Amazon’s $2 billion Q2 net loss was “well below expectations,” Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter wrote investors Friday, citing “the poor performance” of Amazon’s investment in Rivian,” whose rollout of an electric vehicle delivery fleet has been “severely impacted” by supply chain constraints. Amazon posted a $7.8 billion profit in the year-earlier quarter.
“It's no longer a question of whether global consumers will come back to the cinema for blockbuster movies," said Imax CEO Richard Gelfond on a Q2 earnings call Thursday. “They are back,” he said. Imax's domestic box office in June surpassed pre-COVID-19 pandemic June 2019, he said. Q2 was on par with Q2 that year, he said.
Roku saw a “significant slowdown" in Q2 TV advertising spend, due to the deteriorating macroeconomic environment, said CEO Anthony Wood on a quarterly earnings call Thursday. Shares plunged 23.1% Friday, hitting a 52-week low at $62, before closing at $65.52.
The House passed chips legislation Thursday in a 243-187-1 vote, sending the long-awaited science and technology package to President Joe Biden’s desk (see 2207270061). Twenty-four Republicans voted in favor, and zero Democrats voted against.
The California Privacy Protection Agency will oppose the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA) as drafted, plus any other federal privacy bill that preempts California, CPPA board members decided unanimously Thursday. The board authorized staff at a virtual meeting to weigh in on HR-8152 and other federal privacy bills. Former FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz (D) urged the board to compromise on preemption.
SiriusXM scaled back guidance for self-pay subscriber growth due to challenges and uncertainty in new and used auto sales, said CEO Jennifer Witz on a Q2 earnings call Thursday. The company said on its April earnings call it expected 500,000 more self-pay subscribers in 2022.
CTA told the FCC the “record is clear” that voluntary, industry-led standards are the best approach to improving receiver performance, in reply comments posted Thursday in docket 22-137. The FCC logged more than 20 replies in the proceeding, on a notice of inquiry on receiver performance and potentially standards adopted by commissioners 4-0 in April (see 2204210049). Other comments largely echoed CTA’s arguments. Initial comments were posted a month ago (see 2206270045).
Between fewer people moving and increased fixed wireless competition, Comcast saw its residential broadband subscriber numbers flatline between Q1 and Q2. CEO Brian Roberts said it expects that to be temporary and residential broadband growth to resume as the company looks to housing and business growth in its current footprint and accelerated edge-outs into new areas, driven by government digital divide spending. Comcast shares took a body blow Thursday, closing 9.1% lower at $39.41.
Qualcomm now expects global handset shipments in calendar 2022 to decline by “a mid-single-digit percentage” year over year, including 650 million to 700 million 5G handsets, said Chief Financial Officer Akash Palkhiwala on an earnings call Wednesday for fiscal Q3 ended June 26. Previous Qualcomm 5G smartphone forecasts pegged shipments to exceed 750 million handsets for calendar 2022.
Shopify “overshot our prediction” that the share of dollars going through e-commerce vs. physical retail “would permanently leap ahead” following COVID-19 pandemic trends, said President Harley Finkelstein on the company’s Q2 earnings call Wednesday.