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Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks, appears on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” at the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 16th, 2024.

Adam Galici | CNBC

Nikesh Arora, the CEO of Palo Alto Networks, is joining Uber‘s board of directors, the company announced in a regulatory filing Wednesday.

It comes amid a broader executive shakeup this week at the ride-hailing company, which saw head of delivery Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty depart after 13 years. Andrew Macdonald, head of mobility, was promoted to president and chief operating officer, Uber’s first since 2019.

“I’m honored to join Uber’s Board at such an exciting time, as the company plays a central role in commercializing autonomous mobility around the world,” Arora said in a statement. “Uber has already fundamentally transformed how people and goods move through cities, and I look forward to contributing to the company’s continued success.”

Arora has been chairman and CEO of Palo Alto since 2018. Prior to that, he was president and chief operating officer of Softbank and also held positions at Google and T-Mobile. Arora has previously served the boards of Softbank, Sprint, Colgate-Palmolive and others, and currently sits on the board of a Swiss luxury-goods holding company. 

“Nikesh is one of the technology industry’s great executives: a strategic and disciplined operator, and a fierce competitor,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to welcome him to the board and look forward to his contributions as we continue to advance our long-term strategy.”

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The shakeup comes as Uber faces increased competition, particularly in the robotaxi space.

Tesla is planning its long-awaited robotaxi launch in Austin on June 12. Alphabet-owned Waymo, which partners with Uber in Austin and Atlanta, recently hit 10 million paid driverless rides, with weekly rides jumping 150% in less than a year.

Food delivery competitor DoorDash has been aggressively expanding its reach, acquiring delivery firm Deliveroo and booking platform SevenRooms in the past month. 

The management changes, including the elevation of Macdonald, who will oversee delivery, mobility and autonomy, could allow Khosrowshahi to take on a more strategic role.

Khosrowshahi joined Uber in 2017, bringing it public in 2019 and to its first operating profit in 2021. Since then he has expanded the Eats and delivery business, smoothed over regulatory issues, and sold Uber’s in-house AV unit in favor of partnerships with companies like Waymo and the UK’s Wayve. 

“I recognize the change might prompt some questions about my future, so I’ll be clear: I have no plans to go anywhere anytime soon — other than fly around the globe trying to keep up with our ever-growing footprint,” Khosrowshahi told employees in an internal memo announcing the COO changes. 

For his board service, Arora will receive a $60,000 annual cash retainer and $300,000 of restricted stock units a year, according to the filing.

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CoreWeave CEO responds to data center delays as stock plunges. Core Scientific shares fall

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CoreWeave CEO responds to data center delays as stock plunges. Core Scientific shares fall

CoreWeave CEO responds to data center delay as stock falls

CoreWeave shares sank 13% on Tuesday after CEO Mike Intrator addressed delays at a third-party data center developer that hit full-year guidance in its latest earnings report.

“Quite frankly, every single part of this quarter went exactly as we planned, except for one delay at a singular data center,” Intrator told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Tuesday.

He then clarified that a “singular data center provider” is more accurate.

“Some people might think it’s one complex, but when I go over the numbers, we’re talking about multiple places,” CNBC’s Jim Cramer said. “And it just so happens that the places are all connected to an outfit called Core Scientific that you tried to buy.”

Cramer noted delays at complexes in Texas, Oklahoma and North Carolina.

Intrator said the companies have been working together on infrastructure for a long time a would continue work to bring it online. He did not directly confirm that Core Scientific is the third-party provider.

CoreWeave tried to acquire Core Scientific for $9 billion earlier this year. Core Scientific shareholders voted against the proposed deal. Core Scientific shares sank 7% Tuesday.

During CoreWeave’s quarterly earnings call on Monday, JPMorgan Securities analyst Mark Murphy asked if the delay was related to Core Scientific, but Intrator declined to name the company. At another point in the call, the CEO suggested that just one data center, not multiple sites, were affected.

“There was a problem at one data center that’s impacting us, but there are 41 data centers in our portfolio,” Intrator said.

