Mattel stock sinks after the Barbie-maker posts disappointing Q3 results
Shares of toymaker Mattel fell by more than 6% in early trading this morning, after posting third-quarter results on Tuesday evening that missed analysts’ estimates.
The company, which owns Barbie and Hot Wheels, reported net sales of $1.74 billion — a 6% slump year-over-year, and short of the $1.83 billion Wall Street expected — with net profit also slipping by 25% to $278 million.
Beyond Meat is soaring again — can the fake meat company turn the meme stock spotlight into a real future?
The faux-meat maker’s stock is up more than 1,200% since October 16th, but its core business is still a cash-incinerator.
Amazon Web Services outage takes down major websites including Reddit, Snapchat, and Venmo
It’s a good reminder of just how big AWS is — powering more than 76 million websites globally.
Uber launches “digital tasks” in the US, paying some drivers to train AI
Beginning later this fall, US Uber drivers will be able to earn money by completing short “digital tasks” like uploading restaurant menus or recording audio samples.
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi teased the new gig income stream back in June at the Bloomberg Tech conference.
At that time, Khosrowshahi said drivers and couriers were “labeling maps, translating language, looking at AI answers, and grading AI answers.” According to Thursday’s announcement, the tasks won’t be so focused on Uber’s business, but instead on connecting workers with “companies that need real people to help improve their technology.”
Per Uber, digital tasks can be done when drivers aren’t on a trip, be it at home or when not driving, and will take only “a few minutes” each.
At that time, Khosrowshahi said drivers and couriers were “labeling maps, translating language, looking at AI answers, and grading AI answers.” According to Thursday’s announcement, the tasks won’t be so focused on Uber’s business, but instead on connecting workers with “companies that need real people to help improve their technology.”
Per Uber, digital tasks can be done when drivers aren’t on a trip, be it at home or when not driving, and will take only “a few minutes” each.
Apple TV dropped the “plus” as streamers keep pulling back on originals
After the spray-and-pray approach led to a wave of cancellations, Hollywood is settling into an era of just making fewer shows.
The average price of a new vehicle in the US passed $50,000 for the first time ever in September
The average price of a new vehicle in the US surpassed $50,000 in September, according to Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book.
At $50,080, that’s the highest industry average ever, reflecting the price hikes faced by new car buyers in recent years amid pandemic supply shortages, tariff-induced increases, and the high cost of EV production. The figure marks a 3.6% jump from the same month last year.
“Tariffs have introduced new cost pressure to the business, but the pricing story in September was mostly driven by the healthy mix of EVs and higher-end vehicles pushing the new-vehicle ATP into uncharted territory,” Cox executive analyst Erin Keating said. Passing the $50,000 mark was inevitable, Keating said, especially considering that the country’s bestseller is a Ford truck that “routinely costs north of $65,000.”
Year over year, new vehicle prices rose nearly 6% for GM, while Ford’s climbed 2.5%. Volkswagen new prices were up 12.5%.
As prices climb, so do delinquencies on loans to borrowers with lower credit scores. Recent data from Fitch Ratings shows the portion of subprime US auto loans 60 days or more overdue reached 6.43% in August.
Alibaba slides as the e-commerce giant’s cloud arm reportedly plans to slash overseas prices
Alibaba slipped more than 3% Tuesday morning following reports that its cloud unit will cut prices of select Elastic Compute Service products by up to 10.2% in overseas markets including Frankfurt, Tokyo, and Dubai.
The cuts, effective October 30, reflect the company’s push to expand its global footprint. The moves reflect a more targeted regional approach for the company as it seeks to strengthen its footprint in Europe and Asia. Alibaba Cloud made similar price cuts on international cloud products last year.
Competition is hot: Alibaba Cloud sits behind behemoths Amazon, Microsoft, and Google in the global cloud race, coming in fourth worldwide, according to data from Gartner.
GM dips after revealing it will take a $1.6 billion Q3 hit due to its EV pullback
A few weeks after the end of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit — and the end of General Motors’ attempt to extend it — GM says slowing EV sales will cost it $1.6 billion in its third quarter.
“Following recent US Government policy changes, including the termination of certain consumer tax incentives for EV purchases and the reduction in the stringency of emissions regulations, we expect the adoption rate of EVs to slow. These developments have caused us to reassess our EV capacity and manufacturing footprint,” GM wrote in a Tuesday filing.
As a result, GM said, the company will take a $1.2 billion charge pegged to EV capacity adjustments. An additional $400 million cash hit will come from canceled EV contracts with suppliers. The automaker said it’s “reasonably possible” that it will incur more EV-related charges in the coming quarters.
GM reports its third-quarter earnings next week. In the first half of the year, rival Ford has posted losses to the tune of $2.18 billion related to its EV business.
Ford joins GM in backing off of its EV tax credit extension plan following GOP criticism
Ford, despite benefiting from an electric sales surge in recent months, is giving up on a clever accounting plan to extend the expired $7,500 EV tax credit to some of its customers.
Like its rival GM earlier this week, Ford on Thursday night confirmed to Reuters that it will not claim the tax credit, backing off from its short-lived leasing strategy.
The automakers’ plan was to extend the subsidy by using their financial arms to put down payments on electric vehicles already on their dealers’ lots in late September. Those transactions would qualify for the credit, and Ford and GM could pass the discount on to customers through leases.
But the strategy angered GOP senators, who last week wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accusing the automakers of “bilking” taxpayers.
Ford CEO Jim Farley last month said he expects the end of the tax credit to cut EV sales in half.
The automakers’ plan was to extend the subsidy by using their financial arms to put down payments on electric vehicles already on their dealers’ lots in late September. Those transactions would qualify for the credit, and Ford and GM could pass the discount on to customers through leases.
But the strategy angered GOP senators, who last week wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accusing the automakers of “bilking” taxpayers.
Ford CEO Jim Farley last month said he expects the end of the tax credit to cut EV sales in half.
