LODGING
Airbnb beats estimates
Airbnb Inc beat revenue and profit estimates in the fourth quarter of last year, bucking a wave of COVID-19 infections and heading into this year even stronger than before the pandemic. The shares jumped in extended trading. Revenue grew 78 percent to US$1.53 billion, Airbnb said in a statement on Tuesday. That beat analysts’ projections of US$1.46 billion. The San Francisco-based company reported net income of US$55 million compared with a loss of US$3.9 billion a year earlier, marking a record for the period. Earnings per share were US$0.08, beating estimates of US$0.03. Airbnb chief executive officer Brian Chesky called the results “the best year in our company’s history,” and said that the company was able to weather the pandemic because of its highly adaptable business model.
JAPAN
Tokyo stocks increase
Tokyo stocks closed sharply higher yesterday, after Wall Street rallied as fears of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine eased. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 2.22 percent or 595.21 points at 27,460.40, while the broader TOPIX gained 1.67 percent or 31.93 points to 1,946.63. After Wall Street stocks cheered Russia’s announcement that some of its troops on the countries’ border had started pulling back, “excess worries over the Ukraine situation eased,” supporting the Tokyo market, Okasan Online Securities Co said in a note. Among major shares, Sony Group Corp rallied 1.02 percent to ￥12,335 after announcing that capital expenditure on a joint plant with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) would rise by more than ￥100 billion (US$864 million) to US$8.6 billion.
INTERNET
Facebook settles suit
Facebook agreed to pay US$90 million to settle a decade-old privacy lawsuit accusing it of tracking users’ Internet activity even after they had logged out of the social media Web site. A proposed preliminary settlement was filed on Monday night with the US District Court in San Jose, California, and requires a judge’s approval. The accord also requires Facebook to delete data it collected improperly. Users accused the Meta Platforms Inc unit of breaching federal and state privacy and wiretapping laws by using plug-ins to store cookies that tracked when they visited outside Web sites containing Facebook “like” buttons. Facebook then allegedly compiled users’ browsing histories into profiles that it sold to advertisers. The case had been dismissed in June 2017, but was revived in April 2020 by a federal appeals court, which said users could try to prove that the company profited unjustly and violated their privacy. Facebook denied wrongdoing, but settled to avoid the costs and risks of a trial, settlement papers said.
TRANSPORTATION
AirAsia may rent flying taxis
Malaysia’s AirAsia is close to reaching an agreement to lease Vertical Aerospace Ltd flying taxis, people familiar with the matter said, adding to a raft of carriers moving into the potential market to offer short, battery-powered flights. The people asked not to be named because discussions were confidential. Avolon, an investor in Vertical, has ordered 500 of the UK start-up’s VX4 aircraft, conditioned on milestones including certification. The commitment is likely to cover more than 50 VX4 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, two of the people said. The eVTOLs, which are in development, carry four passengers and a pilot for a target range of more than 160km, enough for short hops across or between cities.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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