Alibaba Earnings and Tesla FSD Test Drive | Bloomberg Technology

20 Aug 2024 (27 days ago)

Chinese Tech Companies

Alibaba's U.S.-listed shares saw an increase despite a weaker sales outlook and a reported 4% rise in revenue, which was considered disappointing even with aggressive promotions. (00:01:58)
JD.com, an e-commerce and digital company, experienced a surge in their stock, suggesting a strong performance in the Chinese market.
Alibaba's American Depositary Receipt (ADR) experienced a slight increase, but investors remain concerned about sales growth weakness.
Alibaba's profits have plummeted by approximately 27%, and the company has faced challenges in driving growth.
Despite reporting better-than-expected earnings, Alibaba's biggest competitor, Tencent, has issued a warning regarding weakening consumption.
Alibaba is restructuring and focusing on operational efficiencies.
JD, a similar business to Alibaba, is seeing significant share growth.

Google's web crawler gives it an advantage in AI over startups because it can access data from websites that block most crawlers. (00:13:43)
Android has global market share with the U.S. representing a fraction of its user base.
It is unclear if Android is central to the Google monopoly trial.

William Stein, a semiconductor and AI equity research analyst, conducted a test drive of a Tesla vehicle equipped with the latest Full Self-Driving (FSD) software. The test drive, approximately 10 miles in length, took place in suburban New York.
During the test drive, the Tesla vehicle, operating on FSD software, made an illegal left turn through a red light from the second-to-left turn lane. Although Stein did not intervene, he acknowledged that the maneuver was illegal and would likely have resulted in being stopped by law enforcement.
Stein asserts that Tesla's FSD technology is not currently at a level where it can be considered functional for a robotaxi service. He emphasizes that while the technology is not ready today, it doesn't necessarily mean Tesla won't achieve their goal eventually.

Anduril Industries, a defense technology company, has raised $8.4 billion in funding and plans to invest billions in a new facility to manufacture rockets, vehicles, and autonomous systems.
Anduril Industries founder Trae Stephens believes that the cultural shift in the defense industry is moving away from relying on taxpayer funding and towards companies investing their own capital in research and development.
Anduril's location is largely based on access to talented software engineers in Southern California, with no current plans to leave the area.

Cohesity, a cybersecurity company, reported a record year with $549 million in revenue, representing 26% growth, and achieved profitability for the first time.
Cohesity plans to acquire Veritas, aiming to become the largest company in its space, and anticipates going public after the acquisition is finalized.