Tesla Recalls Some Semi-Trucks, Ford Slams Brakes On Self-Driving Dreams, TikTok Founder Meets Walmart Chief Privately: Today's Top Stories

Benzinga

Tesla Recalls Again — Except This Time, It's 35 Semi-Trucks

• EV giant Tesla Inc TSLA is recalling thirty-five 2023 semi-trucks, citing trouble with the parking brake.
• The company said in a filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the parking brake might not engage as expected when the driver releases the brakes. This may allow the vehicle to roll away and increase the crash risk.
• Tesla said it would replace the parking brake valve module in affected vehicles without cost to the customer.

Ford Slams Brakes On Self-Driving Dreams By Pulling NHTSA Exemption Plea

• Ford Motor Co F withdrew its petition to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requesting exemptions to deploy a self-driving vehicle.
• Ford wrote to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration withdrawing its petition for temporary exemptions to deploy an automated driving system-equipped vehicle. Though dated February 13, NHTSA made the letter public on Thursday.
• In July 2021, Ford requested NHTSA for a two-year exemption from various Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards requirements to deploy its Level-4 automated driving system feature-equipped vehicle.

Taipei's EVA Air Orders Five Additional Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners

• Boeing Co BA has received an additional order for five 787-9 Dreamliners from EVA Air. The financial terms were not disclosed.
• Taipei-based airline EVA Air's subsequent investment in the 787 will allow the airline to reduce carbon emissions while growing its fleet sustainably.
• The 787-9 will provide the five-star airline with increased capacity, greater range, and 25% better fuel efficiency than earlier jets.

US Consumer Watchdog Lays Down Rules On Small Business Loan Data

• The U.S. government agency for consumer financial protection, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has finalized a rule regarding data collection on loans to small businesses.
• The CFPB said the rule would increase transparency in small business lending, promote economic development, and combat unlawful discrimination.
• According to the rule, lenders must collect and report information about the small business credit applications they receive, including geographic and demographic data, lending decisions, and the price of credit. 

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit Raises Nearly $11M To Cover Layoff Costs

• British entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc VORB raised $10.9 million from Virgin Investments Limited via the issue of a senior secured convertible note to pay severance for laid-off employees.
• The proceeds would be used to pay severance to the 675 employees laid off on Thursday.
• The company laid off 85% of its workforce to cut expenses after it failed to procure funding. Virgin Orbit estimates the workforce reduction to incur aggregate charges of about $15 million, of which $8.8 million will be severance payments and employee benefit costs.

Nestle Shuts Buitoni Pizza Factory In France Following Outbreak Issues

• Nestle ADR NSRGY said it is closing its Buitoni pizza factory in France after a shrink in demand volumes.
• The company had temporarily suspended production at the Caudry site on March 2 after an E. coli outbreak that led to a recall.
• Nestle said it would launch a process to find a lasting recovery solution for the factory.
• Nestlé France would undertake to present the opportunity for internal redeployment to the employees of Buitoni Pizza within other entities of the Nestlé group in France.

Verizon Secures $2.4B Contract To Modernize FAA Infrastructure

• The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration awarded Verizon Communications Inc's VZ Verizon Business Network Services LLC a contract worth up to $2.4 billion.
• The contract lasts 15 years if all options are exercised as the agency looks to modernize its systems.
• Verizon said it would "build the FAA a dynamic, highly available and secure enterprise network to support all of the agency's mission-critical applications across the National Airspace System."

Blackberry Shares Tumble After Q4 Earnings

• BlackBerry Limited BB shares declined premarket Friday after it missed the fourth-quarter topline consensus on Thursday.
• BlackBerry reported Q4 revenue of $151.00 million, missing the consensus of $156.65 million.
• Adjusted EPS loss of $(0.02) beat the consensus loss of $(0.07).
• The gross margin declined by 100 bps due to lower margins of the Cybersecurity and IoT segments.

Reuters

US Appeals Court Rules In Favor Of Apple In Patent Infringement Case Against VirnetX

• Apple Inc AAPL turned the tables in its favor by convincing a U.S. appeals court on Thursday to uphold a patent tribunal's ruling.
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office invalidating the two patents VirnetX Holding Corp VHC had accused Apple of infringing.
• The two companies have waged a 13-year court battle. An East Texas jury awarded VirnetX $502 million in 2020 after deciding that Apple violated the virtual private network (VPN) patents at issue in Thursday's decision.

Boeing Plans To Boost 737 MAX Production Rates Sooner

• Boeing Co BA reportedly expects to ramp up the production of its 737 MAX above the current rate of 31 jets per month soon.
• The head of Boeing's commercial airplanes business, Stan Deal said the aircraft maker is also in the process of final submissions for Federal Aviation Administration certification for its new 737 MAX 7 model.
• "We've got a handful - less than a handful - left to go to the FAA," said Stan Deal.

New York Post

TikTok Founder Meets Walmart Chief Privately, Fuels Speculation Over Possible Deal To Avert Ban

• Last week, while the U.S. pummeled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew over its ties to China, ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming quietly flew to Arkansas to meet with the CEO of Walmart Inc WMT.
• However, the topic of discussion between Yimimg and Walmart CEO Doug McMillon remains undisclosed.
• Two years ago, Walmart had been in talks to partner with Oracle Corp ORCL to buy TikTok's U.S. operations under pressure from the Trump administration.

Wall Street Journal

Ford Motor Hikes Price Of F-150 Lightning Truck

• Ford Motor Co F has raised the starting price of its electric F-150 Lightning truck again.
• The move comes after the carmaker had temporarily halted production and shipment of the F-150 following a battery issue.
• After the price rise, the F-150 ow will cost about $59,974, a jump from the $40,000 starting price when it began sales in April 2022.

Bloomberg

Netflix Shakes Up Film Group — Commits to Quality Over Quantity

• Netflix Inc NFLX is revamping its film group in the form of consolidation. The streaming giant also wants to focus on making fewer but better films going forward.
• Netflix is set to combine units that make small and midsize films, which will lead to some layoffs and the departure of Lisa Nishimura and Ian Bricke — two experienced executives.
• Nishimura is currently in charge of documentaries and films with smaller budgets, while Bricke is the vice president of the film group and has worked with filmmakers such as Nicole Holofcener and the Duplass brothers.

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