2024-02-26 18:59

Feb 26 (Reuters) - Micron Technology (MU.O) , opens new tab has started mass production of its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) semiconductors for use in Nvidia's latest chip for artificial intelligence, sending its shares up more than 5% on Monday. The HBM3E (High Bandwidth Memory 3E) will consume 30% less power than rival offerings, Micron said, and could help tap into soaring demand for chips that power generative AI applications. Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab will use the chip in its next-generation H200 graphic processing units, expected to start shipping in the second quarter and overtake the current H100 chip that has powered a massive surge in revenue at the chip designer. "I think this is a huge opportunity for Micron, especially since the popularity of HBM chips seems to only be increasing for AI applications" said Anshel Sag, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. Demand for HBM chips, a market led by Nvidia supplier SK Hynix, for use in AI has also raised investor hopes that Micron would be able to weather a slow recovery in its other markets. Since "SK Hynix has already sold out its 2024 inventory, having another source supplying the market can help GPU makers like AMD, Intel or NVIDIA scale up their GPU production as well," Sag added. HBM is one of Micron's most profitable products, in part because of the technical complexity involved in its construction. The company had previously said it expects "several hundred million" dollars of HBM revenue in fiscal 2024 and continued growth in 2025. https://www.reuters.com/technology/micron-starts-mass-production-its-memory-chips-use-nvidias-ai-semiconductors-2024-02-26/

2024-02-26 18:58

NEW YORK, Feb 26 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) , opens new tab CEO Jamie Dimon said market sentiment is improving for equities, mergers and acquisitions even as he maintained caution about the economic outlook, according to a CNBC interview on Monday. "Confidence is up, there is more M&A chatter," equity markets are strengthening and high-yield markets are open, Dimon said. "Markets are high, people feel it, so far so good." Still, "there are things out there which are concerning," Dimon said. While market participants are pricing in 70% to 80% odds of a soft landing for the U.S. economy, Dimon expressed the likelihood as "half of that." Even though the U.S economy has so far managed to stave off a recession, Dimon has previously warned that geopolitical tensions, including the war in Ukraine and conflict in Gaza, could weigh on global growth. The CEO of the largest U.S. lender said in October that "this may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades." Dimon also welcomed more regulatory scrutiny of participants in private credit markets that are increasingly competing with banks for deals. Wall Street lenders have been raising billions of dollars to regain ground in lending to companies in debt-backed deals as competition from giant private equity and asset management firms has increased over the last two years. JPMorgan has set aside $10 billion of its own capital for private credit, but that could grow significantly depending on demand, sources told Reuters earlier this month. Dimon also welcomed competition from Capital One Financial's (COF.N) , opens new tab $35.3 billion deal to buy Discover Financial (DFS.N) , opens new tab, saying companies should be allowed to grow, merge and innovate. The combination would create the biggest U.S. credit card issuer with around $250 billion in card balances and a market share of 22%, larger than JPMorgan's. "I am not worried about it," Dimon said, but added that Capital One's debit network could have unfair advantage. "Of course I have a problem with that," he said, citing different pricing standards for cards provided by banks compared with card issuers. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/jpmorgan-ceo-dimon-says-market-sentiment-improving-maintains-caution-2024-02-26/

2024-02-26 18:58

ROME, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Italy's government on Monday approved a decree to ensure the timely enforcement of its EU-funded recovery plan, which includes 6.3 billion euros ($6.83 billion) in tax breaks for companies committed to energy saving. The scheme stems from a deal the government clinched with the European Union to revise and revamp an overall investment programme now worth 194.4 billion euros through 2026. Italy also aims to address the issues that have led it to fall behind schedule in spending the cash it has already received. Rome spent 45.65 billion euros between 2021 and 2023 of EU funds disbursed to support the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, far below an original target of 86 billion over the same period, which had already been revised downwards several times and then set to 61.4 billion in late 2022. Among a raft of measures, the decree extends the powers of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office to appoint special commissioners when one or more targets are at risk, including provisions to recover money from non-compliant bodies. The changes will increase the "overall accountability" of those who are called to spend the EU funds, European Affairs Minister Raffaele Fitto said after a cabinet approval of the decree. Some 3.15 billion euros both this year and next will go to help companies investing in "innovation projects" to reduce their energy costs by at least 3%, a draft seen by Reuters showed. An additional 150 million euros will promote startups investing in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and 5G infrastructures, under a plan anchored by state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. Successive governments in Rome have presented the EU cash as the key to unlocking Italy's growth potential and modernising its sluggish economy, yet a commission report published last week projected a smaller impact than Italy's own estimates. According to Brussels' "mid-term evaluation" of the plan, under a best-case scenario Italian gross domestic product in 2026 will be just over 2.5 percentage points higher than it would have been without the EU funds. Italy's latest official estimates had pencilled in a cumulative GDP increase of 3.4 points by 2026. ($1 = 0.9226 euros) https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/italy-adopt-decree-revamp-its-eu-funded-recovery-plan-draft-shows-2024-02-26/

