Connect with us

Published

on

A satellite dish in a ground network of satellites at Eutelsat’s Madeira office. Photographer: /Bloomberg via Getty Images

Zed Jameson | Bloomberg via Getty Images

Shares of French satellite operator Eutelsat skyrocketed almost 390% last week — and a potential change of tack in European defense has been helping the rally.

The firm’s stock price saw wildly volatile moves last week, up by as much as 77% on Tuesday and by another 120% on Wednesday. From its closing price on Feb. 28 to last Friday’s close, shares have risen an eyewatering 387%.

Eutelsat’s shares continued to climb on Monday, jumping more than 22% as of 1:00 p.m. local time in Paris.

What’s behind Eutelsat’s huge share price gains? CNBC runs through all you need to know.

What is Eutelsat?

Eutelsat is a French company that produces satellites for data connectivity. The business sends its satellites to space using rockets from the likes of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, deploying them into both low earth orbit (LEO) and into geostationary orbit (GEO).

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak talks DOGE, Musk and Tesla

Following a deal to combine its operations with British satellite firm OneWeb in 2023, Eutelsat became the world’s third largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. It competes with Musk’s Starlink satellite internet venture, a subsidiary of SpaceX.

Why are shares skyrocketing?

Last week, reports surfaced suggesting that Eutelsat was in the running to potentially replace Musk’s Starlink in the embattled Ukraine. For years, Starlink has offered Ukraine’s military satellite its internet services to assist with the war effort amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.

However, relations between the U.S. and Ukraine have soured recently following the election of President Donald Trump. Musk serves as head of the newly instated Department of Government Efficiency, an advisory body assisting the administration.

Last week, Trump paused all military aid to Ukraine following a clash with the country’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The confrontation happened after Trump shifted U.S. policy on Ukraine and Russia by reopening talks with Moscow.

In February, reports said that U.S. negotiators had raised the possibility of cutting Ukraine’s access to Starlink if the two countries aren’t able to successfully negotiate a deal for the U.S. to secure access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals.

Watch CNBC's full interview with Deutsche Telekom CEO: 'Europe has to wake up'

On March 4, Eutelsat said that it was in talks with the European Union to supply additional internet access to Ukraine.

The French company’s shares had already begun surging the day prior, on the back of speculation that Eutelsat could serve as a replacement for Starlink in Ukraine if negotiations with the U.S. fracture further.

Will Eutelsat replace Starlink?

For now, it’s not entirely clear. The company is discussing an expansion of its services in Ukraine with the EU.

“Everyone is asking us today, ‘Can you replace the large number of terminals of Starlink in Ukraine,’ and we are looking at that,” Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke told Bloomberg in an interview last week.

Eutselsat arguably has the scale to offer additional support for Ukraine in terms of satellite-based connectivity. The firm says it currently has a fleet of 35 GEO satellites, in addition to an LEO constellation of more than 600 satellites.

Over the weekend, Musk and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a spat with Poland’s foreign minister on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, which Musk owns.

The tech billionaire said that Ukraine’s “entire front line” would collapse if he were to switch off Starlink.

In response, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said his country pays Starlink for services to Ukraine, which Warsaw has supported in its battle against Moscow’s invasion since 2022. Sikorski added Poland may have to seek alternative suppliers if Starlink proves to be an “unreliable provider.”

Rubio disputed Sikorski’s claims, saying “no one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink” and urging gratitude — while Musk dubbed the Polish politician a “small man.”

On Monday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk defended his foreign minister, saying Sikorski “calmly” explained the “Polish raison d’état to officials from another country.”

Continue Reading

Technology

Fintech stocks plummet as Wall Street worries about consumer spending, credit

Published

on

By

Fintech stocks plummet as Wall Street worries about consumer spending, credit

People wait in line for t-shirts at a pop-up kiosk for the online brokerage Robinhood along Wall Street after the company went public with an IPO earlier in the day on July 29, 2021 in New York City.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

It was a bad day for tech stocks, and a brutal one for fintech.

As the Nasdaq suffered its steepest decline since 2022, some of the biggest losers were companies that sit at the intersection of Wall Street and Silicon Valley.

Stock trading app Robinhood tumbled 20%, bitcoin holder Strategy fell 17% and crypto exchange Coinbase lost 18%. Much of the slide in those three stocks was tied to the drop in bitcoin, which fell almost 5%, continuing its downward trajectory. The price of the leading cryptocurrency is now down 19% in the past month, falling after a big-post election pop in late 2024.

