Plus, Super Bowl LVII sets record for sports betting.
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Palantir shares surged more than 15% in extended trading on Monday after the software company posted better-than-expected Q4 FY2022 earnings. Palantir reported $509M in revenue, up 18% YoY. U.S. revenue grew to $302M, up 19% YoY. The company also reported its first positive GAAP net income of $31M. More: - Palantir's Q4 Commercial revenue grew to $215M, up 11% YoY, while government revenue grew to $293M, up 23% YoY.
- Palantir's customer count grew 55% YoY and 9% QoQ.
- Full-year revenue was $1.91B, up 24% YoY; U.S. full-year revenue was $1.16B, up 32% YoY.
- Palantir provides services to several U.S. government entities, including the Central Intelligence Agency.
- Palantir's offerings include software to visualize an army's positions or help companies vet their supply chains.
- Palantir expects Q1 2023 revenue between $503M and $507M and full-year 2023 revenue between $2.18B and $2.23B.
- Palantir shares closed at $7.61 on Monday.
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Ford announced it is moving forward with its $3.5B EV battery plant partnership with Chinese firm Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL). The decision comes amid growing tensions between the U.S. and China. The Michigan-based plant is expected to open in 2026 and employ about 2,500 people. More: - Last month, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin withdrew the state from bidding for the plant, citing Ford’s connection with CATL.
- Youngkin said he would not allow taxpayer money to be used to recruit Ford as a front for China.
- Ford plans to own the new facility through a solely owned subsidiary instead of operating it as a joint venture with CATL.
- The U.S. automaker will license the technology from CATL, including technical expertise.
- The new plant will produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries instead of the more expensive nickel cobalt manganese batteries the automaker currently uses in its vehicles.
- Ford Chair Bill Ford said that manufacturing the batteries in the U.S. would help the automaker build more EVs faster and would ultimately make the vehicles more affordable for customers.
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Meta’s chief business officer, Marne Levine, is stepping down from the role on Feb. 21. According to the company’s press lease announcing the departure, Levine will remain an employee at Meta until she leaves the company in the summer. Levine has been at Meta for 13 years and has held various positions at the company. More: - Levine was appointed Meta’s chief business officer in 2021, months after the company changed its name from Facebook to Meta to indicate its focus on the metaverse.
- Prior to joining Meta, Levine served as chief of staff of the National Economic Council in the Obama administration.
- Nicola Mendelsohn and Justin Osofsky will take on expanded roles as senior sales and partnership leaders.
- They will report to Meta’s COO, Javier Olivan.
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Embattled Indian conglomerate Adani Group has hired accounting firm Grant Thornton to audit some of its companies after short-seller Hindenburg Research accused the firm of widespread fraud. Adani has denied the accusations, calling them unresearched and maliciously mischievous, and threatened to take legal action against Hindenburg Research. More: - Since Hindenburg Research published its report on Jan. 24, Adani’s listed companies have lost more than $100B in market value.
- Earlier this month, Adani Enterprises canceled its planned $2.4B equity sale.
- Last week, French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies suspended its planned $4B investment in a green hydrogen project with Adani Group.
- TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné said the deal wouldn’t be signed until there is clarity on Adani’s financial standing.
- Last week, Forbes reported that Adani has hired New York-based law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to fight back against the fraud and stock manipulation allegations.
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz represented Twitter during its $44B takeover lawsuit against Elon Musk.
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Cloud communications company Twilio and Roomba maker iRobot announced layoffs on Monday. Twilio is laying off 17% of its workforce, marking its second round of layoffs within six months. In September, the company announced it was cutting 11% of its workforce as part of a restructuring strategy. More: - On Monday, Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson said the company is reorganizing into two business units: Twilio Communications and Twilio Data & Applications.
- Twilio’s current COO, Khozema Shipchandler, will lead its new communications unit, and the current president of revenue, Elena Donio, will head its Data & Applications unit.
- iRobot is laying off 7% of its workforce, or about 85 people.
- Last year, Amazon announced it was acquiring iRobot for $1.7B; the deal is under review by the FTC.
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Incoming Toyota CEO Koji Sato plans to accelerate the Japanese automaker’s EV strategy. Sato said Toyota needed to drastically change how it does business and called for an EV-first mindset, a change from long-time CEO Akio Toyoda’s stance on electric vehicles. More: - Sato will assume the role of CEO in April, and Toyoda will transition to the role of chairman.
- Sato said he wants to accelerate the development of parts and manufacturing methods optimized for electric vehicles.
- Sato said the company would announce more details on its EV strategy after he officially assumes the role of CEO.
- Toyota is the current leader in sales of hybrid gas-electric vehicles.
- The company pioneered the technology with the debut of its Prius model in the late 1990s.
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Quick Hits - Athletic Brewing is pioneering a non-alcoholic craft beer revolution and donating 2% of sales toward protecting and restoring local trails.*
- Super Bowl LVII set a record for sports betting in the U.S. This was the first Super Bowl to be played in a state with legal sports betting. FanDuel said it was taking about 50,000 bets per second at its peak. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35.
- Chevron's board of directors is considering waiving the company's mandatory retirement age for CEO Mike Wirth. Wirth would reach the company's mandatory retirement age in 2025.
- Amazon's self-driving unit Zoox announced Monday that it has successfully tested a robotaxi with employees as passengers on a public road. The test occurred on Feb. 11 in Foster City, California.
- China has accused the U.S. of repeatedly flying surveillance balloons into its airspace. The accusations come days after the U.S. shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina.
* This is a sponsored listing.
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 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie is a writer for Inside.com; she writes the daily Inside Business newsletter. Her interests include finance, technology, and entrepreneurship. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending concerts and music festivals, traveling, and exploring. Connect with her on Twitter @VanessaOmeo or on LinkedIn. |   | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 and 1972 Fords. | |
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