Apple To Launch Foldable iPhone By 2026 📱

Good morning. It's Wednesday, Jul. 24, and we're covering, Tesla Reports Lowest Profit Margins In Five Years, Apple Is Expected To Launch Foldable iPhone By 2026, UN Warns Of Potential Hijacking Of Nigerian Protests, and much more. First time reading? Sign up to get this newsletter: Sign up here.

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MARKETS

Cryptocurrency Prices by Market Cap

• The global cryptocurrency market cap today is $2.39 Trillion, a 0.56% decrease in the last 24 hours.

• The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is $83.26B, which makes a 5.94% decrease.

• The total volume in Defi is currently $4.66B, 5.60% of the total crypto market 24-hours.

• The volume of all stablecoins is now $77.1B, which is 92.61% of the total market 24-hour volume.

• Bitcoin’s dominance is currently 54.27%, an increase of 0.26% over the day.

Ethereum ETFs Make Strong Debut With $107 Million Net Inflows

The launch of Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States has been met with enthusiastic investor response, raking in $106.6 million in net inflows on their first day of trading. Among the standout performers, BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum ETF (ETHA) led with impressive net inflows of $266.5 million. Following closely, Bitwise’s Ethereum ETF (ETHW) garnered $204 million. Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund (FETH) also made a notable entrance, attracting $71.3 million in its initial day. ( Read Deeper )

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Tesla Reports Lowest Profit Margins In Five Years

Tesla reported its lowest profit margin in over five years for Q2 2024, with automotive gross margin excluding regulatory credits at 14.6%, missing the expected 16.3%. Revenue for the quarter was $25.50 billion, slightly above estimates, but adjusted earnings per share (EPS) were $0.52, missing the expected $0.62. Tesla shares dropped 8% in after-hours trading. Despite these mixed results, Tesla reaffirmed plans to produce new affordable vehicles by early 2025 and announced a delayed reveal of its robotaxi to October 10. CEO Elon Musk highlighted that the robotaxi would feature an "unboxed manufacturing strategy." Tesla's stock fell over 4% in after-hours trading following the announcement.

Takeaway: The Challenges Tesla faces include increased spending on AI projects, layoffs of over 10% of employees to cut costs, and rising competition impacting EV sales, especially from Chinese automakers. Tesla delivered 443,956 vehicles globally in Q2, exceeding estimates but down from the previous year. The company's Q2 net income was $1.48 billion, compared to $2.70 billion a year ago. (Read Deeper)

Alphabet Beats Q2 Revenue And Profit Estimates On Strong Ads And Cloud Demand

Alphabet, Google's parent company, surpassed second-quarter revenue and profit expectations, driven by a rise in digital advertising sales and robust demand for its cloud computing services. Total revenue is $84.74 billion, a 14% increase, exceeding the consensus estimate of $84.19 billion. Net income is $23.6 billion, a 28.6% rise, surpassing the estimate of $22.9 billion. Advertising sales increased by 11% to $64.6 billion, with YouTube ad sales up 13% to $8.67 billion. Cloud computing revenue rose by 28.8% to $10.35 billion, above the expected $10.16 billion.

Why It Matters: Investor reactions were mixed, with shares initially rising before dipping, although the stock has gained over 30% this year. Alphabet reported capital expenditures of $13 billion in Q2, with expectations for similar spending for the rest of 2024. Alphabet is focused on expanding its AI offerings, despite some initial setbacks. CEO Sundar Pichai indicated that AI products would soon generate revenue. (Read Deeper)

TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

Apple Is Expected To Launch Foldable iPhone By 2026

Apple is expected to introduce a foldable iPhone by 2026, marking a major design change for its popular product. The company has progressed from the ideation stage and is working with suppliers in Asia to develop components for the foldable device, internally codenamed V68. Apple is also planning a camera upgrade for some iPhone models to allow users to control the aperture size for depth-of-field effects. This move follows Samsung Electronics, which introduced foldable phones in 2019.

