Connect with us

Published

on

A smartphone with a displayed Arm Ltd. logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023.

Dado Ruvic | Reuters

Chip design firm Arm said in a Tuesday filing that Apple, Google parent Alphabet, Nvidia and other technology companies are interested in buying up to $735 million in its shares as it seeks to go public on Nasdaq.

The investments might not happen, but the fact that these companies are considering them underlines the importance of Arm, whose designs are used for processors in data center servers, consumer devices and industrial products.

Chip foundry operators Intel, Samsung and TSMC are interested in investing alongside the three trillion-dollar technology companies, along with AMD and MediaTek, which make chip designs based on Arm architectures. Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys, which make electronic design automation software for processor development, have also expressed interest, according to a revised prospectus for Arm’s shares sale. As part of the deal, Arm could wind up with a $52 billion market capitalization and almost $5 billion in new cash.

Initial public offerings in technology have been rare in the past two years, with higher interest rates making investors less willing to place bets on risky high-growth companies. Arm, established in 1990, is different. It was listed in London and New York before SoftBank bought it for $32 billion in 2016. It produced a $105 million profit on $675 million in revenue in the second quarter.

In 2020, Nvidia announced plans to acquire Arm from SoftBank for $40 billion, but regulators in the U.S. and the U.K. pushed back. The two companies dropped the transaction in 2022, paving the way for Arm’s current U.S. IPO. Nvidia has introduced its own Arm-based chip that can work alongside its own graphics processing units.

The fact that Nvidia wasn’t able to buy Arm didn’t stop Nvidia’s co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang from talking up Arm during the chip-design company’s IPO roadshow.

“Arm is an extraordinary company, and everybody in the world knows how fond I am of this company and of this platform and this franchise and world-class management team,” Huang said in his signature leather jacket during the prerecorded roadshow video.

Nvidia is collaborating with Arm on a new cloud data center ecosystem, Huang said. Historically, Intel chips have dominated in data center servers.

Huang isn’t Arm’s only external promoter. Rick Tsai, vice chairman and CEO of MediaTek, appeared during Arm’s virtual roadshow, saying more products drawing on the two companies’ products will appear over time.

WATCH: Portfolio manager discusses the investment risks around Arm’s IPO

Portfolio manager discusses the investment risks around Arm's IPO

Continue Reading

Technology

Apple brings its TV streaming service to rival Android platform

Published

on

By

Apple brings its TV streaming service to rival Android platform

Britt Lower and Adam Scott in “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.

Source:  Apple TV+

Apple TV+ is now available on Android devices as the iPhone maker on Wednesday released its video streaming service for Google’s mobile computing platform. 

It’s unusual for Apple to release Android apps. The company typically focuses on software for its own iOS and MacOS platforms, but Wednesday’s release is the latest sign that Apple won’t be limiting the growth potential of its Services division by keeping popular services like Apple TV+ exclusive to its own devices.

More people have iPhones than Android phones in the U.S., but globally, Android claims a 72% market share, according to Statcounter. Releasing Android apps significantly expands Apple’s market.

Apple’s Services business is its second largest behind iPhone sales, and Services hit a $100 billion per year revenue rate last year. In addition to subscriptions like iCloud, the unit also includes sales from advertising, search deals with Google, AppleCare warranties and payment fees from Apple Pay.

Apple TV+ is among Apple’s most popular services, and it’s best known for shows like “Ted Lasso” and “Severance.” It also broadcasts Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball games.

The company has never released viewership numbers for Apple TV+, but Nielsen estimates say it accounts for a small fraction of total American TV watching. It costs $10 per month in the U.S. and is included in several bundles alongside iCloud storage, Apple Music and other subscriptions.

Besides a few niche apps, Apple doesn’t have a long track record of making Android apps. Its last significant services app for the Google platform was a decade ago when the company released its Apple Music streaming service for Android.

The Apple TV+ app is available to download through the Google Play app store, and users will be able to pay with their Google accounts. Apple did not disclose a revenue-sharing arrangement with Google, but both companies typically take about 15% of billings from streaming services through their app stores.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO

Report: Apple working on AI partnership with Alibaba

Continue Reading

Technology

Lyft shares sink 6% on underwhelming fourth-quarter results

Published

on

By

Lyft shares sink 6% on underwhelming fourth-quarter results

Cheng Xin | Getty Images

Lyft shares shed about 6% after the ride-sharing app reported lackluster fourth-quarter results and offered weak bookings guidance as it lowers prices to keep up with competition.

