AMC Entertainment & Warner Bros Earnings, Broadcom CEO Proposes To Pitch EU Regulators Over VMware Deal, Apple & Meta Brace For Virtual Reality Competition: Today's Top Stories

Reuters

Broadcom CEO Prepares To Allay Concerns Of EU Regulators Over VMware Deal

• On Friday, U.S. chipmaker Broadcom Inc's AVGO CEO Hock Tan proposes to pitch EU antitrust enforcers regarding the pro-competitiveness of his proposed $61 billion bid for cloud computing firm VMware Inc VMW.
• Tan will present his arguments to senior European Commission officials, including its deputy director general for mergers Guillaume Loriot, and their counterparts from national competition agencies and lawyers from the EU executive.
• VMware President Sumit Dhawan will appear remotely at the hearing.

Benzinga

AMC Entertainment Q1 Earnings: Theater Chain Beats Expectations As Avatar, Marvel Franchises Help Maintain Winning Streak

• AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC reported first-quarter FY23 revenue growth of 21.5% year-on-year to $954.4 million, beating the consensus of $941.9 million.
• Overall attendance improved by 21.9% Y/Y to 47.6 million. U.S. markets attendance increased by 25.5% Y/Y to 32.4 million. International markets attendance grew by 15% Y/Y to 15.3 million.
• Average screens fell 1% year-on-year to 9,998 from 10,099.

Apple, Meta Brace For Competition As India's Richest Man Enters VR Headset Battle With A $16 Device

• Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms Inc META and Tim Cook's Apple Inc AAPL will soon clash fiercely with expensive offerings in the VR headset market. But India's richest man is looking to play disruptor once again on his home turf with a VR headset that costs just under $16.
• Reliance Industries, owned and led by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, this week launched its first-ever virtual reality (VR) headset called JioDive under its subsidiary Reliance Jio.

Why Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Is Tumbling Premarket Today

• Warner Bros. Discovery Inc WBD reported a first-quarter FY23 revenue decline of 5% ex-FX year-on-year to $10.70 billion, missing the consensus of $10.78 billion. EPS loss of $(0.44) missed the consensus of $0.01.
• Studios revenues were $3.21 billion, down by 7% ex-FX Y/Y on a pro forma combined basis. Content revenue decreased 8% ex-FX, as higher games revenue from the release of Hogwarts Legacy was more than offset by lower TV licensing.
• Networks revenues were $5.58 billion, down by 7% ex-FX, excluding the impact of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games on a pro forma combined basis. 

Lordstown Motors To Hit The Brakes On Endurance Electric Truck Production

• Lordstown Motors Corp RIDE said it expects the production of its Endurance electric full-size pickup truck to stop "in the near future," given the lack of investment and production delays.
• The company said in a filing on Thursday that the production of Endurance — Lordstown's flagship vehicle — may cease soon.
• The company is seeking strategic partners to scale the program but noted that its ability to obtain additional financing is "extremely limited."

American Bankers Association Calls On SEC To Probe Short Selling, Abusive Practices

• The American Bankers Association, or ABA, reportedly called on federal regulators on Thursday to probe a spate of significant short sales of publicly traded banking stocks that it said were "disconnected from the underlying financial realities."
• The group stated it had also observed "extensive social media engagement" about the health of various lenders that was out of step with general industry conditions, reported Reuters, citing a letter written to the Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler.

Why Dropbox Shares Are Up Friday Morning

• Dropbox Inc DBX reported Q1 2023 revenues growth of 8.7% Y/Y and 11.6% Y/Y constant currency, to $611.1 Million, beating the consensus of $601.1 million.
• Paying users stood at 17.90 million, vs. 17.09 million a year ago, and average revenue per paying user increased to $138.97 from $134.63 the prior year.
• The company maintained a long-term target of an adjusted gross margin of 80%-82%, an adjusted operating margin of 30%-32%, and an annual free cash flow of over $1 billion.

Cigna Raised Annual Profit Forecast On Strong Growth, Lower Medical Costs

• Cigna Corporation CI has reported Q1 FY23 sales of $46.52 billion, up 6% Y/Y, beating the consensus of $45.53 billion, reflecting strong contributions from Evernorth Health Services and Cigna Healthcare.
• Cigna saw its medical cost ratio - or spending on claims as a percentage of premiums - fall to 81.3% from 81.5% due to higher premiums and lower COVID-19 costs. 
• The adjusted EPS of $5.41, down from $6.06 a year ago, came above the Wall Street estimate of $5.24.

Dogecoin Wallet With 1.5M DOGE Springs To Life After 9 Years

• A Dogecoin (DOGE/USD) address containing 1.55 million DOGE worth approximately $123,155 on Thursday awakened after remaining dormant for 9.3 years. 
• The fact that this dormant wallet was reactivated after such a long period of stagnancy suggests that the holders may have acquired the coins shortly after Dogecoin's invention.
• Last month, a number of inactive DOGE wallets sprang back to life after remaining dormant for extended periods.

Air France-KLM In Discussions With Apollo Global Management For €500M Financing

• Air France-KLM AFLYY and Apollo Global Management Inc APO are in talks about a €500 million financing of a dedicated operating affiliate owning Engineering and Maintenance assets.
• This financing will be non-dilutive, structured through a quasi-equity financing instrument. Proceeds will be allocated to general corporate purposes.

CNBC

HSBC Defeats Proposal Regarding Asian Business Spinoff At Shareholder Meeting

• HSBC Holdings PLC HSBC reportedly defeated the proposal on the potential spinoff of its Asian business into a Hong Kong-listed company in today's annual general meeting (AGM).
• Investors in support of the spinoff failed to get the majority votes. HSBC's largest shareholder, Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd (OTC; PNGAY), supported the spinoff.

Bloomberg

Jack Ma's Ant Eyes Stake Sell In Hong Kong Banking Unit

• Alibaba Group Holding Limited's BABA fintech affiliate Ant Group Co Ltd weighed selling a stake in its virtual banking unit in Hong Kong to win regulatory confidence for its impending initial public offering.
• Ant Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd has been discussing with potential investors to bolster operations,
• China's parent Ant Group has been restructuring operations to win the regulators after the country abruptly dumped its IPO in 2020. 

BMW Issues 'Do Not Drive' Warning For 90,000 Cars With Faulty Airbags: Report

• BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke ADR) BMWYY has reportedly issued a "do not drive" alert for the 90,000 affected sedans and SUVs with faulty airbags.
• The move comes after Hondo Motor Co Ltd HMC and Ford Motor Co F issued similar orders about Takata Corp airbags.
• The airbags hold the risk of explosion if deployed after long-term exposure to high heat and humidity. 

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