1. TESLA: – -U.S. electric car maker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc has halted plans to buy land to expand its Shanghai plant and make it a global export hub, people familiar with the matter said, due to uncertainty created by U.S.-China tensions.
With 25% tariffs on imported Chinese electric vehicles imposed on top of existing levies under former President Donald Trump still in place, Tesla now intends to limit the proportion of China output in its global production, two of the four people said.
Tesla had earlier considered expanding exports of its China-made entry-level Model 3 to more markets, including the United States, sources told Reuters, a plan that had not previously been reported.
Tesla currently ships China-made Model 3s to Europe, where it is building a factory in Germany.
2. GOOGLE: – Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc’s Google has launched international money transfer partnerships with remittances firms Wise and Western Union (NYSE:WU) Co for users of its U.S. payments app, the companies said on Tuesday.
Google Pay users in the United States can now transfer money to app customers in India and Singapore, with plans to expand to the 80 countries available via Wise, and 200 via Western Union by the end of the year.
Google’s foray in the $470 billion remittance market, marks a further step by the technology company to expand its financial services offering, ramping up competition in the digital payments sector.
London-based Wise was launched in 2011 with the aim of making international money transfers cheaper and easier, while Western Union remains a market leader in remittances, with a sprawling global network of physical locations.
3. DISNEY: – With Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) Co theme park operations limited due to the coronavirus pandemic, investors watching the company report earnings on Thursday are expected to zero in on its fast growth into streaming TV.
During the January to March quarter, the Disney+ streaming service was aided by box office heavyweight Marvel Studios. The producer of blockbuster superhero films released its first TV series, “WandaVision,” in January followed by “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” in late March.
The animated Disney movie “Raya and the Last Dragon” was offered to Disney+ customers in March for $30, at the same time it was shown in theaters, which are struggling to rebound from the global health crisis.
Chief Executive Bob Chapek said in early March that Disney+ had reached 100 million subscribers worldwide. That number likely swelled to 110 million by the end of March, MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson said.
4. PFIZER: – U.S. regulators authorized Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for use in children as young as 12 and said they could begin receiving shots as soon as Thursday, widening the country’s inoculation program as vaccination rates have slowed significantly.
This is the first COVID-19 vaccine to be authorized in the United States for ages 12 to 15. Vaccinating younger ages is considered an important step for getting children back into schools safely. U.S. President Joe Biden has asked states to make the vaccine available to younger adolescents immediately.
Biden issued a statement hailing the authorization as “a promising development in our fight against the virus.”
“If you are a parent who wants to protect your child, or a teenager who is interested in getting vaccinated, today’s decision is a step closer to that goal,” he said.
The vaccine has been available under an emergency use authorization to people as young as 16 in the United States. The vaccine makers said they had started seeking full approval for the immunization in people 16 and older last week.
5. NISSAN: – Nissan Motor Co expects to break even this business year, defying expectations for a return to profitability, as the global chip shortage curbs its recovery from a record annual operating loss.
“The fiscal year 2020 was the year dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic and impacted by multiple factors including growth of environmental awareness and political as well as economic changes,” said Chief Executive Makoto Uchida.
The Japanese carmaker’s break-even forecast for the year that began April 1 was lower than a 241.7-billion-yen profit predicted by 18 analysts compiled by SmartEstimate.
The global auto industry has been grappling with a chip shortage since the end of last year, exacerbated in recent months by a fire at a chip plant in Japan and blackouts in Texas where a number of chipmakers have factories.
That forced Japan’s No. 3 carmaker by sales to cut production of its best-selling Note compact car in Japan and make short-term output adjustments at its North American operations last quarter.
