Year: 2020

Solid operational results from achieving scale of cultivation and store footprint, provides industry leading free cash flow this quarterTALLAHASSEE, Fla., Aug. …read more […]

Stock investor Zhu Haifeng halved his once-cherished holdings in Chinese tech giants Tencent and Alibaba after the United States announced on Friday sanctions against some Chinese firms in the latest escalation between the world’s two top economies. The move followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a sweeping ban on U.S. transactions with Tencent Holdings , the Chinese owner of messaging app WeChat, and Bytedance, which owns the video-sharing app TikTok, citing national security threats. Tencent now only represents 10% of his portfolio, having accounted for 40% at the peak of his purchases in the company which began …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Tencent Holdings Ltd. boosted revenue at the fastest pace in two years, defying an economic downturn in China as it prepares to face a ban on its WeChat messaging app by U.S. President Donald Trump.Sales rose 29% to 114.9 billion yuan ($16.5 billion) in the three months ended June, beating estimates with a surge in online gaming revenue. It reported net income of 33.1 billion yuan that beat the highest of analysts’ projections, thanks to a gain of more than 8.6 billion yuan from asset disposals and valuation gains in its portfolio of investments. Shares in Prosus NV, …read more […]

Top news and what to watch in the markets on Wednesday, August 12, 2020. …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Oil climbed to near a five-month high after an industry report pointed to a third straight weekly drop in American crude stockpiles.Futures in New York rose past $42 a barrel after losing 0.8% Tuesday. The American Petroleum Institute reported inventories fell by 4.01 million barrels last week, according to people familiar with the data.The improving picture in the U.S. overshadowed anxiety over the still-surging coronavirus. India’s oil product consumption was still down 12% compared to a year earlier in July, as the nation continues to grapple with the virus, while New Zealand’s largest city went back into lockdown.Oil …read more […]

Cybersecurity firm Avast said on Wednesday it expected full-year organic revenue to grow at the upper end of its forecast after a strong first half, underpinned by the work-from-home trend. Shares in Avast, which joined the FTSE 100 index in June and touched an all-time high of 604.5 pence last month, were trading 5% lower in early deals at 569 pence. Chief Executive Ondrej Vlcek said Avast performed strongly in the half, aided by increased demand for its anti-virus, privacy and performance software driven by people working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. …read more […]

Smartphone shipments in China plunged 35% in July compared with a year earlier, government data released on Tuesday shows. The numbers suggest handset demand in China remains weak despite indications of a recovery after coronavirus cases peaked, boding poorly for companies like Apple Inc and its local rivals such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. Phone makers shipped 21.3 million handsets in July, versus 33 million a year earlier, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), a state-backed think tank. …read more […]

Shares in Lemonade (LMND) dropped 5% in Tuesday’s after-hours trading after the digital insurance company reported its inaugural earnings following the July 2 IPO. 2Q adjusted gross profit was modestly ahead of Street estimates, with KPIs beating substantially.Specifically, Q2 GAAP EPS of -$1.77 beat Street forecasts by $0.41 while revenue of $29.9M surged 116.7% year-over-year, and topped consensus expectations by $0.59M.Gross Earned Premium came in up 121% year-over-year and 4% above Street estimates, vs. 1Q’s 143%. And 2Q adjusted gross profit rose 203% year-over-year, yielding a 20% ratio of adjusted gross profit to gross earned premium.IFP, defined as the aggregate …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump’s WeChat ban targets a celebrated Chinese innovation at the heart of the world’s largest mobile gaming and social media empire, threatening one of the more eye-catching stock rallies of 2020.It’s hard to overstate WeChat’s importance to Tencent Holdings Ltd. It’s the means through which Tencent introduces a billion people to games and other online content, funneling trillions of dollars in annual payments to brands from Apple Inc. to Walmart Inc. WeChat’s reach underpinned Tencent’s $280 billion gain in market value since a March 18 Covid-19 trough — equivalent to one Samsung Electronics Co. and the fifth …read more […]

Typically, investors consider consumer staple stocks as safe bets during economic slowdowns or recessions. The defensive nature of consumer staples and attractive dividends make them desirable during challenging times.Generally, consumer staples do not deliver spectacular sales growth rates. However, COVID-19 changed that for some companies like Clorox. Heightened focus on sanitizing and cleaning led to a major spike in Clorox’s sales. Procter & Gamble is another staples company that benefited from higher pandemic-led demand for some of its products.Using the TipRanks’ Stock Comparison tool, we lined up the two staples alongside each other to see which stock offers the most …read more […]

An Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: KODK) board member and his wife donated nearly half their stock holding in the company, amounting to 3 million shares, to a religious charity on a day when the company’s stock hit its highest valuation since 2014, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. What Happened George Karfunkel and his wife Renee Karfunkel made the donation to New York-based Congregation Chemdas Yisroel on July 29, according to a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The donation, thought to be the largest made to a religious organization based on a list maintained by the …read more […]

U.S. gold futures slid 2.4% to $1,900. “It looks like some of the euphoria is coming out of the gold market,” with a test of support around $1,800 now looking possible, IG Markets analyst Kyle Rodda said. A jump in U.S. Treasury yields helped the dollar extend its winning streak, making gold more expensive for those holding other currencies. …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Gold’s rout is not yet done. Prices sank below $1,900 an ounce on Tuesday, extending the precious metal’s slump into a second day after the haven lost more than 5% in the week’s opening session.After setting a record above $2,000 an ounce last week, gold’s rally has come to a juddering halt as U.S. bond yields advanced, eroding the haven’s appeal. The swift drop followed modest outflows from gold-backed exchange-traded funds, and a 15-day run in overbought territory for the relative strength index.Gold had been on a tear in 2020, and the reversal represents a challenge for the …read more […]

The United States in recent weeks has made deals to acquire hundreds of millions of doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines from several companies as part of its Operation Warp Speed program, which aims to deliver a vaccine in the country by the end of the year. Moderna’s price per dose comes to around $30.50 per person for a two dose regimen. With the exception of its deal with AstraZeneca, which offered a lower price per drug in exchange for upfront research and development costs, all the deals price COVID-19 vaccines between $20 to $42 for a two dose …read more […]

Tesla’s stock, which traded at $1,475 after the announcement, is among the highest priced on Wall Street, and the Palo Alto, California-based company said in a press release it was looking to make its shares more accessible to employees and investors. Tesla’s stock has surged over 200% this year, while shares of General Motors and Ford Motor declined on fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Stock splits are a way for companies to make shares more accessible to retail investors, potentially attracting individual investors who make small trades. …read more […]