Business and Finance News - 8.2.24

Arm Holdings' stock dropped over 8% in premarket trading following its Q1 fiscal 2025 earnings report, despite a 39% year-over-year revenue increase. Investors were disappointed by the company's unchanged earnings guidance for the next quarter and full fiscal year, despite the booming AI chip market. (Fast Company)

*Arm Holdings (ARM) - Arm Holdings is a semiconductor and software design company, primarily known for its design of ARM architecture, a family of reduced instruction set computing (RISC) architectures for computer processors.

The Bank of England (BOE) cut interest rates to 5% from 5.25%, the first reduction since March 2020, signaling an "important moment" but cautioning against expecting further immediate cuts. Despite the rate cut, many homeowners with fixed-rate mortgages may still face higher rates upon renewal, and the Bank emphasized the need for ongoing vigilance to maintain low inflation. (BBC)

*Bank of England (BOE) - The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and plays a crucial role in the country's financial system.

The European Union’s AI Act, the first major AI regulation law globally, is now in effect, standardizing AI rules across the EU. The Act employs a risk-based approach, imposing stricter regulations on higher-risk AI applications, while setting specific requirements for generative AI and banning certain uses, like predictive policing based on biometric data. (Quartz)

*European Union (EU) - The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 European countries that aims to ensure peace, stability, and prosperity in Europe.

Meta reported stronger-than-expected Q2 results, with earnings of $5.16 per share and revenue of $39.07 billion, leading to a 5% rise in its stock price. The company highlighted significant investments in AI, predicting high future expenses, but reassured investors with robust advertising revenue growth and a positive outlook. (AP News)

*Meta Platforms (META) - Meta, formerly known as Facebook Inc., is a multinational technology conglomerate that operates a variety of social media platforms and technology products.

Moderna reported Q2 revenue of $241 million, beating estimates with a narrower-than-expected loss of $3.33 per share. However, the company lowered its full-year sales forecast to $3-$3.5 billion due to reduced sales in Europe, U.S. competition, and potential deferred international revenue, causing shares to drop over 20%. (CNBC)

*Moderna (MRNA) - Moderna, Inc. is a biotechnology company that focuses on developing and commercializing messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines.

Here’s how the major indexes did yesterday:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 40,347.97 -494.82 (-1.21%)

• S&P 500: 5,446.68 -75.62 (-1.37%)

• Nasdaq Composite: 17,194.15 -405.26 (-2.30%)

• Russell 2000: 2,186.16 -68.32 (-3.03%)

• CBOE Volatility Index (VIX): 18.59 +2.23 (+13.63%)

Here’s how leading market ETFs did yesterday:

• SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY): 543.01 -7.80 (-1.42%)

• iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV): 546.05 -7.27 (-1.31%)

• Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ): 459.66 -11.41 (-2.42%)

• Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): 499.03 -6.90 (-1.36%)

• Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI): 268.30 -4.27 (-1.57%)

Here’s how The Magnificent Seven did yesterday:

• Apple (AAPL) [3.348T]: 218.36 -3.72 (-1.68%)

• Microsoft (MSFT) [3.10T]: 417.11 -1.24 (-0.30%)

• Nvidia (NVDA) [2.691T]: 109.21 -7.81 (-6.67%)

• Alphabet (GOOG) [2.123T]: 172.45 -0.70 (-0.40%)

• Amazon (AMZN) [1.916T]: 184.07 -2.91 (-1.56%)

• Meta Platforms (META) [1.263T]: 497.74 +22.91 (+4.82%)

• Tesla (TSLA) [691B]: 216.86 -15.21 (-6.55%)

Here’s how the major cryptocurrencies did yesterday:

• Bitcoin (BTC): $64,313.39 (10:30PM PST on 8/1/24)

• Ethereum (ETH): $3,156.87 (10:30PM PST on 8/1/24)

• Solano (SOL): $163.61 (10:30PM PST on 8/1/24)