Takeaway: The foldable iPhone is anticipated to incorporate artificial intelligence features to boost demand, especially in competitive markets like China and globally against Samsung. The global foldable smartphone market saw a 49% growth in Q1 2023 compared to the previous year, with Huawei leading the market for the first time. However, there is no guarantee that Apple will release the foldable iPhone. (Read Deeper)

Harvey A Legal Tech Startup, Has Secured $100M

Harvey, an AI-powered legal tech startup, raised $100 million in a Series C round led by GV, Google's venture arm, with participation from OpenAI, Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, and others. This brings Harvey's total funding to $206 million and values the company at $1.5 billion. The funds will be used to develop domain-specific AI models, expand the team, and extend services globally. Founded in 2022, Harvey uses OpenAI’s GPT-4 to assist lawyers with tasks like answering legal questions, extracting trial information, and drafting legal documents.

Why It Matters: Despite privacy and accuracy concerns, Harvey has gained significant traction among major law firms and consultancies. The company initially aimed for a larger funding round to acquire legal research service vLex but settled for the $100 million round. (Read Deeper)

AROUND DE WORLD & POLITICS

UN Warns Of Potential Hijacking Of Nigerian Protests

The United Nations has raised alarms about the potential for upcoming protests in Nigeria, scheduled from August 1 to 10, to be hijacked by groups with ulterior motives. These protests, dubbed “10 days of rage,” are being organized by various groups in response to the soaring cost of living and widespread economic hardship in the country. In a threat and risk assessment dated July 19, the UN Department of Safety and Security expressed concerns about the likelihood of violence, drawing parallels to past protests in Nigeria that escalated.

Takeaway: Given the high expected turnout for the upcoming protests, the UN warned of potential large-scale disruptions to normal economic and social activities. The assessment also indicated a possibility of clashes between pro-government groups and those opposing its policies from the end of July through mid-August. Protest organizers are demanding the reversal of several policies implemented by President Bola Tinubu, which they argue have exacerbated the country's economic woes. (Read Deeper)

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle Resigns

Kimberly Cheatle has resigned as director of the U.S. Secret Service following intense pressure from lawmakers over security lapses during an attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. Cheatle's resignation comes after widespread scrutiny and criticism following the July 13 shooting at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A gunman opened fire from a rooftop, killing one attendee and wounding two others.

Takeaway: Cheatle, who was appointed as director in 2022 after a long career with the Secret Service, faced mounting calls for her resignation following her testimony before Congress on July 22. Lawmakers expressed dissatisfaction with her responses and her inability to provide detailed explanations for the security failures. House Oversight and Accountability Committee members, including Chairman James Comer and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, were among those calling for her to step down. (Read Deeper)

ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

Andy Murray Announces Retirement After 2024 Paris Olympics

Andy Murray has officially confirmed retiring from professional tennis following the 2024 Paris Olympics. The 37-year-old British tennis star plans to compete in singles and doubles events at his fifth Olympic Games. Murray's Olympic journey began in Beijing in 2008, where he lost in the first round to Lu Yen-hsun. He redeemed himself four years later at London 2012, winning gold by defeating Roger Federer in straight sets, shortly after losing to Federer in the Wimbledon final. (Read Deeper)

Elon Musk Claims Transgender Daughter Was "Killed" By "Woke Mind Virus"

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk discussed his estranged relationship with his 20-year-old daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, revealing his controversial views on her gender transition. Musk, who shares Vivian with ex-wife Justine Wilson, stated that he believes the "woke mind virus" was responsible for what he describes as the "death" of his daughter. He claims that he was misled into signing documents that allowed Vivian to undergo gender-affirming care. According to Musk, this decision was made under the impression that it was necessary to prevent her from potentially committing suicide. (Read Deeper)

PODCAST (WHAT WE ARE LISTENING TO)

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EXTRA BREVITI

• Mark Zuckerberg Proposes AI Clones for Content Creators to Boost Engagement. (Read More)

• Elon Musk has floated a proposal on social network X suggesting that Tesla invest $5 billion into his latest venture, xAI. (Read More)

• Alphabet to Invest $5 Billion in Waymo Expansion (Read More)