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At a different point in the call, CoreWeave’s CFO Nitin Agrawal said the delays stem from “a single provider, data center provider partner.”

When reached for comment about how many sites were affected, CoreWeave did not provide a number and pointed to Intrator’s statements on the earnings call and during his “Squawk on the Street” interview.

CoreWeave, which provides infrastructure for artificial intelligence companies, reported third-quarter results on Monday that showed $1.36 billion in revenue for the period, up 134% from $583.9 million a year ago. But CoreWeave now sees 2025 revenue coming in between $5.05 billion and $5.15 billion, below the average analyst estimate of $5.29 billion.

Intrator told CNBC on Tuesday that CoreWeave has teams of employees working with contractors and Core Scientific at those sites “every single day” to get things back on track.

“It became apparent to us in Q3 that there were delays at the facility,” Intrator said. “CoreWeave responded by deploying our own boots on the ground to ensure that everything was being done in order to move those facilities along as quickly as possible.”

Intrator told analysts on Monday that the delays would not affect its backlog or get the full value from contracts.

Core Scientific did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CoreWeave has been on a deal-making blitz as big tech companies and AI startups race to build out their computing infrastructure.

The company announced in September that it agreed to provide Meta with $14.2 billion of AI cloud infrastructure, just days after expanding its contract with OpenAI to $22.4 billion.

CoreWeave slides after earnings: Here's what to know

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Analysts call this lagging portfolio stock a buy — plus, what’s behind Nvidia’s decline

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Analysts call this lagging portfolio stock a buy — plus, what's behind Nvidia's decline

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Rocket Lab rises 3% on record third-quarter revenue, launch backlog

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Rocket Lab rises 3% on record third-quarter revenue, launch backlog

Cheng Xin | Getty Images

Rocket Lab‘s stock rose as much as 3% on Tuesday after the space company posted record revenues in the third-quarter as it scoops up more launch deals and builds its backlog.

The company, which makes satellites and rockets and provides launch services to its customers, on Monday reported revenue of $155 million for the period. That surpassed the $152 million forecast from analysts polled by LSEG, and it was up 48% from about $105 million a year ago. Rocket Lab also posted a smaller-than-expected loss of 3 cents per share, versus the 10-cent per share loss anticipated.

Additionally, Rocket Lab issued strong guidance for the current quarter, saying it expects revenues between $170 million and $180 million. Analysts had forecast $172 million in revenues.

Rocket Lab said it’s experiencing a record backlog, with 49 rocket launches on contract. The company said it signed 17 of those deals during the third quarter and plans to close out the year with over 20 launches.

In an earnings release, CEO Peter Beck said the Long Beach, California, company is “just days away” from reaching a new annual launch record. Rocket Lab is also tackling mergers and acquisitions that target key defense initiatives such as President Donald Trump’s missile defense system plan known as the ‘Golden Dome,” Beck added.

Competition is intensifying in the space technology sector as the U.S. government and NASA lean on more independent contractors, including Elon Musk‘s SpaceX, to power missions to return to the moon. Growing excitement has also brought a wave of space companies to the public markets this year, including Texas-based Firefly Aerospace.

Last month, Rocket Lab’s stock jumped more than 31% after announcing a slew of new launch deals. Shares have more than doubled this year and surged nearly 270% over the last twelve months. The stock has pulled back about 13% in November amid a broader market selloff.

During the third quarter, the company closed its acquisition of satellite sensor maker Geost and opened a new launch site for its Neutron rocket.

Rocket Lab reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $26.3 million, topping the $21 million to $23 million loss range previously forecast. Analysts anticipated a $22.2 million adjusted EBITDA loss, according to FactSet.

The company expects adjusted EBITDA losses to range between $23 million and $29 million in the fourth quarter, surpassing the $13 million loss forecast by FactSet.

WATCH: Rocket Lab CEO talks competing for Space Force contracts

Rocket Lab CEO talks competing for Space Force contracts

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