—— BlackRock acquires renewable natural gas company; Netflix loses 970,000 users; U.S. mortgage applications hit a 22-year low; Evergrande’s asset restructuring was delayed; U.S. second-hand home sales fell again in June; Ford plans to lay off 8,000 jobs; Tesla Sell 75% of Bitcoin holdings.
1. BlackRock acquired a renewable natural gas company
BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, will buy Boston-based Vanguard Renewables for $700 million.
Vanguard works with food companies and cattle farms and uses proprietary technology to convert food waste and cattle manure into Renewable Natural Gas (RNG).
BlackRock may also invest an additional $1 billion to help Vanguard expand, according to people familiar with the matter.
Companies such as grocery giant Unilever and yogurt maker Chobani have hired Vanguard to handle food waste.
While RNG conversions are expensive and unpopular, companies can earn carbon credits by doing so. After the carbon credits are sold, a portion of the RNG conversion costs can be offset.
RNG regeneration technology is currently expensive, but companies can offset part of the cost by selling carbon credits
______
2. Netflix loses 970,000 subscribers
On Tuesday, streaming media giant Netflix (Netflix) announced its fiscal second quarter results.
The quarterly report showed that the company lost 970,000 paying subscribers in the second quarter, below analysts’ expectations of 2 million. But Netflix still expects a net increase of 1 million paying subscribers in the third quarter.
Netflix earned $8 billion in the second quarter, up 8.6% year over year but missing expectations. In addition, net profit rose 6.5% year on year to $1.44 billion.
Netflix Chairman Reed Hastings said in an interview with analysts that the company’s performance was much better than expected, which is something to be excited about.
Shares of Netflix rose more than 7% after U.S. markets closed on Tuesday.
However, since the beginning of the year, Netflix’s share price has still evaporated by about two-thirds, trapped in industry competition and the overall plunge in U.S. stocks.
Forced by growing industry competition, Netflix is about to launch a low-cost paid service with ads
______
3. U.S. home loan applications hit a 22-year low
The latest data released today by the Mortgage Bankers Association showed that an index that tracks mortgage applications and refinancing in the United States fell to its lowest level since February 2000.
In addition, the index tracking home purchase applications also fell for three consecutive weeks and reached its lowest value in nearly two years.
Higher mortgage rates have driven many homebuyers out of the market, which has the potential to aid a correction in home prices
______
4. Evergrande’s asset restructuring is delayed
This comes after debt-ridden Chinese developer Evergrande announced it would release more details on its asset restructuring in July.
However, up to now, the company has not yet worked out relevant plans in cooperation with international creditor companies.
Currently, Evergrande’s liabilities total as high as $300 billion. In January of this year, creditors had asked Evergrande to give an update on asset restructuring as soon as possible, otherwise, it would initiate a lawsuit, but Evergrande said it would give the latest news in July.
According to people familiar with the matter, the consulting company in charge of Evergrande’s asset restructuring is currently doing due diligence on the company’s assets and debts. The whole process is very complicated, so it may take longer to complete.
The patience of global creditors has become more and more limited
Source: WSJ – China Evergrande Prepares to Shed Light on Restructuring as Creditors’ Patience Wears Thin
______
5. U.S. second-hand home sales fell again in June
The median sale price of a second-hand home in the U.S. rose 13.4 percent in June from a year ago to $416,000, the highest since 1999, according to the latest data released today by the National Association of Realtors.
However, the number of second-hand housing transactions in the United States fell 5.4% to an annualized 5.12 million in June, a decline that has lasted for five months and is even lower than the level before the outbreak.
Chief Economist Mark Zandi (Mark Zandi) said that at present, buyers cannot find a reasonable price for housing, and sellers are unwilling to compromise, housing affordability is still the biggest barrier for home buyers.
Although the transaction price of second-hand housing is still rising, fewer and fewer transactions are concluded
______
6. Ford plans to cut 8,000 jobs
Ford Motor Co. plans to cut up to 8,000 jobs in the coming weeks to fund the electrification of its future vehicles, according to people familiar with the matter.
The divisions with the most layoffs will include Ford Blue, the internal combustion engine production unit, as well as other operating divisions.
One of the big plans of new CEO Jim Farley is to help the company cut costs by $3 billion by 2026.
Currently, Ford has about 31,000 employees in the United States.
The cost saved by layoffs will be used in the research and development and promotion of vehicle electrification
______
7. Tesla sells 75% of its bitcoin holdings
Today, Tesla, the leading electric car company, announced its highly anticipated second-quarter results.
Tesla said in its quarterly report that the recent plunge in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin had a negative impact on revenue, but did not disclose the exact amount of the loss.
To avoid huge price swings, Tesla sold 75% of its bitcoin holdings and realized $936 million.
A few years ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk touted Bitcoin and Shiba Inu coins, and once accepted Bitcoin as a payment method for buying cars. However, he later changed his mind and said that cryptocurrency mining is not good for the environment, so he eliminated the Bitcoin payment method.
Musk once caused huge swings in Tesla stock and cryptocurrency prices
______
The content of this article comes from various financial news media such as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Bloomberg.