Beyond the crypto trade, online lenders and payments companies also fell more than the broader market. Affirm, which popularized buy now, pay later loans, dropped 11%, as did SoFi, which offers personal loans and mortgages. Shopify, which provides payment technology to online retailers, fell more than 7%.

JPMorgan Chase fintech analysts on Monday highlighted declining consumer confidence as a potential challenge for companies that rely on consumer spending for growth. In late February, the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index slipped to 98.3 for the month, down nearly 7%, the largest monthly drop since August 2021. Walmart recently reported a shift away from discretionary purchases, underscoring the potential trouble.

“Our universe has modestly outperformed the S&P 500 since the election, but sentiment has soured of late on declining consumer confidence and signs of slowing discretionary spend,” the JPMorgan analysts wrote.

The fintech selloff follows a strong rally in the fourth quarter, driven by Fed rate cut expectations and hopes for a more favorable regulatory environment under the Trump administration.

WATCH: PayPal CEO Alex Chriss on opportunities for consumers and small businesses

PayPal CEO Alex Chriss: Huge opportunity to deliver to consumers and help small business

Continue Reading

Technology

Oracle misses on earnings but touts data center growth from AI

Published

on

By

Oracle misses on earnings but touts data center growth from AI

Larry Ellison, chairman and co-founder of Oracle Corp., speaks during the Oracle OpenWorld 2017 conference in San Francisco on Oct. 1, 2017.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Oracle issued quarterly results on Monday that trailed analysts’ estimates, but the company offered bullish comments on its cloud infrastructure segment.

Here is how Oracle did compared to LSEG consensus:

  • Earnings per share: $1.47 adjusted vs. $1.49 expected
  • Revenue: $14.13 billion vs. $14.39 billion expected

Revenue increased 6% from $13.3 billion in the same period last year. Net income rose 22% to $2.94 billion, or $1.02 a share, from $2.4 billion, or 85 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue in Oracle’s cloud services business jumped 10% from a year earlier to $11.01 billion, accounting for 78% of total sales.

The company’s cloud infrastructure segment, which helps businesses move workloads out of their own data centers, has been booming due to demand for computing power that can support artificial intelligence projects. Oracle said revenue in its cloud infrastructure unit increased 49% from a year earlier to $2.7 billion.

“We are on schedule to double our data center capacity this calendar year,” Oracle Chair Larry Ellison said in a release. “Customer demand is at record levels.”

In January, President Donald Trump announced plans to invest billions of dollars in AI infrastructure in the U.S. in collaboration with Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank. The first initiative of the joint venture, called Stargate, will be to construct data centers in Texas — an effort that is already underway, Ellison said during the announcement at the White House.

Oracle’s cloud and on-premises licenses business contributed $1.1 billion in revenue during the quarter, down 10% year over year.

Oracle also said it is increasing its quarterly dividend to 50 cents a share from 40 cents.

As of Monday’s close, the stock is down almost 11% year to date.

Oracle will hold its quarterly call with investors and will share its outlook at 5 p.m. ET.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO

Oracle misses on quarterly results, raises dividend by 25%

Continue Reading

Technology

Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz announces retirement, stock plummets 25%

Published

on

By

Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz announces retirement, stock plummets 25%

Asana CEO and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz

PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA | AFP | Getty Images

Dustin Moskovitz, the CEO of Asana and one of the original founders of Facebook, is retiring from the software company he started in 2008.

Asana announced Moskovitz’s retirement on Monday as part of the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report, and its board has retained an executive search firm to help choose a new CEO. Moskovitz notified its board “of his intention to transition to the role of Chair when a new CEO begins,” the company said Monday.

“As I reflect on my journey since co-founding Asana nearly 17 years ago, I’m filled with immense gratitude,” Moskovitz said in a statement. “Creating and leading Asana has been more than just building a company — it’s been a profound privilege to work alongside some of the most talented minds in the industry.”

Asana said fourth-quarter sales rose 10% year-over-year to $188.3 million, which was in-line with analyst estimates.

The company said its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share was breakeven, ahead of analyst estimates of a loss of one cent per share.

Asana said it expects fiscal first-quarter revenue of $184.5 million to $186.5 million, trailing analyst expectations of $191 million.

Asana’s stock price was down more than 25% in after-hours trading Monday.

WATCH: The market declines look more like a reversion to the Fed.

The market declines look more like a reversion to the Fed, says Fmr. Fed Vice Chairman Rich Clarida

Continue Reading

Trending