Apple’s (AAPL:NASDAQ) sales fell for the fourth consecutive quarter, including a decline in China, its third-largest market. Its sales in the country shrank more than analysts expected, as Apple faces an economic slowdown in the market and new competition from rival Huawei Technologies.
During the September quarter, Huawei released a new high-end phone after being shut out of the market for years due to Western technology sanctions.
Apple’s challenges in China have spooked its investors, sending the stock down more than 10% since its all-time high earlier in the summer.
Apple shares ended the week 5% higher
AMD forecasts strong sales
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD:NASDAQ) executives forecast robust sales of advanced AI chips next year, putting the firm’s stock on pace for its best year since 2020. The company also suggested the PC market was improving.
The sector has been in a prolonged slump, dealing with a shortage of chips and supply-chain issues after an early-pandemic boom in demand for computers and smartphones.
On Thursday, fellow semiconductor firm Qualcomm also gave a sunny outlook for its current quarter.
AMD’s stock finished the week 16% higher.
Bankman-fried could face up to 100 years in prison
A jury has found Sam Bankman-Fried guilty of all seven criminal counts against him. The FTX founder faces a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison.
Bankman-Fried, the 31-year old son of two Stanford legal scholars and graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud against FTX customers and against Alameda Research lenders, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit commodities fraud against FTX investors, and conspiracy to commit money laundering
He had pleaded not guilty to the charges, which were all tied to the collapse late last year of FTX and sister hedge fund Alameda.
Berkshire Hathaway reports 40% jump in operating earnings
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK:NYSE) reported a big jump in third-quarter operating earnings, while sitting on a record amount of cash as Warren Buffett saw few dealmaking opportunities.
The “Oracle of Omaha” has been taking advantage of surging bond yields, buying up short-term Treasury bills yielding at least 5%. The conglomerate owned $126.4 billion worth of such investments at the end of the third quarter, compared to about $93 billion at the end of last year.
Berkshire’s operating earnings — which encompass profits made from the myriad of wholly owned businesses such as insurance, railroads and utilities — totaled $10.761 billion last quarter. That’s 40.6% higher than the $7.651 billion earned from the same quarter a year ago.
Berkshire Hathaway shares finished the week 6% higher.
Bank customers experience deposit delays
Customers at several big banks on Friday wrestled with direct deposit delays stemming from an industry-wide processing issue.
The Fed reported a processing issue with the Electronic Payments Network, a private sector operator for Automated Clearing House, or ACH, a network that processes transactions.
This led to a surge of “outages” reported by banking customers Friday morning, including Bank of America (BA:NYSE), Chase, Truist (TFC:NYSE), U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo (WFC:NYSE).
WeWork expected to file for bankruptcy
WeWork (WE:NYSE) is expected to file for bankruptcy, as the co-working space provider falls victim to the office market bust. In August, WeWork said in a public filing that “substantial doubt exists about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
Once the country’s most valuable startup, WeWork has been struggling to pay its bills and renegotiate its leases as the pandemic’s work-from-home boom decimated demand for its spaces.
Despite corporate return-to-office measures, attendance in big cities is still barely half of what it was in 2019.
WeWork shares plummeted 65% during the week.
JetBlue shares crash to 12-year low
JetBlue (JBLU:NASDAQ) shares hit a nearly 12-year low Tuesday after the airline warned it would post a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss.
The weak outlook followed JetBlue’s third-quarter results that missed analyst estimates due to significant delays during the summer travel season.
Airlines have been beset by staffing shortages and technology glitches, testing their abilities to handle travel demand and weather disruptions. A string of meltdowns over the past few years have subjected travelers to waves of cancellations and delays.
JetBlue shares finished the week 6% higher, paring back earlier losses.