The US stock market on Friday ended the last trading session of the week with gains as the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 hitting all-time high benchmarks intraday. Investors were mainly focused on technology stocks amid earnings release that have been impressive so far.
On the downside, investors are still worried about the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus as cases have risen across the world.
The Dow was up 0.68% at the closing bell with Visa gaining 2%, while the S&P 500 jumped 1.02%.
US Stock Market Earnings Report
Twitter Q2
Twitter announced on Thursday its second-quarter earnings results, reporting a yearly revenue increase of 74% to $1.19 billion. The social media giant posted an income of $65.65 million.
“As we enter the second half of 2021, we are shipping more, learning faster, and hiring remarkable talent. For example, our increased shipping cadence contributed to reaching 206 million average monetizable DAU (mDAU) in Q2, up 11% year over year and 3% quarter over quarter.” CEO Jack Dorsey noted.
Snapchat Q2
Shares of Snap, Inc., the company behind Snapchat soared over 24% on Friday to hit a new record high after the company posted better-than-expected results a day earlier.
Snap Inc reported its financial results on Thursday for the second quarter of 2021, ending June 30, marking a 116% increase in revenue to $982.1 million compared to the same period 12 months ago. Meanwhile, net loss improved by 53% year-on-year to a total loss of $151.7 million.
The number of daily active users added 55 million in the second quarter, or 23% compared to the same three-month period of last year, to a total of 293 million users.
“Our second-quarter results reflect the broad-based strength of our business, as we grew both revenue and daily active users at the highest rates we have achieved in the past four years.” said Evan Spiegel, the CEO of Snap Inc.
Intel Q2
Intel on Thursday said that its revenue for the second quarter of the year remained flat when compared to the same period last year totaling $19.6 billion.
For the same period, net income fell to $5.06 billion for a slight year-over-year loss of nearly 1%.
Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO, commented on the results: “Our second-quarter results show that our momentum is building, our execution is improving, and customers continue to choose us for leadership products. With our scale and a renewed focus on both innovation and execution, we are uniquely positioned to capitalize on this opportunity, which I believe is merely the beginning of what will be a decade of sustained growth across the industry.”
Blackstone Q2
Private equity investment giant The Blackstone Group Inc. reported on Thursday said its total assets under management (AUM) rose 21% on the year to a record $684 billion.
“Strong investment performance and our culture of innovation have allowed us to meaningfully broaden the clients we serve, including individual investors and insurance companies, and the types of investments we can make,” Blackstone Chairman and CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman commented on the results.
Major News
Uber’s $2.25B acquisition of Transplace
Uber Freight on Thursday said the company agreed to buy transportation logistics company Transplace from TPG Capital for a total of $2.25 billion.
“In the midst of capacity constraints and escalating transportation costs, shippers are adapting their operations at an increasing pace and looking for technology, support, and solutions that can modernize their supply chain and keep critical goods, and the economy, moving,” Uber commented about the deal.
The purchase will be realized in the form of up to $750 million in common Uber stocks and the rest of the money in cash.
Visa acquires cross-border payment platform Currencycloud
Visa Inc. announced on Thursday it has finalized the deal to acquire the cross-border payment platform Currencycloud in a contract valued at $961 million.
The two companies issued a statement explaining that the acquisition will “strengthen Visa’s existing foreign exchange capabilities” due to the fact that Currencycloud operates in “over 180 countries.”
“The acquisition of Currencycloud is another example of Visa executing on our network of networks strategy to facilitate global money movement,” Visa’s global treasurer, Colleen Ostrowski, commented.
Rivian closes $2.5B funding round
Electric truck startup Rivian said on Friday that it raised $2.5 billion in a private funding round led by Ford Motor Co., Amazon.com Inc., D1 Capital Partners, and T. Rowe Price Associates Inc..
Other investors include Third Point, Fidelity Management and Research Company, Dragoneer Investment Group, and Coatue. The latest funding brings the total amount that the California-based company received to $10.5 billion.
“As we near the start of vehicle production, it’s vital that we keep looking forward and pushing through to Rivian’s next phase of growth. This infusion of funds from trusted partners allows Rivian to scale new vehicle programs, expand our domestic facility footprint, and fuel international product rollout,” CEO RJ Scaringe said in the press release.
Didi continues drop, tumbles 18%
Shares of Didi Chuxing Technology fell by more than 18% on Friday, continuing the recent slump prompted by a report that Beijing is planning a list of measures against the Chinese ride-hailing company.
According to the report, Didi could face fines, but also suspension of operations, and delisting of shares.
Didi’s shares plunged 18.53%, selling for $8.3, 50.1% lower than its debut price on the New York Stock Exchange.
