Connect with us

Published

on

Josh Silverman, CEO of Etsy.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Etsy shares slid more than 11% on Thursday afternoon, a day after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter results but gave weak guidance for third-quarter revenue and gross merchandise sales, or GMS.

Here’s how the company did:

  • Earnings: 45 cents per share, adjusted, vs. 43 cents per share, as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
  • Revenue: $629 million vs. $619 million as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.

related investing news

Match Group shares can rally 30% thanks to a recovery in Tinder, says BTIG

CNBC Pro
These 'uber crowded' trades from hedge funds are up nearly 30% this year, according to Jefferies

CNBC Pro

Etsy said Wednesday that it expects third-quarter revenue to be between $610 million and $645 million, which would fall short of the $632 million analyst estimate, according to Refinitiv. GMS, which measures the total number of goods sold over a certain period, is projected to come in between $2.95 billion and $3.1 billion. At the midpoint, it fell short of the $3.04 billion expected by a survey of Refinitiv analysts.

The weak guidance overshadowed an otherwise outperforming second quarter report. The company beat expectations on the top and bottom lines, while GMS of $3 billion also came in above expectations of $2.98 billion. Services revenue, which accounts for things like advertising, was an outsized sales catalyst during the quarter, growing roughly 21% year over year.

On a call with analysts, Etsy CFO Rachel Glaser pointed to the return of student loan payments in the fall, as well as the elimination of child tax credits, as factors that could stretch consumers’ wallets and weigh on GMS in the third quarter.

CEO Josh Silverman conceded that the macro environment “remains challenging.” The online marketplace, which is known for its handmade and artisan goods, benefited enormously from sales during the pandemic, as consumers embraced digital retailers in droves. Etsy saw its revenue triple in 2020, driven largely by sales of face masks.

“Over the last few years, Etsy has gone from a period where we grew tremendously with so many tailwinds at our back, to a period of stiff headwinds and uncertain macroeconomic conditions,” Silverman said. “Consumers continue to make very tough choices on where and how to spend their money, and we’re fighting hard to help our sellers get their share.”

Even Etsy isn’t immune to the AI craze that has captivated Silicon Valley. Silverman told investors on the call that Etsy has a “small but mighty” team of AI and machine learning experts that are working to deploy these technologies “in almost every customer touchpoint,” such as tools for sellers and shopping recommendations.

“We wouldn’t want to do anything that makes the site look homogenous or boring, though,” Silverman said. “So, we’re going to be very careful about that. And more listings doesn’t necessarily translate into more sales for Etsy. So if it’s useful for sellers, we’ll lean in.”

Continue Reading

Technology

Tesla shares drop 7% in premarket trading after Elon Musk says he is launching a political party

Published

on

By

Tesla shares drop 7% in premarket trading after Elon Musk says he is launching a political party

White House Senior Advisor Elon Musk walks to the White House after landing in Marine One on the South Lawn with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) on March 9, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Samuel Corum | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Tesla shares fell in premarket trade on Monday after CEO Elon Musk announced plans to form a new political party.

The stock was down 7.13% by 4:27 a.m. E.T.

Musk said over the weekend that the party would be called the “America Party” and could focus “on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts.” He suggested this would be “enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people.”

The billionaire’s involvement in politics has been a point of contention for investors. Musk earlier this year was part of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency and worked closely with President Donald Trump — a move seen as potentially hurting Tesla’s brand.

Musk left DOGE in May, which helped Tesla’s stock.

Now tech billionaire’s reinvolvement in the political arena is making investors nervous.

“Very simply Musk diving deeper into politics and now trying to take on the Beltway establishment is exactly the opposite direction that Tesla investors/shareholders want him to take during this crucial period for the Tesla story,” Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, said in a note on Sunday.

“While the core Musk supporters will back Musk at every turn no matter what, there is broader sense of exhaustion from many Tesla investors that Musk keeps heading down the political track.”

Musk’s previous political foray earned him Trump’s praise in the early days, but he has since drawn the ire of the U.S. president.

