Top Stories Tuesday, Jan. 10

Benzinga

Coinbase Bows Down To Macro Headwinds, To Let Go Of 950 Employees

Coinbase Global, Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) disclosed a restructuring plan letting go of 950 employees, helping it reduce its operating expenses by 25% amid the crypto meltdown.
Coinbase looks to incur $149 million - $163 million in total restructuring expenses, consisting of $58 million - $68 million in cash charges related to employee severance and other termination benefits.

Taiwan Semiconductor's December Revenue Slumps Sequentially As China's COVID Chaos & Macro Headwinds Weigh

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd's (NYSE: TSM) December revenue of NT$192.56 billion declined 13.5% month-over-month. The revenue grew by 23.9% Y/Y.
Revenue for January through December 2022 totaled NT$2.26 trillion, up by 42.6% Y/Y.
TSMC's Q4 revenue grew 43% Y/Y to NT$625.5 billion ($20.6 billion), marking its first quarterly revenue miss in two years, signaling the global decline in electronics demand is starting to catch up with the chip giant. TSMC's Q4 revenue missed the consensus of NT$636 billion.

Microsoft Said To Be Discussing $10B Investment In ChatGPT Owner As Part Of Complex Deal

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is reportedly negotiating a $10 billion investment in OpenAI — ChatGPT's large language chatbot owner.
The funding, supported by other venture firms, would value OpenAI at $29 billion, people familiar with the matter told the news website Semafor.
There is no clarity if the deal has been finalized, but documents sent to prospective investors show that it targeted a close by the end of 2022.

Pfizer Rebuts Generic Version Of COVID-19 Oral Treatment In China, Says It Not A Poor Country

Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) CEO Albert Bourla rebuffed reports saying the company is in talks with Chinese authorities to license a generic version of its Covid-19 treatment Paxlovid.
Bourla speaking at JPMorgan's healthcare conference, said, "We are not in discussions. We have an agreement already for local manufacturing of Paxlovid in China. So we have a local partner that will make Paxlovid for us, and then we will sell it to the Chinese market.

Once Seen As CEO Contender, Morgan Stanley's Chief Operating Officer Retires After 29 Years

Southwest Airlines Faces Shareholder Activism, Reshuffles Leadership To Strengthen Ops

Meta Deploys Machine Learning Tech To Thwart Facebook Ad Discrimination

BMW Group Registers 4.8% Vehicle Sales Decline In 2022

Renault Signs MOU With PUNCH Torino For Low-Emission Diesel Engines

Reuters

Bed Bath & Beyond Stock Gained On M&A Speculation And Meme Stock Frenzy

Carlyle Pays $300M For Majority Ownership In India's VLCC

Bloomberg

Oak Street Health Might Be Next On Radar As M&A Pick For CVS Health

Xiaomi Backed Lidar Car Sensor Developer Hesai Eyes US IPO

Indian Conglomerate Tata Nears Deal For Majority Ownership In iPhone Plant In Country

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Benzinga

Coinbase Bows Down To Macro Headwinds, To Let Go Of 950 Employees

Coinbase Global, Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) disclosed a restructuring plan letting go of 950 employees, helping it reduce its operating expenses by 25% amid the crypto meltdown.
Coinbase looks to incur $149 million - $163 million in total restructuring expenses, consisting of $58 million - $68 million in cash charges related to employee severance and other termination benefits.

Taiwan Semiconductor's December Revenue Slumps Sequentially As China's COVID Chaos & Macro Headwinds Weigh

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd's (NYSE: TSM) December revenue of NT$192.56 billion declined 13.5% month-over-month. The revenue grew by 23.9% Y/Y.
Revenue for January through December 2022 totaled NT$2.26 trillion, up by 42.6% Y/Y.
TSMC's Q4 revenue grew 43% Y/Y to NT$625.5 billion ($20.6 billion), marking its first quarterly revenue miss in two years, signaling the global decline in electronics demand is starting to catch up with the chip giant. TSMC's Q4 revenue missed the consensus of NT$636 billion.

Microsoft Said To Be Discussing $10B Investment In ChatGPT Owner As Part Of Complex Deal

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is reportedly negotiating a $10 billion investment in OpenAI — ChatGPT's large language chatbot owner.
The funding, supported by other venture firms, would value OpenAI at $29 billion, people familiar with the matter told the news website Semafor.
There is no clarity if the deal has been finalized, but documents sent to prospective investors show that it targeted a close by the end of 2022.

