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 [...]
Ireland must recover £11bn in taxes from Apple, EU court rules September 10, 2024 Ireland is required to recover more than 13bn euros (£11bn) in back taxes from Apple, following a decision of Europe’s top court. The European Court of Justice (CJEU) decision restores a 2016 European Commission ruling that Ireland gave undue tax benefits to Apple, which would be illegal under EU state aid rules. Ireland and Apple, [...]
Shares in Apple supplier IQE plunge as guidance disappoints and debt pile grows September 10, 2024 Shares in semiconductor supplier IQE plummeted 14 per cent in early trading on Tuesday after it disappointed investors with weak guidance and as it racked up debt. The Cardiff-based manufacturer of compound wafers used to make semiconductors said its full-year guidance lies at the lower end of consensus forecasts of revenue between £130m and 154m. [...]
Apple unveils Iphone 16 and plans AI tool launch in the coming weeks September 9, 2024 Apple has unveiled the Iphone 16 and revealed launch dates and features of its new artificial intelligence tool, Apple Intelligence.
Publishers rally as Google advertising antitrust trial restarts in US September 9, 2024 One month after a US court ruled that Google illegally maintained its monopoly on internet search, the tech giant is back in the dock. This time, Google’s lucrative online advertising business, which last year raked in nearly $240bn (£183bn), is under fire, with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and 17 states accusing its parent company, Alphabet, of monopolising digital [...]
The Notebook: Investing in what you know has lost its relevance in 2024 September 6, 2024 Where the City's movers and shakers have their say. Today, Interactive Investor's Richard Hunter takes the pen, with the latest insight in all things investment.
John Lewis brings back ‘never knowingly undersold’ pledge in major U-turn September 5, 2024 Department store chain John Lewis is to bring back its famous ‘never knowingly undersold’ price pledge in a major U-turn. The national retailer has made the move after ditching the commitment over concerns it what less relevant to shoppers two years ago. The price promise, which was first introduced in 1925, will come back into [...]
Nvidia shares plunge: Are investors on the edge of ‘AI apathy’? September 4, 2024 Analysts are asking if we are at “peak Nvidia” or if the latest selloff is simply a healthy correction in an overheated market. Shares in Nvidia, the poster child for AI, plunged nearly 10 per cent on Tuesday, wiping out $279bn of value—the largest single-day loss ever recorded for a US stock. Since 19 August, [...]
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 [...]
Apple has ‘significant concerns’ over CMA probe into its Safari mobile browser September 4, 2024 Apple said it has “significant concerns” with the UK competition watchdog investigation into the supply of mobile browsers. In 2022, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a probe into the dominance of Apple’s Safari browser and Google’s Chrome browser, along with the possibility that Apple may be restricting the cloud gaming market through its [...]