| Hello Insiders! Today's business newsletter covers: - 📱 X will soon add audio and video calls.
- 🚘 Polestar reports a $304M net loss.
- 🏦 UBS posts record $29B profit after Credit Cuisse takeover.
If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Arbër
p/Arber | |
| 1 | | Elon Musk has stated that social media platform X (formerly Twitter) will soon offer video and audio calls. X's 450 million users will be able to call others without a phone number. More: - According to Musk, the features will be available on iOS, Android, Mac, and PC.
- Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44B in 2022, said X will serve as an "effective global address book."
- X also recently announced that it will collect biometric data from its users, which is likely to include a person's face, fingerprints, and eye scan.
- These features are another step toward making X "the everything app," a term used to describe Musk's idea of turning X into an app similar to WeChat, a super-app that offers everything users the ability to buy things online, chat, video call, go on social media, play video games, etc.
Question: Do you think X (formerly Twitter) has a chance of surpassing apps such as Messenger and WhatsApp? Let us know what you think here. |     | |
| 2 | | 
What happened: Polestar has reported a Q2 net loss of $304M, up from $228M from the previous year. While its net loss has increased, the company reported an uptick in deliveries, raising hopes that it will be able to increase its market share. Polestar's market share reached $16B in August 2022 before dropping to $7B by August 2023. More details: Polestar's Q2 revenue surged to $685.2M, up from $589.1M YoY. The Sweden-based EV maker delivered 15,765 vehicles, up 36% YoY. The automaker delivered 51,491 vehicles in 2022. The company added that it still expects to deliver at least 60,000 EVs in 2023. The company's gross margin was 1.4% in H1 2023 and 4.9% in 2022. Why it matters: EV production has turned out to be a tougher challenge than many automakers expect, as it requires changes in the way that employees work, factories are built, R&D teams conduct research, etc. On top of these factors, EV production for startups is capital-intensive. Polestar's rising deliveries are a sign that it is increasingly cementing its position in the industry. | | | |
| 3 | | UBS has posted a record $29B profit on the Credit Suisse takeover deal. The company is also set to lay off 3,000 employees in order to cut costs. More: - The Swiss bank, which employs over 120,000 people globally, didn't announce how many of its employees outside of Switzerland will be impacted by the layoff round.
- The job cuts amount to around 8% of staff employed by the combined bank's Swiss operations.
- UBS said it expected to generate more than $10B in savings from the integration of Credit Suisse by the end of 2026, $1B more and a year earlier than planned when the takeover was announced in March.
- The bank's share price surged by 7% after the company reported its plan.
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| 4 | | Jack Daniel's parent company Brown-Forman missed Wall Street revenue estimates, reporting $1.4B in revenue against the $1.5B expected. The company's net sales also dropped 7% YoY. More: - Brown-Forman's net income during this period was $231M, or 48 cents per share, down 7% from the prior-year period when the company reported net income of $249M, or 52 cents per share.
- Advertising expenses grew 19%, most of which was invested in the launch of its Jack Daniel's & Coca-Cola RTD item.
- The company reported overall quarterly revenue up 3% YoY.
- Its New Mix RTD beverages delivered strong net sales growth of 52%, while its el Jimador tequila brand saw net sales grow by 27%.
- Brown-Forman estimates a full-year fiscal 2024 guidance of 5-7% organic net sales growth and 6-8% organic operating income growth.
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| 5 | | Klarna has reported $958M in H1 2023 revenue, a 15% increase compared to the same period in 2022. The company had a profitable quarter for the first time since 2020. More: - Klarna, previously Europe's most valuable startup, offers buy now, pay later credit for 150 million users.
- The value of goods sold through Klarna in Q2 rose 14% YoY.
- Klarna reported its third consecutive quarter of gross profit in the U.S.
- Credit losses improved to 0.39% of gross merchandise value compared to 0.7% a year ago.
- Last year, Klarna's valuation was slashed to $6.7B from about $45.6B while it cut jobs, office space, and other costs as investors reconsidered the growth of easy credit at a time of rising interest rates.
- The firm said its adoption of artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT helped it reduce costs, for example, by saving time handling customer questions.
- Overall, operating expenses fell 14% in the first half of the year.
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| 6 | | Generative AI startup AI21 Labs has raised a $155M Series C funding round at a $1.4B valuation. Samsung, Google, and Nvidia were among the investors backing the company. More: - AI21 Labs is an AI company that specializes in creating advanced natural language processing software.
- The company's client list includes names such as:
-
- eBay
- Ubisoft,
- Carrefour, etc.
- Besides Samsung, Google, and Nvidia, the company was backed by Walden Catalyst, Pitango, SCB10X, and b2venture.
- Since its inception in 2017, the company has raised $283M.
- The company aims to use the funds to accelerate the growth of its text-based generative AI services for enterprises.
- AI21 Labs is based in Tel Aviv, Israel.
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- Amazon and Shopify have reached a deal to allow merchants who pay for Shopify's e-commerce tools to use Amazon's logistics network.
- Turkey has banned "fake" sellers from posting online ads on highly sought-after products as a way of preventing prices from increasing. The country currently has an inflation rate of 48%.
- Microsoft has announced that it will unbundle Teams from Microsoft 365 and Office 365 across Europe in an effort to meet regulator requirements.
- Forever 21 stated that a cybersecurity breach that hit the company earlier in 2023 affected over 500,000 individuals.
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Term of the Day Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires companies to establish and maintain internal controls to ensure accurate financial reporting and transparency. Question of the Week Do you share details about your salary with your coworkers? Join the conversation |
INSIDE BUSINESS LEADERBOARD (30 DAYS) |
 | Writer | | Arbër is an Inside writer who also has experience in entrepreneurship. He has experience covering Consumer Tech, Venture Capital, NFTs, Crypto, etc. Arbër holds a Bachelor's degree in Business from XAMK University in Finland. When he is not reading(and writing) business news, he chooses to watch sports or anime...and then read news about sports or anime. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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