AirTest Technologies Inc. (TSXV: AAT)
A Green-Tech company specializing in sensors that improve commercial building operating efficiency and at the same time create energy savings.
Self-driving cars without human drivers as a back-up are now being tested in China’s Shenzhen, according to Alibaba-backed (NYSE:BABA) AutoX, which said there were 25 vehicles operating in the city.
More than 100 robotaxis have been launched in other Chinese localities, but the vehicles still have a driver who can take over in emergencies or someone who can operate the car remotely.
“The next step is to increase the number of cars and the test area size, and to carry out tests in more cities,” COO Jewel Li told CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia. “We have a plan in the next six months to expand to 10 cities globally.”
“It’s close to a sci-fi kind of experience for most of our riders,” she added. “When you really experience the vehicle fully driving itself, the level of excitement is overwhelming.”
While the company’s driverless robotaxis are not open to the general public yet, employees and private guests, such as media, business partners, investors and automakers, can make trips in the vehicles.
Worldwide sales of semiconductor rose 6.0% Y/Y and 3.1% M/M to $39.0B in October, reported by Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
Regionally, sales increased on a Y/Y basis in the Americas 14.2%, China 6.3%, and Asia Pacific/All Other 5.3%, but decreased in Japan -1.0% and Europe -4.8%.
On a month-to-month basis, sales increased across all regions: Europe 6.0%, the Americas 3.2%, China 2.9%, Asia Pacific/All Other 2.8%, and Japan 1.6%.
“Global semiconductor sales in October increased year-to-year by the largest percentage since March, continuing to demonstrate the global semiconductor market’s resilience so far to headwinds caused by the pandemic and other macroeconomic factors,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Annual semiconductor sales are projected to increase moderately in 2020, with somewhat larger growth forecasted for 2021.”
Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) shares are up nearly 9% today, pushing the company above the $100B market cap line for the first time.
The data warehousing company raised $33B in its blockbuster IPO in September and ended its first trading day at a $70B valuation.
For comparison, Snowflake’s valuation was a little over $12B during its last private funding round in February.
SNOW shares are up nearly 34% since the IPO.
Earlier this week, shares pulled back slightly after Snowflake reported Q3 results that were strong but failed to meet lofty expectations.
The impact of the major Warner Bros. (T, +1.3%) decision to go with a cinema-streaming model for major 2021 releases “will be much lower than initially feared,” according to B. Riley Securities.
Warner announced its plan, a major shakeup to the movie release landscape, yesterday and theater-chain stocks were slammed.
But that’s “likely to prove to be an overreaction” as a vaccine will “help to reopen the industry and drive more moviegoers back to theaters,” B. Riley analyst Eric Wold writes, Bloomberg reports.
There could also be pressure on Warner “to abandon or meaningfully modify this new strategy” due to the huge marketing costs associated with tentpole films, he adds.
Theater chain stocks: AMC (AMC, -1.1%), Cinemark (CNK, +4.55%), IMAX (IMAX, +1.8%), Marcus (MCS, +6%), Reading International (RDI, +1.7%), National CineMedia (NCMI, -2%)
In streaming, Netflix is edging higher after a research note said the challenge of HBO Max to the sector leader looks overstated.
Microstrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) after the close today disclosed the purchase of another 2,574 bitcoins (BTC-USD) at an average price of $19,427 each. That brings total company holdings up to 40,824 coins purchased for an aggregate price of $475M.
CEO Michael Saylor tweeted out the news as well.
Bitcoin this evening has dipped a bit, trading hands now at about $18.7K.
