TOP 5 STOCKS TO WATCHOUT:-
1. IBM:Semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries on Monday sued International Business Machines Corp, asking a judge to rule that it did not violate a contract with the U.S. company which claims it is owed $2.5 billion in damages.
IBM has accused GlobalFoundries, which is owned by Abu Dhabi’s state-owned fund Mubadala, of failing to continue making chips for IBM, according to a filing by GlobalFoundries with the state court in New York.
GlobalFoundries purchased IBM’s semiconductor plants in 2014 when IBM decided to exit the business of manufacturing its own chips. But it quit pursuing advanced chipmaking technology in 2018 due to the high costs of development and IBM instead turned to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to make its chips.
IBM “went silent for nearly two-and-a-half years” after the changes in 2018, but then in April of this year sent GlobalFoundries a letter alleging that the chipmaker had violated its contract,” the filing said.
“Other than threatening to sue unless it capitulates to its demands, IBM has yet to provide any substantive explanation as to its claims,” GlobalFoundries wrote in the suit.
IBM said in a statement it believes GlobalFoundries did not fulfill its obligations under the contract.
“IBM contributed $1.5B to Global Foundries to supply the next generation of chips, and Global Foundries utterly abandoned IBM as soon as the final payment was received and sold off assets from the deal for its own enrichment,” IBM said.
2.APPLE –Apple Inc , facing accusations from rivals that it has too much control over its App Store, on Monday outlined plans to increase user privacy and keep consumer data out of other companies’ hands, laying out features including expanded video conferencing and storing virtual government IDs on iPhones.
The changes came at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference for software developers, some of whom have started to complain about Apple’s grip over which apps can appear on its devices, as well as its 15% to 30% commissions on digital sales.
Many of the new features allow users to safeguard data, trusting the information to the Apple brand. Users will be able to scan ID cards in participating U.S. states, and the cards will be encrypted in a user’s digital wallet, along with credit cards and transit cards in some U.S. cities. It is working with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to accept the digital IDs at airports.
3. AMAZON: Amazon’s billionaire founder Jeff Bezos said on Monday he and his brother Mark will fly on the first crewed spaceflight from his rocket company Blue Origin next month.
“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space. On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother,” Bezos, who is one of the richest people in the world, said in an Instagram post.
Bezos, who is due to step down as Amazon’s chief on July 5, will join the winner of an auction for a seat on the first space flight from Blue Origin.
Bezos, fellow billionaires Elon Musk and Richard Branson have been investing billions of dollars on their rocket startups, but Bezos will be the first of the three to actually travel into space on a rocket developed by his own company.
The Blue Origin spacecraft, which is set to carry Bezos and others, has undergone 15 test flights, none of which had any passengers onboard.
Blue Origin closed the first round of the auction last month and said it had received more than 5,200 bidders from 136 countries, without disclosing the highest bid from the round.
The current highest bid stood at $2.8 million in the ongoing second round of auction, according to Blue Origin’s website. (www.blueorigin.com)
Its New Shepard rocket-and-capsule combo is designed to autonomously fly six passengers more than 62 miles (100 km) above Earth into suborbital space, high enough to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of the planet before the pressurized capsule returns to earth under parachutes.
4.Tesla:-Long-time Tesla Inc executive Jerome Guillen, who oversaw its Semi electric trucks slated to be launched this year, has left the company, Tesla said on Monday, barely three months after taking over the role.
Guillen, who has been with the company for over a decade since starting as a Model S program director in 2010, oversaw Tesla’s entire vehicles business before being named president of the Tesla Heavy Trucking unit in March. He was one of Tesla’s top four leadership members, including CEO Elon Musk.
Dan Levy, a Credit-Suisse analyst said in a note the departure is “negative given Guillen previously viewed as central to Tesla” as he was “arguably key in stabilizing auto biz post Model 3 launch” in 2017.
Tesla is yet to begin delivering its battery-powered Semi electric commercial truck, with Musk saying in recent months that battery cell supply constraints could delay its mass production to 2022.
Musk also said in January that Tesla would be able to produce the Semi when its new 4680 cells could be produced in volume, alleviating a battery shortage.
Separately, Musk said on Sunday that Tesla has canceled its longest-range Model S Plaid+, which would use 4680 cells and whose production had been delayed to next year.
“They made a big deal about 4680 … we are just upset the first (car with) 4680 apparently was abruptly canceled. This just raises more questions that they need to address,” Louis Navellier, chief investment officer at Navellier, said.
5. SOFT BANK – Proxy adviser Glass Lewis has urged SoftBank Group Corp shareholders to oppose the election of corporate lawyer Ken Siegel to the board of directors due to his professional ties with the Japanese conglomerate.
The opposition is one of a number of recommendations to SoftBank shareholders ahead of the group’s annual general meeting on June 23, with both Glass Lewis and peer Institutional Shareholder Services opposing elections to auditor positions over independence concerns.
Siegel is managing partner at the Tokyo office of law firm Morrison & Foerster and has worked on some of SoftBank’s biggest deals, including the $40 billion sale of chip company Arm to Nvidia Corp.
“We question the need for the Company to engage in legal services with its directors. We view such relationships as creating conflicts for directors,” Glass Lewis wrote in a proxy paper.
SoftBank and Siegel did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
