Showing 49 results for:
stock market
Popular topics
All results
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky sought out Barack Obama’s mentorship. During an interview with former First Lady Michelle Obama, Chesky revealed that he sought advice from Barack after the conclusion of his presidency in 2017. He believed that Barack was well-positioned to offer guidance that could inform his leadership at Airbnb, a vacation rental company that now boasts more than 5 million hosts and over 2 billion guest arrivals, its website mentions. “Airbnb is a community. Who’s the most famous community organizer in the world,” Chesky said, alluding to Barack while speaking to Michelle. Chesky’s time learning under Barack Obama as a mentee involved completing various homework assignments that he said changed his life. By 2018, he says his daily routine included attending night school with Barack’s lessons and participating in weekly one-hour phone calls. While practical, he points out one piece of advice that has stood the test of time: to become more intentional. “He literally said,...
Salesforce is making a bold move in the enterprise tech space with its planned $7.75 billion acquisition of Informatica, a long-established leader in AI-powered data integration and governance, according to a press release. It’s the company’s largest deal since buying Slack for nearly $28 billion in 2021 and signals a deeper investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. Informatica Stock Rises On Deal News Salesforce will pay $25 per Informatica share, a 30% premium over its May 22, 2025, closing price, the day before acquisition talks resumed, as The Network Journal (TNJ) reports. Informatica stock jumped nearly 6% following the announcement. The Salesforce Informatica acquisition is expected to close by February 2026, pending regulatory approval, and will be funded through cash and new debt, per the outlet. A deal was previously discussed in 2024, but the two parties could not agree on terms at the time, according to Reuters. For Salesforce, Informatica offers an...
Klarna’s plans to go public may need to be on standby. The Sweden-based fintech company has reportedly had a loss of $99 million in Q1 2025, according to Tip Ranks. In comparison, it saw a loss of $47 million in Q1 2024. There are several reasons for this decline. For one, customer credit losses increased by 17%, totaling $136 million, according to its Q1 report. However a spokesperson told The Tab this statistic was to be expected. “Bear in mind that we made 13% more loans than a year ago so, all else being equal, you’d expect credit losses to increase by at least 13%,” the spokesperson mentioned. Klarna And Artificial Intelligence While Klarna replaced human roles with artificial intelligence (AI), as AFROTECH™ previously reported, this decision was driven by a desire to increase operational efficiency and reduce overhead. As a result, 700 customer service representatives were replaced with tools that leveraged OpenAI. Tip Ranks notes that this move did help the company meet its...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. The culture and energy of the tech industry has changed overnight. The industry once stereotyped as a bastion of liberalism, which has a history of backing more liberal candidates in presidential elections, has changed. This all became more apparent during the 2024 presidential election between Kamala Harris and now President Donald Trump . During the election, the industry was split in a way that felt unprecedented to those who had been in the industry for the past 20 years. When Trump was first elected to office, his presidency appeared to be one that the industry would resist, given his first term as president as well as his 2020 campaign. He had policy views and beliefs that were against what the tech industry stood for, specifically around the topics of immigration, social media moderation, and climate change. What we saw leading up to the 2024 presidential election was not only less...
After more than six decades of leadership, Warren Buffett made a surprise announcement at the close of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders meeting on Saturday, May 3, 2025. According to CNBC, he revealed that Greg Abel will take over as CEO on Jan. 1, 2026. The board voted unanimously to approve the transition, with Buffett remaining as chairman. As news of the change spread, attention quickly turned to the future of Berkshire Hathaway stock, a long-standing indicator of investor confidence and corporate stability. “Buffett leaves a company that is less reliant on his investing capabilities, with an array of leading businesses with strong cash flows,” Brian Meredith, UBS’ Berkshire analyst, said via CNBC. Berkshire Hathaway Stock Responds To Leadership News Following the leadership announcement, Berkshire Hathaway stock experienced a brief dip of 5%. Class A shares fell 4.9% to $769,960, down from a record $809,350 the day before. Class B shares also declined, closing at...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Billionaire business leaders turned against President Donald Trump as he implemented sweeping tariffs with other countries, which have amounted to billions of dollars lost. Many of the billionaires who have pushed back against the Trump tariffs have also endorsed him for the 2024 presidential election. One of those billionaires, Bill Ackman, warned against tariffs, likening them to an “economic nuclear war” in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). He also claimed that the tariffs weren’t what he voted for, despite Trump speaking on tariffs early on in the election. How Will Tariffs Affect The American Consumer? Unwarranted tariffs will not only decimate our economy but also hurt our already fragile standing on the world stage. In retaliation, China has raised tariffs on American goods to 125%. Most business leaders, economic experts, and other world leaders are confused over Trump’s misguided...
