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Arm makes the CPU architecture for chips found in nearly all smartphones. An Arm chip is shown here in San Jose, California, on October 12, 2023.

Sydney Boyo

Arm reported fiscal third-quarter earnings Wednesday that beat estimates and gave a strong profit forecast for the current quarter. The shares soared as much as 41% in extended trading.

Here’s how the company did for the quarter ending December versus consensus estimates from LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

  • Earnings per share: 29 cents adjusted vs. 25 cents expected
  • Revenue: $824 million vs. $761 million expected

Arm, whose chip design technology is in nearly every smartphone and many PCs, said it expects earnings per share for the fiscal fourth quarter of between 28 cents and 32 cents on sales of $850 million to $900 million. Analysts expect earnings of 21 cents per share on sales of $780 million.

The company reported net income of $87 million, or 8 cents per share. Total revenue in the quarter increased 14% from a year earlier.

Arm makes money through royalties, when companies pay for access to build Arm-compatible chips, usually amounting to a small percentage of the final chip price.

Arm said its customers shipped 7.7 billion Arm chips during the September quarter, the most recent period for which figures are available.

The stock rose as high as $108.89 in after-hours trading, but later slipped below $100. It close on Wednesday at $77.01.

Royalty revenue increased 11% on an annual basis to $470 million. The company said the jump was partially because of a recovery in the smartphone market, as well as increasing sales to automotive companies and cloud providers. Arm said it expects growth to be driven by royalty revenue.

In recent years, Arm has emphasized its licensing business, selling access to more complete designs that semiconductor companies can plug into their planned chips. That process saves chipmakers time and effort, and it’s more lucrative for Arm than simply collecting royalties.

Arm’s license and other revenue was $354 million, up 18% year over year. Arm said more companies were choosing to license its CPU designs to run artificial intelligence, and that the company charges higher licensing fees for advanced designs.

Arm, which had been owned by SoftBank, went public in September. The company was founded in 1990 to develop technology for low-power chips, but became more important to the overall technology industry when the Apple iPhone and competing Android devices standardized on Arm-based chips.

Arm says companies including Apple, Google, Microsoft and Nvidia use its technology.

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SpaceX aims for $800 billion valuation in secondary share sale, WSJ reports

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SpaceX aims for 0 billion valuation in secondary share sale, WSJ reports

Dado Ruvic | Reuters

Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is initiating a secondary share sale that would give the company a valuation of up to $800 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

SpaceX is also telling some investors it will consider going public possibly around the end of next year, the report said.

At the elevated price, Musk’s aerospace and defense contractor would be valued above ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which wrapped up a share sale at a $500 billion valuation in October.

SpaceX has been investing heavily in reusable rockets, launch facilities and satellites, while competing for government contracts with newer space players, including Jeff Bezos‘ Blue Origin. SpaceX is far ahead, and operates the world’s largest network of satellites in low earth orbit through Starlink, which powers satellite internet services under the same brand name.

A SpaceX IPO would include its Starlink business, which the company previously considered spinning out.

Musk recently discussed whether SpaceX would go public during Tesla‘s annual shareholders meeting last month. Musk, who is the CEO of both companies, said he doesn’t love running publicly traded businesses, in part because they draw “spurious lawsuits,” and can “make it very difficult to operate effectively.”

However, Musk said during the meeting that he wanted to “try to figure out some way for Tesla shareholders to participate in SpaceX,” adding, “maybe at some point, SpaceX should become a public company despite all the downsides.”

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Judge finalizes remedies in Google antitrust case

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Judge finalizes remedies in Google antitrust case

The logo for Google LLC is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 17, 2021.

Andrew Kelly | Reuters

A U.S. judge on Friday finalized his decision for the consequences Google will face for its search monopoly ruling, adding new details to the decided remedies.

Last year, Google was found to hold an illegal monopoly in its core market of internet search, and in September, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled against the most severe consequences that were proposed by the Department of Justice.

That included the proposal of a forced sale of Google’s Chrome browser, which provides data that helps the company’s advertising business deliver targeted ads. Alphabet shares popped 8% in extended trading as investors celebrated what they viewed as minimal consequences from a historic defeat last year in the landmark antitrust case.

Investors largely shrugged off the ruling as non-impactful to Google. However some told CNBC it’s still a bite that could “sting.”

Mehta on Friday issued additional details for his ruling in new filings.

“The age-old saying ‘the devil is in the details’ may not have been devised with the drafting of an antitrust remedies judgment in mind, but it sure does fit,” Mehta wrote in one of the Friday filings.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has previously said it will appeal the remedies.

In August 2024, Mehta ruled that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act and held a monopoly in search and related advertising. The antitrust trial started in September 2023.

In his September decision, Mehta said the company would be able to make payments to preload products, but it could not have exclusive contracts that condition payments or licensing. Google was also ordered to loosen its hold on search data. Mehta in September also ruled that Google would have to make available certain search index data and user interaction data, though “not ads data.”

The DOJ had asked Google to stop the practice of “compelled syndication,” which refers to the practice of making certain deals with companies to ensure its search engine remains the default choice in browsers and smartphones.

The judge’s September ruling didn’t end the practice entirely — Mehta ruled out that Google couldn’t enter into exclusive deals, which was a win for the company. Google pays Apple billions of dollars per year to be the default search engine on iPhones. It’s lucrative for Apple and a valuable way for Google to get more search volume and users.

Mehta’s new details

In the Friday filings, Mehta wrote that Google cannot enter into any deal like the one it’s had with Apple “unless the agreement terminates no more than one year after the date it is entered.”

This includes deals involving generative artificial intelligence products, including any “application, software, service, feature, tool, functionality, or product” that involve or use genAI or large-language models, Mehta wrote.

GenAI “plays a significant role in these remedies,” Mehta wrote.

The judge also reiterated the web index data it will require Google to share with certain competitors. 

Google has to share some of the raw search interaction data it uses to train its ranking and AI systems, but it does not have to share the actual algorithms — just the data that feeds them.” In September, Mehta said those data sets represent a “small fraction” of Google’s overall traffic, but argued the company’s models are trained on data that contributed to Google’s edge over competitors.

The company must make this data available to qualified competitors at least twice, one of the Friday filing states. Google must share that data in a “syndication license” model whose term will be five years from the date the license is signed, the filing states.

Mehta on Friday also included requirements on the makeup of a technical committee that will determine the firms Google must share its data with.

Committee “members shall be experts in some combination of software engineering, information retrieval, artificial intelligence, economics, behavioral science, and data privacy and data security,” the filing states.

The judge went on to say that no committee member can have a conflict of interest, such as having worked for Google or any of its competitors in the six months prior to or one year after serving in the role.

Google is also required to appoint an internal compliance officer that will be responsible “for administering Google’s antitrust compliance program and helping to ensure compliance with this Final Judgment,” per one of the filings. The company must also appoint a senior business executive “whom Google shall make available to update the Court on Google’s compliance at regular status conferences or as otherwise ordered.”

This is breaking news. Check back for updates.

WATCH: Judge Issues final remedies in Google antitrust case

Judge Issues final remedies in Google antitrust case

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Amazon had a very big week that could shape where its stagnant stock goes next

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Amazon had a very big week that could shape where its stagnant stock goes next

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