and flagged its rising contribution to branded checkout as a key area to watch. Compass Point analysts similarly said that while competition from Zelle and Square Cash remains fierce, Venmo’s traction with debit cards and online checkout could “open up new monetization avenues” if adoption trends continue.
The company added nearly 2 million first-time PayPal and Venmo debit card users during the quarter, and total debit card payment volume across PayPal and Venmo climbed more than 60%. Meanwhile, Pay with Venmo transaction volume surged 50% year over year, and Venmo debit card monthly active users grew about 40%.
PayPal reported better-than-expected earnings for the quarter but missed on revenue. The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance, citing macroeconomic uncertainty.
CEO of PayPal Alex Chriss speaks during the Semafor 2025 World Economy Summit at Conrad Washington on April 24, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong | Getty Images
PayPalreported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter, but the company missed on revenue and reaffirmed its guidance for 2025 due to macro uncertainty. The stock fell about 2% in pre-market trading.
Here’s how the company did compared with Wall Street estimates, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
Earnings per share: $1.33, adjusted vs. $1.16 expected
Revenue: $7.79 billion vs. $7.85 billion expected
While sales increased just 1% from $7.7 billion a year earlier, PayPal said the results reflect a strategy to prioritize profitability over volume, rolling off lower-margin revenue streams.
Transaction margin dollars, the company’s key measure of profitability, grew 7% to $3.7 billion, marking the company’s fifth consecutive quarter of profitable growth under CEO Alex Chriss.
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PayPal shares are down 24% this year, while the Nasdaq has dropped 10%
Total payment volume, an indication of how digital payments are faring in the broader economy, missed estimates, coming in at $417.2 billion, versus the nearly $418 billion analysts projected. The number of active accounts rose 2% from a year earlier to 436 million.
Venmo revenue rose 20% year over year, though the company didn’t provide a dollar figure. Total payment volume for Venmo increased 10% to $75.9 billion. Pay with Venmo transaction volume climbed 50% in the quarter and Venmo debit card monthly active users increased by about 40%.
Chriss has focused on better monetizing key acquisitions like Braintree and Venmo. DoorDash,Starbucksand Ticketmaster are among businesses now accepting Venmo as one way that consumers can pay.
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Ahead of PayPal’s earnings report, some analysts had struck a cautious tone despite the company’s focus on margin expansion. Morgan Stanley analysts warned in a note on Monday that investor sentiment remained bearish due to the potential impact of tariffs, competitive pressure from Apple and Shopify, and the risk of a long-term slowdown in branded checkout growth.
Jefferies analysts highlighted PayPal’s China cross-border exposure as an emerging risk tied to potential new tariffs and changes to the de minimis exemption.
For the second quarter, PayPal issued better-than-expected guidance, forecasting adjusted earnings per share of $1.29 to $1.31, above the average analyst estimate of $1.21. Transaction margin dollars will increase 4% to 5% to between $3.75 billion and $3.8 billion, the company said.
However, for the full year, PayPal chose to reaffirm its guidance, citing “global macroeconomic uncertainty.” The company expects earnings per share of $4.95 to $5.10 for the year and free cash flow in the range of $6 billion to $7 billion.
PayPal shares are down 24% this year, while the Nasdaq has dropped 10%.
British oil and gasoline company BP (British Petroleum) signage is being pictured in Warsaw, Poland, on July 29, 2024.
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British oil giant BP on Tuesday posted slightly weaker-than-expected first-quarter net profit, following a recent strategic reset and a slump in crude prices.
The beleaguered oil and gas major posted underlying replacement cost profit, used as a proxy for net profit, of $1.38 billion for the first three months of the year. That missed analyst expectations of $1.6 billion, according to an LSEG-compiled consensus.
BP’s net profit had hit $2.7 billion a year earlier and $1.2 billion in the final three months of 2024.
The results come as the energy major faces fresh pressure from activist investors less than two months after announcing a strategic reset.
Seeking to rebuild investor confidence, BP in February pledged to slash renewable spending and boost annual expenditure on its core business of oil and gas.
BP CEO Murray Auchincloss told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Tuesday that the firm was “off to a great start” in delivering on its strategic reset.
“We had a great operational quarter. We had our highest upstream operating efficiency in history. Our refineries in the first quarter ran at the best they’ve run in 24 years. We had six exploration discoveries in a row, which is really unusual and we started out three major projects,” Auchincloss said.
For the first quarter, BP announced a dividend per ordinary share of 8 cents and a share buyback of $750 million.
Net debt rose to $26.97 billion in the January-March period, up from $22.99 billion at the end of the fourth quarter. BP had previously warned of lower reported upstream production and higher net debt in the first quarter, when compared to the final three months of last year.
Shares of BP fell 3.3% on Tuesday morning. The firm is down roughly 8% year-to-date.
Activist pressure
BP’s green strategy U-turn does not appear to have gone far enough for the likes of activist investor Elliott Management, which went public last week with a stake of more than 5% in the London-listed firm.
The disclosure makes the U.S. hedge fund BP’s second-largest shareholder after BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, according to LSEG data.
Elliott was first reported to have assumed a position in the oil and gas company back in February, driving a share price rally amid expectations that its involvement could pressure BP to shift gears back toward its oil and gas businesses.
BP’s Auchincloss declined to comment on interactions with investors when asked whether the firm was under pressure from the likes of Elliott to go beyond the plans announced in its February pivot.
Notably, BP suffered a shareholder rebellion at its annual general meeting earlier this month. Almost a quarter (24.3%) of investors voted against the re-election of outgoing Chair Helge Lund, a symbolic result that reflected a sense of deep frustration among the firm’s shareholders.
Mark van Baal, founder of Dutch activist investor Follow This, told CNBC last week that he hoped the shareholder revolt means Amanda Blanc, who is leading the process to find Lund’s successor, will look for a new chair who is “climate competent” and “will not respond to short-term activists so quickly.”
Lund is expected to step down from his role next year.
Takeover candidate
BP’s underperformance relative to industry peers such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Shell has thrust the energy major into the spotlight as a prime takeover candidate. Energy analysts have questioned, however, whether any of the likeliest suitors will rise to the occasion.
BP’s Auchincloss on Tuesday said that he wouldn’t speculate on whether the company is a takeover target, but confirmed the oil major had not asked for any sort of protection from the British government.
“What I will say is we’re a strong, independent company and we’ve got sector-leading growth. And if we can deliver the sector-leading growth, and the first quarter is a fantastic example of that, then I have no concerns. I think we’re going to do great,” Auchincloss said.
Murray Auchincloss, chief executive officer of BP, during the “CERAWeek by S&P Global” conference in Houston, Texas, on March 11, 2025.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Oil prices have fallen in recent months on demand fears. International benchmark Brent crude futures with June delivery traded at $65.19 per barrel on Tuesday morning, down more than 1% for the session. That’s lower from around $84 per barrel a year ago.
Asked whether weaker crude prices could put the some of the firm’s reset plans in jeopardy, Auchincloss said, “Not really. We have a balance of products that we think about that generate revenue for us. So, oil, natural gas and refined products as well.”
— CNBC’s Ruxandra Iordache contributed to this report.