UnitedHealth Group, a longtime healthcare powerhouse, just took a brutal hit, missing earnings expectations and slashing its 2025 outlook. The company’s stock dropped rapidly Thursday morning, April 17, and it wasn’t just a blip — this was a full-on market reaction to what many are now calling a crisis moment. At the center of it all? A shaky Medicare business, a leadership shakeup, and the long shadow of a massive cyberattack. For years, UnitedHealth was considered untouchable on Wall Street. But now, the once-steady giant is showing signs of severe strain. Medicare Misfire Rattles Confidence In The Insurance Giant Investors didn’t just flinch — they ran. According to The Wall Street Journal, UnitedHealth stock tumbled about 18% in early trading, pulling other major healthcare players like Humana and CVS Health down. What happened? The company’s Medicare Advantage division, which manages benefits for older and disabled Americans, faces deeper issues than previously disclosed....
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. President Donald Trump has gone all in on his tariff crusade, announcing last week a 10% tariff on almost every country with even higher tariffs on specific countries. From beauty and food to car automation , every industry is currently reeling with the stock market dovetailing, and the potential negative aftereffects will be felt for decades to come. However, the now billion-dollar AI industry is at risk of being decimated thanks to Trump’s tariffs. Pro-crypto and pro-AI fanatics have curried a lot of favor with the president, so much so that many of them have been appointed as high government officials to advance America’s standing in the global AI race. Even though Trump has reversed his initial thoughts towards technology, his insistence on tariffs may hurt the AI industry after all. According to Time, AI companies, along with several other industries, lost billions of dollars when the tariffs...
President Donald Trump’s 10% tariff on all countries took effect over the weekend, and on Monday, April 7, U.S. stocks fell by at least 20%, entering what is known as a “bear market,” CNN reported . According to Dictionary.com, a bear market — the opposite of a bull market — is a prolonged period of declining stock prices , generally defined as a drop of 20% or more from a recent high, though not a formal measurement. On Thursday, April 3, stock markets had already experienced their worst day since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, AFROTECH™ reported. Then came Friday with another record drop. The S&P 500 index, which tracks 500 leading U.S. companies, fell by over 4%, marking a decline of more than 16% from its peak. The Russell 2000 index, which follows smaller U.S. companies, plunged by 5.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index — already in a bear market — had experienced a decline of over 5% on Thursday, marking its worst trading session in more than five years. It...
Friday, April 4, 2025, marked the second consecutive day major U.S. stock indexes fell sharply, a downtrend that follows President Donald Trump’s recent tariffs announcement and China’s Friday morning declaration to impose a 34% duty on U.S. goods in retaliation. According to NBC News, significant market losses included Tesla , Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company, which fell by approximately 10%; agricultural equipment leader Caterpillar, down about 6%; and top AI chip manufacturer Nvidia, which declined by approximately 7%. The S&P 500 index, which tracks 500 leading U.S. companies, dropped more than 4%, down more than 16% from its peak. The Russell 2000 index, which follows stocks of smaller U.S. companies, plummeted by 5.3%. Global markets also experienced significant sell-offs, with European stocks declining 10% from recent highs and Asian markets facing sharp drops. After the market had closed on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, Trump announced from the White House’s Rose Garden that...