The two have clashed over various areas of policy, including Trump’s spending bill which Musk has said would increase America’s debt burden. Musk has taken issue to particular cuts to tax credits and support for solar and wind energy and electric vehicles.

Trump on Sunday called Musk’s move to form a political party “ridiculous,” adding that the Tesla boss had gone “completely off the rails.”

Musk is contending with more than just political turmoil. Tesla reported a 14% year-on-year decline in car deliveries in the second quarter, missing expectations. The company is facing rising competition, especially in its key market, China.

Continue Reading

Technology

AI chip startup Groq expands with first European data center

Published

on

By

AI chip startup Groq expands with first European data center

Jonathan Ross, chief executive officer of Groq Inc., during the GenAI Summit in San Francisco, California, US, on Thursday, May 30, 2024.

David Paul | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Artificial intelligence semiconductor startup Groq announced Monday it has established its first data center in Europe as it steps up its international expansion.

Groq, which is backed by investment arms of Samsung and Cisco, said the data center will be located in Helsinki, Finland and is in partnership with Equinix.

Groq is looking to take advantage of rising demand for AI services in Europe following other U.S. firms which have also ramped up investment in the region. The Nordics in particular is a popular location for the data facilities as the region has easy access to renewable energy and cooler climates. Last month, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was in Europe and signed several infrastructure deals, including data centers.

Groq, which is valued at $2.8 billion, designs a chip that the company calls a language processing unit (LPU). It is designed for inferencing rather training. Inferencing is when a pre-trained AI model interprets live data to come up with a result, much like the answers that are produced by popular chatbots.

While Nvidia has a stranglehold on the chips required for training huge AI models with its graphics processing units (GPUs), there is a swathe of startups hoping to take a slice of the pie when it comes to inferencing. SambaNova; Ampere, a company SoftBank is in the process of purchasing; Cerebras and Fractile, are all looking to join the AI inference race.

European politicians have been pushing the notion of sovereign AI — where data centers must be located in the region. Data centers that are located closer to users also help improve the speed of services.

Global data center builder Equinix connects different cloud providers together, such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud, making it easier for businesses to have multiple vendors. Groq’s LPUs will be installed inside the Equinix data center allowing businesses to access Groq’s inference capabilities via Equinix.

Groq currently has data centers in the U.S. and Canada and Saudi Arabia with its technology.

Don’t miss Groq CEO Jonathan Ross on Squawk Box Europe at 7:45 a.m. London time.

Continue Reading

Technology

Inside a Utah desert facility preparing humans for life on Mars

Published

on

By

Inside a Utah desert facility preparing humans for life on Mars

Hidden among the majestic canyons of the Utah desert, about 7 miles from the nearest town, is a small research facility meant to prepare humans for life on Mars.

The Mars Society, a nonprofit organization that runs the Mars Desert Research Station, or MDRS, invited CNBC to shadow one of its analog crews on a recent mission.

MDRS is the best analog astronaut environment,” said Urban Koi, who served as health and safety officer for Crew 315. “The terrain is extremely similar to the Mars terrain and the protocols, research, science and engineering that occurs here is very similar to what we would do if we were to travel to Mars.”

SpaceX CEO and Mars advocate Elon Musk has said his company can get humans to Mars as early as 2029.

The 5-person Crew 315 spent two weeks living at the research station following the same procedures that they would on Mars.

David Laude, who served as the crew’s commander, described a typical day.

“So we all gather around by 7 a.m. around a common table in the upper deck and we have breakfast,” he said. “Around 8:00 we have our first meeting of the day where we plan out the day. And then in the morning, we usually have an EVA of two or three people and usually another one in the afternoon.”

An EVA refers to extravehicular activity. In NASA speak, EVAs refer to spacewalks, when astronauts leave the pressurized space station and must wear spacesuits to survive in space.

“I think the most challenging thing about these analog missions is just getting into a rhythm. … Although here the risk is lower, on Mars performing those daily tasks are what keeps us alive,” said Michael Andrews, the engineer for Crew 315.

Watch the video to find out more.

Continue Reading

Trending