The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Tuesday kept the benchmark rate unchanged at 0.25%. The regulator further announced the increase in the “availability of its Term Funding Facility in order to provide support to the country’s economy.”
The RBA warned that Australia is facing the biggest economic contraction since the 1930s, albeit the downturn is not as severe as initially predicted. Nevertheless, the recovery will likely be “uneven and bumpy,” the bank stated in a statement.
Zoom Quarterly Earnings
Zoom Video Communications revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2021 spiked 355% to $663.5 million. Gross profit for the period jumped 300% to $471.25 million.
Zoom’s customers with at least 10 employees grew by 458% to 370,200.
“Our ability to keep people around the world connected, coupled with our strong execution, led to revenue growth of 355% year-over-year in Q2 and enabled us to increase our revenue outlook to approximately $2.37 billion to $2.39 billion for FY21, or 281% to 284% increase year-over-year,” Zoom founder and CEO Eric Yuan said in a statement.
Shares of Zoom jumped over 38% in the premarket on Tuesday following the positive earnings results. Since the coronavirus pandemic prompted companies to switch to mostly online activities at the start of the year, Zoom’s shares hiked an incredible 377%.
Apple & Tesla Post Share Split
Shares of Apple Inc. and Tesla Inc. on Monday went through a stock split process. Apple, which recently became the first company from the United States to surpass the $2 trillion market capitalization, went through a four-for-one stock split while Tesla’s was a 5-for-1.
When the company announced the stock split news on August 11, its share price was hovering below $1,400, while it closed last week at $2,213.40 ahead of the Monday split. The stock opened at $444.61 on Monday and hit a high of 513.00 on Tuesday’s session.
On Tuesday, Tesla announced an equity distribution agreement with major investment banks to allow for the agent banks to sell the company’s common stocks “from time to time through an ‘at-the-market’ offering program.” The total amount of shares being offered is valued at $5 billion.
In a filing with the US regulator, the agent banks will sell Tesla’s shares and will receive a commission of up to 0.50% of the aggregate gross proceeds from each sale.
Oil Prices
Oil prices have surged since the beginning of this week driven by news that the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company will reduce its crude oil allocations by 30%, from to 5% during the previous month. UAE media houses also reported that the country will still need to compensate for failure to fully comply with the OPEC oil production cuts announced recently that sought to reduce output by 52,000 barrels per day.
Data released on Wednesday showed a bigger-than-expected drop in oil inventories in the United States with crude stockpiles sinking by 6.36 million barrels last week, marking the sixth consecutive weekly fall.
According to the American Petroleum Institute (API), the US crude stockpiles recorded a sixth consecutive weekly decline after falling by 6.36 million barrels in the week ending August 28. Reserves in Cushing, Oklahoma, fell by 237,000 barrels during the same week.
Berkshire Japan Acquisitions
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has made the acquisition of holdings in five Japanese trading houses, including Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui & Co. Ltd., Itochu Corp., Marubeni Corp. and Sumitomo Corp.
Berkshire said it now owns a little over 5% stake, valued at roughly $6.25 billion, in the Japanese trading firms, secured through purchases made on the Tokyo Stock Exchange over the past year.
“I am delighted to have Berkshire Hathaway participate in the future of Japan,” Buffet, who celebrated his 90th birthday earlier this week said in an announcement, adding the company plans to hold the investments in the conglomerates for the long term.