The company reported revenues of $1.55 billion, versus the $1.56 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG. Revenues grew 27% from $1.22 billion a year ago. Bookings, which measures the charges posed to customers for rides and services, came in at $4.28 billion, behind a $4.32 billion FactSet estimate.

“I think what the future holds is great, because it’s a huge market, and we’re doing a great job,” CEO David Risher told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday. “We got to figure out how to get the traders on the bus.”

The company did beat expectations on fourth-quarter earnings, reporting an adjusted 29 cents per share compared to the LSEG expectation of 22 cents per share. The figure excluded certain amortization and compensation charges, and a gain from terminating a lease.

Lyft also said it anticipates a slowdown in gross bookings as it grapples with a lower pricing environment. The company expects bookings to range between $4.05 billion and $4.20 billion, versus a $4.24 billion FactSet forecast.

Read more CNBC tech news

During the earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Erin Brewer said the company lowered prices and used discounts in the end of the year to keep up with the market. Ongoing pricing headwinds could lead to a low single-digit percentage point impact on gross bookings, she added.

Brewer also said that the end of its partnership with Delta Air Lines will weigh on rides and gross bookings in the 1% to 2% range during the second quarter.

Last week, Uber shares also declined on mixed fourth-quarter results and soft guidance. The ridesharing competitor also signaled that it may take years to build out and commercialize autonomous vehicles.

Lyft reported net income of $62.8 million for the period, or 15 cents per share. That’s compared to a loss of $26.3 million a year ago, a loss of 7 cents per share.

During the fourth quarter, Lyft also recorded 24.7 million active riders, ahead of the 24.6 million StreetAccount estimate.

Alongside the results, the company announced a $500-million share repurchase plan and said it aims to roll out its Mobileye-powered taxis as soon as 2026 in Dallas.

Continue Reading

Technology

Neuralink competitor Paradromics secures investment from Saudi Arabia’s Neom

Published

on

By

Neuralink competitor Paradromics secures investment from Saudi Arabia's Neom

Paradromics scientists at work

Source: Paradromics

Texas-based neurotech startup Paradromics on Wednesday announced a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Neom and said it will establish a Brain-Computer Interface Center of Excellence in the region.

Neom is a developing area within northwest Saudi Arabia that’s touted as “a hub for innovation,” according to its website. The area’s strategic investment arm, the Neom Investment Fund, led the partnership. Paradromics declined to disclose the investment amount.

Paradromics is building a brain-computer interface, or a BCI, which is a system that deciphers brain signals and translates them into commands for external technologies. The company will work with Neom to “advance the development of BCI-based therapies” and set up the “premier center for BCI-based healthcare” in the Middle East and North Africa, it said in a release.

“Working together, we can accelerate the rate of innovation in BCI and expand access to impactful BCI-based therapies.” Paradromics CEO Matt Angle said in a statement.

Read more CNBC tech news

Paradromics is one of several companies racing to commercialize BCIs, including Elon Musk’s startup Neuralink. Earlier this month, Neuralink announced it has implanted three human patients with its technology, according to a blog post. Precision Neuroscience and Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates-backed Synchron have also implanted their systems in humans.

None of these companies have secured the FDA’s final stamp of approval.

Paradromics’ BCI, the Connexus Direct Data Interface, is an array of tiny electrodes designed to be implanted directly into the brain tissue. The system could eventually help patients with severe paralysis regain their ability to communicate by deciphering their neural signals. 

The company is gearing up to launch its first human trial this year, and announced its official patient registry in July. Paradromics’ technology has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and it still has a long way to go before commercialization. In 2023, the company received the FDA’s Breakthrough Device designation, which aims to help accelerate the go-to-market process.

Watch: Inside Paradromics, the Neuralink competitor hoping to commercialize brain implants before the end of the decade

Inside Paradromics, the Neuralink competitor hoping to commercialize brain implants before the end of the decade

Continue Reading

Trending