Business and Finance News - 6.5.24

Ford's May Sales Surge by 11.2% as Hybrid and EV Sales Soar 65%, Despite $1.32B Model E Loss

• Ford's* (FORD) U.S. new vehicle sales increased by 11.2% in May compared to last year.

• Sales of Ford's hybrid and all-electric vehicles rose by approximately 65%.

• Hybrid and EV sales accounted for about 14% of Ford's total sales in May.

• Ford's Model E unit reported a $1.32 billion loss in Q1 2024.

• Each vehicle sold by Ford's Model E unit resulted in a $132,000 loss.

• Sales of the all-electric F-150 Lightning nearly doubled in May.

• Ford aims to offer hybrid options across its North American lineup by 2030.

* Ford Motor Company is a global automotive manufacturer that designs, produces, markets, and services a full line of cars, trucks, SUVs, electrified vehicles, and luxury vehicles under the Ford and Lincoln brands.

Intel Unveils Xeon 6 Processors at Computex, Ramps Up AI Chip Competition with Nvidia and AMD

• Intel* (INTC) announced new Xeon 6 processors at the Computex tech conference in Taiwan.

• Rivals Nvidia and AMD launched new AI chips earlier this week.

• Intel aims to catch up to Nvidia and AMD in the booming AI chip industry.

• Intel's Xeon 6 processor offers better performance and power efficiency for data centers.

• Intel revealed lower prices for Gaudi 2 and Gaudi 3 AI accelerators.

• Intel disclosed architecture details for upcoming Lunar Lake processors.

• Intel received nearly $20 billion from the CHIPS and Science Act to boost semiconductor R&D.

* Intel Corporation is a leading global technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and selling semiconductor chips.

Microsoft Lays Off Mixed Reality Employees, Continues HoloLens 2 Sales Amid Broad Restructuring and AI Focus

• Microsoft* (MSFT) will lay off some employees working on mixed reality, including AR and VR.

• Microsoft will continue selling the HoloLens 2 headset, available since 2019.

• The layoffs are part of a broader restructuring affecting over 1,000 employees.

• Microsoft remains committed to the Department of Defense's IVAS program using HoloLens technology.

• Microsoft has reduced investment in augmented and virtual reality, deprecating Windows Mixed Reality.

• Microsoft focuses on AI, deploying Nvidia GPUs for Copilot chatbot and OpenAI's ChatGPT.

• Microsoft supports Mesh for three-dimensional Teams video calls using various devices.

* Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells a wide range of software products, hardware devices, and related services.

Elon Musk Diverts Nvidia Processors to X and xAI, Delaying Tesla's $500M Shipment and Sparking Conflict of Interest Concerns

• Elon Musk instructed Nvidia* (NVDA) to prioritize processor shipments to X and xAI over Tesla.

• Musk's decision delayed Tesla's** (TSLA) receipt of over $500 million in processors by months.

• Tesla planned to increase its active Nvidia H100 chips from 35,000 to 85,000 by year-end.

• Musk's comments on Tesla's AI spending conflicted with Nvidia's bookings and forecasts.

• Tesla's GPU cluster setup for AI training is delayed due to diverted processor shipments.

• xAI closed a $6 billion financing round and uses X data centers for AI model training.

• Musk's ownership and resource intermingling among his companies raise conflicts of interest.

* Nvidia Corporation is a leading technology company specializing in designing and manufacturing graphics processing units (GPUs) and related technologies for gaming, professional visualization, data centers, and automotive markets.

** Tesla, Inc. is an American electric vehicle (EV) and clean energy company.

Max Increases Ad-Free Subscription Prices, Annual Rates Rise as Streaming Platforms Seek Profitability Amidst Cord-Cutting

• Warner Bros. Discovery’s* (WBD) Max raised the price for its ad-free plan by $1 to $16.99 per month.

• The "ultimate" ad-free tier increased by $1 to $20.99 per month.

• The yearly ad-free plan increased by $20 to $169.99 annually.

• The yearly "ultimate" ad-free plan increased by $10 to $209.99 annually.

• The Max With Ads plan price remains unchanged at $9.99 per month or $99.99 annually.

• Existing subscribers will be notified 30 days before the new pricing takes effect.

• Streaming platforms, including Peacock, are raising prices to achieve profitability amidst cord-cutting trends.

* Warner Bros. Discovery is a global media and entertainment company that creates, produces, and distributes a wide range of content across multiple platforms.

Here’s how the markets closed yesterday:

• Dow Jones: 38,711.29 +140.26 (+0.36%)

• S&P 500: 5,291.34 +7.94 (+0.15%)

• Nasdaq: 16,857.05 +28.38 (+0.17%)

• Bitcoin (BTC): $70,516.64 (5:15PM PST on 6/4/24)

• Ethereum (ETH): $3,812.97 (5:15PM PST on 6/4/24)

Here’s how the MAGNIFICENT SEVEN STOCKS did yesterday:

• Microsoft (3.092T): 416.07 +2.55 (+0.62%)

• Apple (2.98T): 194.35 +0.32 (+0.16%)

• Nvidia (2.864T): 1,164.37 +14.37 (+1.25%)

• Alphabet (2.164T): 175.13 +0.71 (+0.41%)

• Amazon (1.866T): 179.34 +1.00 (+0.56%)

• Meta Platforms (1.21T): 476.99 -0.50 (-0.10%)

• Tesla (557B): 174.77 -1.52 (-0.86%)