2024-02-26 18:55

Feb 26 (Reuters) - A bottleneck of vessels waiting to load crude and fuel in Venezuela has increased in recent weeks as state-run oil firm PDVSA struggles to deliver cargoes on time, according to people familiar with the matter, documents and shipping data. PDVSA has sought to ramp up shipments this month, the documents and data showed, following setbacks in January as outages at Venezuela's main port hit its exports. But the increase has been insufficient to ease the congestion. As of Monday, at least 19 supertankers were waiting to load near Venezuela's Jose and Amuay ports, where most exports are shipped from, up from about a dozen at the end of November. "I have two clients waiting since early January for cargoes negotiated last year, and they have not even been assigned loading windows yet," a maritime agency source told Reuters. PDVSA did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The U.S. Treasury Department in October extended a six-month license to Venezuela approving oil exports to its chosen destinations as a way to encourage a fair presidential election this year. But Washington has said President Nicolas Maduro has fallen short of his promises, and it could reverse that sanctions relaxation in April. Vessel monitoring data from financial firm LSEG and PDVSA documents show some tankers, mainly bound for destinations including India, Malaysia and China, have been waiting since December. Cargoes bound for the United States also are facing delays, but not as long as the ones to Asia. The growing delays have forced some tanker operators to choose shipping agents that can secure provisions for the crew for extended periods. Others have been waiting near Aruba, Curacao and Trinidad to have better access to supplies, the people said. PDVSA has told many customers it does not have enough exportable crude inventories to accelerate deliveries, the people added. Last week, PDVSA's heavy crude stocks at its main storage hub, the Jose port, rose to some 6.8 million barrels from 5.32 million barrels at the end of January. However, inventories of diluents needed to produce exportable crude grades declined, one of the documents showed. A possible lack of crude to fulfill all cargoes negotiated since October could force some ship owners to leave Venezuelan waters empty handed in coming months if Washington reimposes the sanctions, even after having waited for months to load, according to the people. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/tanker-backlog-grows-venezuela-pdvsa-struggles-deliver-oil-2024-02-26/

2024-02-26 18:32

Feb 26 (Reuters) - Shares of Intuitive Machines (LUNR.O) , opens new tab slumped on Monday after the space exploration firm said communications with its Odysseus moon lander, which had fallen onto its side, are expected to cease on Tuesday. In an update on the status of the mission, the company said that flight controllers will continue to communicate with Odysseus until Tuesday morning, which will effectively cut short its mission five days after touchdown. The Houston-based company, which became the first private company to land on the moon and the first from the United States since 1972, said all but one of its six NASA science and technology payloads were facing upwards and receptive to communications. The payload that had tipped sideways contains an art piece comprising miniature stainless steel sculptures by artist Jeff Koons, Intuitive Machines said, adding that the rest of the payloads are expected to carry out their scientific objectives. Intuitive fell about 35% to $6.27 on Monday, more than offsetting gains on Friday, when nearly 99 million shares exchanged hands. On Friday, the total value of traded shares reached $1.01 billion, surpassing the company's market value of about $960 million, according to LSEG data. The company's shares, which went public about a year earlier, are vulnerable to high levels of volatility as only 18% of the stock is available to trade. Short interest for the stock stands at 13.7% of free float, according to analytics firm S3 Partners, which added that it has seen a steady increase in demand to short the stock so far in 2024. Intuitive Machines' shares were also among the most trending tickers on retail trader forum Stocktwits. "There is a lot of retail activity driving volatility in the stock right now, and probably shorting associated with that ... would be helpful to get more color on the reliability of (moon lander) comms," Canaccord Genuity analyst Austin Moeller said. https://www.reuters.com/technology/intuitive-machines-stock-plummets-after-moon-lander-tips-over-2024-02-26/

2024-02-26 18:06

HOUSTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Venture Global LNG on Monday told U.S. regulators it will not provide energy firms Repsol SA (REP.MC) , opens new tab and Galp Energia (GALP.LS) , opens new tab with confidential documents on a Louisiana export terminal's operations unless ordered to do so. Repsol and Galp have asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to require U.S. LNG exporter Venture Global to disclose commissioning reports submitted to the regulator for its Calcasieu Pass LNG project. The Arlington, Virginia-based exporter said it "opposes the requests of Repsol and Galp for confidential documents and ... will not provide any such documents unless and until explicitly ordered to do so by the Commission." Venture on Feb. 15 asked the commission for a one year extension to complete construction of its Calcasieu Pass gas-export plant, or receive assurances the plant did not need an extension. The company has argued that it is unable to move the plant from a commissioning phase to commercial operations because it has not finished fixing electrical problems. Customers, including Galp and Repsol, have been denied contracted cargoes of the superchilled gas, they have said, even as Venture has sold more than 275 cargoes on the open market during what it calls the plant's pre-commissioning phase. Repsol and Galp have asked FERC to see documents submitted by Venture to the regulator to evaluate the company's commissioning claims. BP PLC (BP.L) , opens new tab, Shell PLC (SHEL.L) , opens new tab and Edison SPA (EDNn.MI) , opens new tab also raised issues with the proposed extension request and have ongoing contract arbitration claims against Venture Global for its failure to deliver their cargoes. Venture said it will respond to Shell, Edison and BP when they file their entire objection. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/venture-global-lng-will-not-provide-confidential-documents-unless-ordered-2024-02-26/