Apple faces its largest decline since 2020, leading the race of significant drops in technology stocks as President Donald Trump announced a 10% tariff on all imported goods and higher duties targeting specific countries, according to CNBC. Trump shared the news about tariffs from the White House’s Rose Garden after the market closed on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, raising concerns about a potential global trade war . According to a White House fact sheet, the tariffs will take effect at 12:01 a.m. EST on Saturday, April 5, 2025. “Today, President Donald J. Trump declared that foreign trade and economic practices have created a national emergency, and his order imposes responsive tariffs to strengthen the international economic position of the United States and protect American workers,” the fact sheet read. On Thursday, April 3, Apple stock declined by over 8%, Meta Platforms and Amazon each dropped about 7%, and Nvidia and Tesla experienced declines of over 4%, per CNBC. The...
The crypto market is surging following a major regulatory shift. According to CNBC, XRP jumped 10% to $2.49 after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dropped its case against the company. This decision marks the end of a four-year legal battle that has shaped the industry’s regulatory landscape and fueled speculation about a broader shift in the SEC’s approach. Ripple’s Long-Awaited Victory Speaking at the Digital Assets Summit in New York, Garlinghouse reflected on the drawn-out legal fight, calling it a painful yet necessary battle for the industry. “It’s been almost four years and about three months since the SEC originally sued us, certainly a painful journey in lots of ways,” Garlinghouse said. “I really deeply believed that we were going to be on the right side of the law and on the right side of history.” The SEC sued Ripple in 2020, alleging that the company sold XRP as an unregistered security. Ripple scored a...
If you’ve been keeping up with the news regarding emerging technology such as generative artificial intelligence , you’re likely already aware of popular services such as ChatGPT and Meta AI. While these models have been disrupting the tech space for the last few years, one relative newcomer, DeepSeek, has recently made major waves and completely shifted the cultural perspective on the financial and computational requirements of artificial intelligence. Per reports, DeepSeek showcases a nearly identical generative capability when compared to GPT-4o, despite costing a fraction of the price to develop. Within days of hitting the American market, DeepSeek has decimated multiple major stock prices for companies including Nvidia, Microsoft and Meta. The headline-grabbing service has left investors and general consumers alike scrambling to catch up, asking questions about how this is all possible. Since DeepSeek is receiving such massive attention, now seems like as good a time as any to...
As American social media users brace for the Jan. 19 TikTok ban , thousands have begun searching for alternative apps to satiate their doom scrolling fix. While many American-based tech CEO’s such as Mark Zuckerberg had hoped that the TikTok ban would encourage users to flock to other short-form video players such as Instagram or YouTube Shorts, it seems that the masses have stumbled onto an unknown gem called Xiaohongshu instead. The app, which translates to RedNote in English, is owned by a Shanghai-based company known as Xingyin Information Technology, and touts itself as a lifestyle, social networking and e-commerce service . Given that RedNote primarily serves a Chinese audience, it defaults to Mandarin upon download, and exposes new users to an audience of hundreds of millions of overseas subscribers. The sudden influx of so-called “TikTok refugees” has caused RedNote to skyrocket in popularity, taking it to the number one position among the free apps chart on both the Apple...
It could be the end of an era for budget-friendly travel — at least for now. On Monday, Nov. 18th, low-fair flight company Spirit Airlines confirmed that they’ve filed for bankruptcy protection after making efforts to cut costs all around. Some of their recent steps have included selling 23 Airbus jets and delaying future aircraft deliveries. Sadly, Spirit has also had to furlough hundreds of pilots with plans to cut additional staff in January. In their filing, they confirmed 13,000 full-time and part-time employees, plus 8,000 independent contractors and temporary workers. Things might look dire now, but as CNN notes, American Airlines , United and Delta have all gone bankrupt within the last 25 years, only to bounce back stronger on the other end of negotiations and hard work. What We Know About Spirit Airlines’ Bankruptcy So Far Photo Credit: Forsaken Films / Unsplash CNN cites, “ mounting losses, unaffordable debt, increased competition for bargain-seeking airline passengers...