Bitcoin
Alibaba, Bitcoin, SoftBank and Diploma
Alibaba reports earnings on Tuesday. (VCG via Getty Images)
Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba will report quarterly earnings on Tuesday, with investors eager to see the performance of a company that serves as a barometer for consumer mood in the world’s second-largest economy.
For the March quarter of this year, analysts, on average, expect the company to earn $1.41 per share on revenue of $30.42 billion (£24.28 billion). This compares to last year’s $1.50 per share and $29.15 billion.
Alibaba’s Taobao online shopping platforms and Tmall B2C online retail platforms may have seen a strong sequential increase in gross merchandise value.
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The platform has reduced costs as Chinese consumers seek discounts and lower-cost purchases, but analysts fear this could affect margins.
It also faces increasing competition from low-cost platforms such as PDD Holding (DCP) Douyin, owned by Pinduoduo and ByteDance, Reuters reported.
Bitcoin is struggling to gain momentum as the global market cryptocurrency market capitalization decreased 1.1% to approximately $2.23 trillion overnight
The cryptocurrency was trading at around $62,504 on Monday and struggled to make significant gains after it rose due to the approval of US exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
See more information: Stocks that are trending today
Despite the drop, cryptocurrency investors were surprised by the news that two Bitcoin wallets containing a total of 1,000 Bitcoins – worth $61 million at current prices – had suddenly woken up after a 10-year hiatus, with the owners withdrawing almost all available funds.
Nearly 1.8 million Bitcoin addresses have remained inactive for more than a decade, according to a recent analysis by Chainalysis and Fortune.
SoftBank posted a quarterly profit of 231.1 billion yen (£1.2 billion) as the Japanese technology conglomerate benefited from a valuation boom driven by AI hype.
The Tokyo-based company reported a second consecutive quarter of profitability, in a result that was well above analysts’ estimates, compared with a loss of 57.6 billion yen (£295 million) in the first three months of last year .
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In February, Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto said the company was returning to a “growth trajectory.”
The Vision Fund’s investment unit recorded an investment loss of 96.7 billion yen, missing estimates of a profit of 185.1 billion yen.
See more information: UK real wages rise as output per worker falls
In recent months, SoftBank has stepped up investments in AI-related hardware, taking a controlling stake in some cases. The Japanese investment firm is in talks to acquire British semiconductor startup Graphcore, Bloomberg reported.
SoftBank Arm Holdings plans to develop artificial intelligence (AI) chips, aiming to launch the first products in 2025, Nikkei Asia reported.
Distribution group Diploma has risen to the top of the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) after acquisitions of North American companies helped it post double-digit revenue growth.
Adjusted pre-tax profit was £115.2m in the six months ended March 31, while revenue jumped 10% to £638.3m.
The specialty distribution business raised full-year guidance following a 17% increase in adjusted earnings. It now expects steady foreign exchange revenue growth of around 16%, an increase of five percentage points from previous guidance.
The company acquired US-based Peerless Aerospace Fastener for £236 million during the period, which it said would expand its strength in aerospace specialty fasteners. It also bought UK-based Plastic and Rubber Group for £38m.
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