Microsoft and Meta stocks slip as investors demand more October 31, 2024 Microsoft and Meta stocks have tumbled in after-hours trading despite both tech giants posting better-than-expected results yesterday. Microsoft reported a 16 per cent revenue increase to $65.6bn (£50.5bn) against a forecasted $64.5bn (£49.7bn), fuelled by its cloud services which grew by 33 per cent. Earnings per share (EPS) came in at $3.30 (£2.54), easily beating [...]
CMA launches merger inquiry into Alphabet and Anthropic partnership October 24, 2024 Britain's competition watchdog has opened a merger inquiry into Alphabet's partnership with artificial intelligence (AI) safety start-up Anthropic.
London Stock Exchange Group beats expectations in ‘particularly strong quarter’ October 24, 2024 The London Stock Exchange Group beat market expectations today as it reported a bump in growth across its divisions in a “particularly strong quarter”. In the three months to the end of September, the owner of London’s stock market recorded gross profits of £1.92bn, up 8.5 per cent on the same period last year and [...]
Microsoft launches AI ‘agents’ to woo investors ahead of earnings October 21, 2024 Microsoft has launched a suite of artificial intelligence-powered ‘agents’ geared towards businesses, as the tech giant continues to build out its suite of AI products in a bid to stay ahead of the competition and woo investors. At its AI Tour event in London on Monday, Microsoft boss Satya Nadella introduced the autonomous agents, which [...]
Bytes Technology: NHS and HMRC contracts help lift profit as dividend hiked October 15, 2024 IT provider Bytes Technology has posted an uptick in income and operating profit as new and existing clients invest in their software. In its half year results for the six months ended 31 August, Bytes said gross invoiced income jumped by 13.7 per cent to £1.2bn, largely driven by software and from public sector contract [...]
Starmer vows to rip up the red tape at investment summit October 14, 2024 Prime Minister Keir Starmer will today promise to rip up the red tape that is needlessly holding back investment in a bid to galvanise economic growth. Starmer is set to make the pledge in a speech at the government’s inaugural International Investment Summit, which kicks off today at the Guildhall in the heart of the [...]
Microsoft chief executive to chair government’s industrial strategy council October 13, 2024 The chief executive of Microsoft UK will chair a new body to advise the government on its industrial strategy. Clare Barclay will head up the industrial strategy advisory council, which will act as an interim advisory body until legislation is passed to put it on a statutory footing. The first meeting and full membership is [...]
Microsoft: Tech giant announces mammoth buyback and hikes dividend September 17, 2024 Tech giant Microsoft has announced a new $60bn share buyback programme and hiked its quarterly dividend by 10 per cent. This new shareholder cash return replaces Microsoft’s previous $60bn programme, which was launched in 2021, and has no set expiration date. According to data from Birinyi Associates, the cash return is the third-largest repurchase scheme [...]
CMA clears Microsoft and Inflection AI partnership after merger ruling September 4, 2024 Britain’s competition regulator has today cleared Microsoft’s arrangements with Inflection AI, which included a licensing deal and the hiring of former Inflection employees. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced in April it was looking at three separate deals that potentially fall under UK merger law and, if so, whether they could have a harmful [...]
Wall Street carnage continues as Nvidia leads US tech selloff September 4, 2024 A wave of panic selling hit Wall Street on Tuesday, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow Jones Industrial Average all suffering their steepest daily percentage declines since early August. The carnage was widespread, with nine of the 11 sectors within the S&P 500 sinking into the red, led by sharp declines in technology, [...]