1023 days ago
Big tech firms whose products are central to the structural shift seen recently in developed economies have been leading the way in capex. In 2020 they accounted for a third of total R&D spending seen in the S&P 500 and this year they are boosting capex by 30% relative 2019.
1024 days ago
Facebook is going to feel the pinch of Apple's new privacy efforts, as it expects iOS changes to begin having an impact on its business in the current quarter. It is forecasting second quarter YoY revenue growth to remain stable or only modestly accelerate from a massive 48% growth it saw in the first quarter.
1025 days ago
As shown on the chart below, Apple has usually been quite good at keeping their existing devices running for a while. If the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G only supported 3 software updates, later models were usually usable for 5 to 6 years. The iPhone 6s and iPhone SE will be the longest standing devices of the company after receiving their iOS 15 update.
1028 days ago
Six insurers in Q1 picked up shares of digital currency investment offered by Grayscale. Though the funds did not buy crypto directly, they have positioned themselves in such a way as to gain (or lose) from Bitcoin and Ethereum exposure. Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co. in February took up a position in the Bitcoin Trust with a purchase of 18,000 shares at an actual cost of roughly $968,000. Donegal Mutual Insurance Co. subsidiary Atlantic States Insurance Co. added 20,000 shares of that trust in February as well. State Mutual Insurance Co. (GA) was the only insurer to initially acquire shares of both the Bitcoin and Ethereum investment vehicles. The Georgia-based mutual insurer acquired 13,000 shares of Bitcoin Trust and 9,000 shares of Ethereum Trust, at respective costs of approximately $491,000 and $141,500.
1029 days ago
Honeywell and Cambridge Quantum Computing are merging their quantum-computing divisions into a stand-alone firm. Quantum computing can be a multi trillion dollar industry in the future much like smartphones. This new business entity aims for $1B in annual revenue in the next two to four years. The firm plans to have commercial products as soon as late 2021 with initial offering in web security. The company is expecting a cash injection of about $300M from parent org Honeywell--Honeywell stock did not react to the news because quantum computing is still in early stages and has yet to put a product on market.
