Nvidia surpasses Alphabet and Amazon
On Tuesday, semiconductor giant Nvidia rose to the third rank of most valuable companies in the US, surpassing Alphabet, Google’s parent company. The day before, Nvidia had overtaken Amazon in terms of market value, which revolves around cloud services and e-commerce.
Nvidia’s price has seen a hike of 49 percent this year, and its value has increased by over 600 billion dollars.
By Wednesday, Nvidia’s market value of 1,830 billion dollars (about 1,700 billion euros) was 10 billion more than Alphabet’s value of 1,820 billion dollars, following a 2.5 percent rise in Nvidia’s price.
On the global scale, Nvidia is the fourth most valuable company.
The companies that top Nvidia are Microsoft, Apple, and Saudi Aramco, the oil company based in Saudi Arabia.
Nvidia produces graphics processors that can handle multiple calculation tasks simultaneously in computers. This has made Nvidia a key supplier of equipment for large companies that develop their own artificial intelligence applications.
Supercell continues to profit from older games
Despite a continuous decline in turnover and EBITDA (a measure of profitability) for three years, gaming company Supercell continues to reap profits.
The company’s turnover last year was 1.69 billion euros, marking a 4.2 percent decrease from the previous year. EBITDA fell by 8.2 percent to 580 million euros. However, with EBITDA being around 34 percent of turnover, the profitability remains exceptionally strong.
The company reported over 200 million monthly players at the end of last year. Thus, its five older games in the market continue to generate significant profit. Supercell’s latest game, Brawl Stars, was released in 2018.
Fitch Ratings maintains Finland’s credit rating
Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has kept Finland’s rating unchanged in the second-best category, AA+. Factors contributing to Finland’s strong rating include efficient administration, euro area membership, and the favorable state of pension fund investments.
Fitch estimates that the Finnish economy contracted by 0.5 percent last year and anticipates only a modest recovery of 0.3 percent in 2024.
Cyber attack affects Tietoevry’s profit
Software company Tietoevry predicts that a recent cyber attack will lead to a reduction of 1–2 million euros in operating profit for the current quarter, according to CEO Kimmo Alkio. Alkio reassured investors on Thursday that the company is making every effort to mitigate the impact of the ransomware attack, which targeted Tietoevry’s servers in Sweden.
Despite net sales in October–December falling below analysts’ predictions, operating profit was slightly higher. Turnover was 752 million euros and operating profit was 84 million euros.
The company’s board has approved a plan to separate the company’s bank services into a distinct listed company.
Finnair’s results disappoint investors
Finnair’s turnover in October–December increased by 5.8 percent from the comparison period to 727.2 million euros. The comparable operating result was 22.5 million euros.
Both net sales and operating profit fell short of the consensus forecast collected by analysts.
For the whole year, Finnair’s result turned profitable after difficult times.
The board proposes to the general meeting that no dividend be distributed for 2023.
Kemppower’s performance below expectations
Kempower, a manufacturer of fast charging equipment for electric vehicles, did not meet the high expectations set by the stock market. The stock price was down by over 25 percent at 11 o’clock on Wednesday morning. From all-time highs, Kempower’s course had dropped to less than half.
The order collection for October–December was 66.7 million euros, the turnover was 82.8 million and the increase in turnover was 118 percent from the comparison period. According to the guideline’s estimate, the operating profit margin in 2024 is in the 5–10 percent range.
Japan falls into recession
Japan ended last year in recession, thereby losing its position as the world’s third-largest national economy to Germany.
Reuters reports that Japan’s challenges may continue into the first quarter of this year due to weak Chinese demand, a sluggish domestic market, and production interruptions by car manufacturer Toyota.
Japan, which is grappling with an aging population, has long pursued a very easy monetary policy. Its public debt in relation to GDP is high, and it lacks the elements necessary for growth.
Orion ends the year with a positive result
Pharmaceutical company Orion’s operating profit last year was just under 275 million euros. The result fell by more than 37 percent in the second half of the year. The company’s turnover last year also decreased by about 11 percent from the previous year and was just under 1.2 billion euros.
In October–December, the company made an operating profit of approximately EUR 93 million, which was more than twice as much as the year before. Orion’s turnover at the end of the year also increased by about nine percent from a year ago and was about 321 million euros.
The market reacted negatively to the pharmaceutical company’s earnings news, and its share price began to slide.
Bitcoin value exceeds $50,000
The value of the cryptocurrency bitcoin exceeded $50,000 for the first time in over two years. Early on Tuesday, its value rose to 50,379 dollars in Singapore, or just under 47,000 euros.
Since the beginning of 2023, the value of bitcoin has tripled, according to Bloomberg.
The recent price surge has been fueled by the SEC, the authority overseeing securities trading on US stock exchanges, approving bitcoin for the first time as a product for determining the value of ETF funds. This allows changes in the value of bitcoin to be traded outside crypto exchanges.
Resignation from Neste’s position of trust in protest
Congressman Timo Magpie (sd) has resigned from his position as vice-chairman of the stakeholder advisory board of fuel manufacturer Neste. The reason for his resignation is that the institution has not convened even once during the term of office that began last spring.
Neste’s stakeholder advisory board was established a decade ago when the company’s supervisory board was abolished. The consultative committee comprises MPs from various party groups. Magpie believes Neste should decide whether to retain or disband the advisory board.
