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Toyota wants a bigger share of the world’s largest EV market with a new low-cost EV rolling out. Now available for pre-orders in China, the Toyota bZ3X electric SUV starts at just $13,800 (100,000 yuan).

Toyota bZ3X electric SUV pre-orders open in China

Although Toyota only has one fully electric vehicle, the bZ4X, on the global market, the company is launching several new EVs in China.

The bZ3X electric SUV was unveiled at the 2024 Beijing Auto Show alongside the bZ3C sedan. Toyota calls the new electric SUV “family-oriented” with a “Cozy Mobile Home” interior.

Toyota’s joint venture, GAC-Toyota, officially opened bZ3X blind pre-orders, starting at just under $14,000 (100,000 yuan). It’s available in three trims (430 Air+, 520 Pro+, and 620 Max), pre-order prices range from 100,000 yuan to 200,000 yuan ($23,800 to $27,500).

Like the bZ3C, the new electric SUV is specifically designed for Chinese buyers. With a modern take on Toyota’s inherited design, the new EV is “grand, simple and elegant.” With a “new Chinese style,” the interior is simple but loaded with new tech.

Toyota-bZ3X-SUV-pre-orders
Toyota bZ3X electric SUV (Source: GAC-Toyota)

Toyota’s bZ3X is the first to be equipped with the Momenta 5.0 Intelligent Driving System. Powered by NVIDIA Drive AGX Orin X, the vehicle includes 25 ADAS features, such as high-speed pilot, light traffic assist, and automatic parking.

GAC-Toyota said it will “become one of the first automakers in the world to realize a one-stage end-to-end intelligent driving model.”

Toyota-bZ3X-SUV-pre-orders
Toyota bZ3X electric SUV interior (Source: GAC-Toyota)

The front and rear seats lay flat for a “Cozy Mobile Home,” providing nearly 10 feet (3 m) of space for lying or storage. Other interior features include a 14.6″ infotainment system with voice recognition, an 8.8″ LCD driver display, and a two-spoke multi-function steering wheel.

Toyota-bZ3X-electric-SUV-pre-orders
Toyota bZ3X electric SUV interior (Source: GAC-Toyota)

Powered by a 50.03 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, the electric SUV has a CLTC range of up to 430 km (267 miles). Although yet to be announced, the other two trims are expected to get up to 520 km (323 miles) and 620 km (385 km) CLTC range, respectively.

At 4,600 mm long, 1,875 mm wide, and 1,645 mm tall, Toyota’s bZ3X is about the size of BYD’s Yuan Plus (Atto 3) at 4,455 mm long, 1,875 mm wide, and 1,615 mm tall. The BYD Yuan Plus starts at about $16,500 (119,800 yuan)

GAC-Toyota will officially launch the bZ3X in China next March. Interested buyers can place a 2,000 yuan ($275) deposit for priority delivery.

For those in the US, we will have to wait a little longer for a new Toyota EV model after the company delayed its first three-row electric SUV until 2026.

Source: CarNewsChina, GAC-Toyota

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Venmo revenue grows 20%, with debit card payment volume soaring

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Venmo revenue grows 20%, with debit card payment volume soaring

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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.

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PayPal reports first-quarter earnings beat, maintains forecast

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PayPal reports first-quarter earnings beat, maintains forecast

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

PayPal reported 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, Starbucks and 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%.

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BP profit falls sharply but CEO says oil major ‘off to a great start’ in strategy reset

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BP profit falls sharply but CEO says oil major 'off to a great start' in strategy reset

British oil and gasoline company BP (British Petroleum) signage is being pictured in Warsaw, Poland, on July 29, 2024.

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

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.

BP CEO Murray Auchincloss discusses first-quarter results

“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.

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