Pfizer Rebuts Generic Version Of COVID-19 Oral Treatment In China, Says It Not A Poor Country

Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) CEO Albert Bourla rebuffed reports saying the company is in talks with Chinese authorities to license a generic version of its Covid-19 treatment Paxlovid.
Bourla speaking at JPMorgan's healthcare conference, said, "We are not in discussions. We have an agreement already for local manufacturing of Paxlovid in China. So we have a local partner that will make Paxlovid for us, and then we will sell it to the Chinese market.

Once Seen As CEO Contender, Morgan Stanley's Chief Operating Officer Retires After 29 Years

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Pruzan is retiring after 29 years at the bank, effective January 31, 2023.
Jon Pruzan was once considered a potential candidate to succeed James Gorman as chief executive officer.
Morgan Stanley named Mr. Pruzan operations chief in May 2021 as part of a broader executive reordering meant to "reflect the next generation of leadership at Morgan Stanley," Mr. Gorman said.

Southwest Airlines Faces Shareholder Activism, Reshuffles Leadership To Strengthen Ops

After the holiday meltdown with over 16,000 flight cancellations, Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) announced five department leadership changes to strengthen operations.
The company promoted vice president of network planning, Adam Decaire, to SVP of network planning & network operations control (NOC), effective immediately.
The meltdown has drawn the attention of a large public pension system with a history of shareholder activism.

Meta Deploys Machine Learning Tech To Thwart Facebook Ad Discrimination

Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) had created a Variance Reduction System (VRS) to help advance the equitable distribution of Facebook ads under a settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ), representing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
After more than a year of collaboration with the DOJ, Meta launched the VRS in the U.S. for housing ads.
Over the coming year, Meta will extend its use to U.S. employment and credit ads.

BMW Group Registers 4.8% Vehicle Sales Decline In 2022

German luxury vehicle brand BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke ADR) (OTC:BMWYY) delivered 2.4 million vehicles in 2022, a 4.8% decline year-on-year.
The decrease is due to the headwinds of supply bottlenecks, China's pandemic lockdowns, and Ukraine's war.
The BMW brand sold a total of 2.1 million, a 5.1% decline Y/Y.
The group's BEV sales jumped 107.7% Y/Y to 215,755 fully-electric BMW and MINI vehicles.

Renault Signs MOU With PUNCH Torino For Low-Emission Diesel Engines

Renault ADR (OTC:RNLSY) and PUNCH Torino, a center of excellence for propulsion systems and electronics, have signed a binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for low-emission diesel engines.
Under the terms of the agreement, PUNCH will purchase, use and sell the current and future Renault 4-cylinder Diesel engines.
The collaboration is based on the long-term experience of Renault Group in the engines' production and the expertise of PUNCH Torino as a reference for advanced low-emission diesel propulsion systems and electronics.

Reuters

Bed Bath & Beyond Stock Gained On M&A Speculation And Meme Stock Frenzy

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (NASDAQ:BBBY) rose sharply in high-volume trading on Monday on speculation of a potential acquisition.
The retail investors thought the retailer might be a potential acquisition target.
The report added that online retail stock platforms, including Reddit, have been speculating about a possible M&A deal, leading to a buying frenzy like the 2020 meme stock phenomenon.

Carlyle Pays $300M For Majority Ownership In India's VLCC

Global investment firm Carlyle Group Inc (NASDAQ:CG) bagged a majority stake in VLCC. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1989 by Vandana and Mukesh Luthra, VLCC is a homegrown pioneer in India's skincare, beauty and wellness market.
Carlyle acquired the stake by paying $300 million.

Bloomberg

Oak Street Health Might Be Next On Radar As M&A Pick For CVS Health

Oak Street Health Inc (NYSE:OSH) shares are trading higher as CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS) is reportedly exploring an acquisition of primary care center operator.
Private equity firms General Atlantic and Newlight Partners own roughly 39% of the company.
At JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, Oak Street Health released preliminary 2023 guidance.

Xiaomi Backed Lidar Car Sensor Developer Hesai Eyes US IPO

Xiaomi Corp (OTC: XIACY) (OTC: XIACF) backed Hesai Technology Co, a Chinese developer of lidar sensor technologies used in self-driving cars, aimed to raise $150 million under a U.S. initial public offering.
The startup collaborated with Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS), Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS), and Morgan Stanley on the share sale debut.
Hesai received strong interest in the potential listing from prospective investors.

Indian Conglomerate Tata Nears Deal For Majority Ownership In iPhone Plant In Country

Tata Group neared takeover of a major Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone plant in southern India in a deal likely to give the country its first homegrown iPhone maker.
The airline-to-software conglomerate discussed with the factory's owner, Taiwan's Wistron Corp (OTC: WICOF), for months and aimed to complete the purchase by March.
The talks have now centered on Tata owning most of the joint venture.