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Kakao Founder Arrested in South Korea for Alleged Stock Manipulation

Kakao Founder Arrested in South Korea for Alleged Stock Manipulation

South Korea’s Seoul, Kim Beom-su, the billionaire founder of the South Korean technology company Kakao Corp, was detained on Tuesday after claims that he had manipulated stock prices during the company’s takeover of a K-Pop firm the previous year. The largest messaging service in South Korea, Kakao, is facing its newest legal hurdle following its arrest.

History and Charges

Kakao Founder Arrested in South Korea for Alleged Stock Manipulation

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Brian Kim, commonly known as Kim Beom-su, is a significant player in South Korea’s digital sector. Since the debut of the chat app in 2010, he has amassed 86 trillion won ($62 billion) in wealth through the development of Kakao’s affiliate network. The prosecution claims that in order to stop rival Hybe from purchasing SM Entertainment in February of the previous year, Kim artificially raised the stock price of the company. Kim has refuted the allegations, claiming he never gave the command or approved of any unlawful behaviour. He hasn’t been officially charged as of yet.

Court Cases

Kim was issued an arrest warrant by the Seoul Southern District Court due to her perceived flight risk, and also to prevent potential evidence destruction. Prosecutors will conduct more investigation into Kim’s case for up to 20 days in the Seoul Nambu Detention Center before determining whether to file an indictment against him. Kakao’s activities could be greatly impacted by this lawsuit, especially its intentions for international expansion and the investments it makes in artificial intelligence.

Effect on Financial Markets and Kakao

The verdict in Kim’s lawsuit may have an impact on Kakao’s ability to govern KakaoBank Corp., its online banking division. Financial restrictions in South Korea prohibit those guilty of financial misconduct from possessing more than ten percent of a bank. Furthermore, Kakao might come under more regulatory scrutiny, which would make big decisions about investments in AI and international company expansion more difficult. This year, the business intends to launch new AI services. Kakao Corp.’s stock fell 3.4 percent in morning trading after Kim’s detention became public, bringing the company’s year-to-date decrease to 24 percent.

Industry Consequences

Industry insiders caution that Kakao’s long-term goals and strategic ambitions may be compromised by any accusations brought against Kim. With a 24 percent stake, Kim is the biggest shareholder of Kakao Corp., and his legal issues have a negative impact on the company’s future. The internet giant’s growth and innovation efforts could be impeded by the current threat to its ambitious projects, which include new AI services.

 
Tesla stock closes below $200, hits 5-month low amid tough October

Tesla Stock Falls Below $200 for First Time Since May

Tesla’s stock declined 4.8 percent on Monday, breaking below 200 dollars and reaching lows that have not occurred since late May, even in the face of a bounce in the entire market and a resurgence in discounted tech.

Panasonic's Reduced Battery Production in Japan

Tesla’s stock was being affected by two news stories. First, Panasonic, the company that supplies its batteries to Tesla, reduced car battery manufacturing in Japan during the September quarter and lowered its projected year profit by 15 percent, citing the impact of a worldwide slowdown in sales of electric vehicles.

Across the world, Panasonic supplies battery cells for electric vehicles to manufacturers; however, in the United States, the Japanese business collaborates with Tesla to manufacture the cells at the Gigafactory in Nevada.

Panasonic's Global Production Cut and Its Impact on Tesla's Model S and Model X

Having said that, the corporation said that it has reduced production, not for North American business processes, but for clients worldwide and in Japan. In the second quarter, Panasonic ceased to provide Tesla with its 1865 electric vehicle batteries; nevertheless, the older batteries are still utilised in Tesla Model S as well as Model X cars, which are not eligible for electric vehicle (EV) tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

“The IRA has a price ceiling up to $80,000 and since the high-end models exceed that level, demand decreased,” Panasonic CFO Hirokazu Umeda said on Monday.

finance.yahoo.com
Tesla stock closes below $200, hits 5-month low amid tough October

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The second potentially negative development for Tesla was the announcement by chipmaker ON Semiconductor that its earnings and revenue outlook were lower than anticipated as a result of declining sales.

Silicon carbide chips manufactured by ON Semiconductor, are used by Tesla in its electric vehicle powertrain and other essential parts. Compared to regular silicon chips, silicon carbide chips can often resist higher temperatures, use less energy, and are designed for a longer lifespan. The financiers may be watching a decline in the market for silicon carbide as a sign that sales of electric vehicles particularly Tesla’s, are softening.

Gary Black, a Tesla investor from The Future Fund, commented on the company’s decline today.

“$TSLA weakness today could be due to big $ON guidance miss (-18%). ON sells silicon carbide chips to EV makers and cited 'increased risk to automotive demand due to high-interest rates,'" Black wrote on X, formerly Twitter, around midday on Monday.

finance.yahoo.com

Although down more than 22 percent in the last month, the stocks of Tesla continue to be up 60 percent year to date.

Microsoft

Microsoft notches record high valuation of nearly $2.6 trillion

Since public enthusiasm over the potential of AI (artificial intelligence) has contributed to lifting the tech conglomerate to a peak market value of 2.59 trillion dollars, Microsoft Corp stocks went up to a new all-time high finish on Thursday.

Because of its substantial funding in OpenAI, which is based in San Francisco that created the hugely successful chatbot ChatGPT, Microsoft has been recognized as a leader in the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the software industry.

Microsoft
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To compete with Google, owned by Alphabet Inc., Microsoft started releasing several AI enhancements, such as ChatGPT, the company’s Bing search engine, and Azure cloud services within the past month.

Also Read: LinkedIn to test ad product for video streaming services

On Thursday, Microsoft’s prices increased 3.2 percent and closed at 348.10 dollars for each share. The price of the stock, which has increased by more than 45 percent so far this year, hit its previous record close of 343.11 USD on November 19, 2021. On November 22, 2021, the share’s intraday highest level ever was 349.67 USD.

Additionally, on Thursday, the stock of Apple Inc. closed at a record high of 186.01 USD, while those of the manufacturer of graphics chips Nvidia hit a brand-new intraday record of 432.89 USD.

The increasing demand for Microsoft’s items is being driven by AI, according to JPMorgan experts who increased their price objective on the business’s stock sooner on Thursday. Following data from Refinitiv, 44 of the 53 experts that follow Microsoft suggested purchasing the stock, with a consensus price objective of $340.

“We reaffirm our bullish-outlier viewpoint on generative AI and continue to see it driving a resurgence of confidence in key software franchises,” JPMorgan analysts wrote in a note to clients.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

On June 5, the Microsoft 365 software suite, which includes Teams and Outlook, was unavailable for over two hours to over a thousand customers, with a brief reappearance the next morning. For Microsoft, it was their fourth of these events in a calendar year.

Also Read: Why is Microsoft Teams integration being removed from Win11?

Microsoft has claimed that cyberattacks were to blame for the outages that the firm had during some of the first days of this month, but it claimed that there was no proof that any information about clients had been obtained or compromised.

 “Beginning in early June 2023, Microsoft identified surges in traffic against some services that temporarily impacted availability'” the company said in a blog post.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

Nvidia

Why are Nvidia shares soaring?

Tuesday saw Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) reach a trillion-dollar market valuation as shares rose following a strong earnings report that made Wall Street reevaluate the chipmaker’s potential bonanza from artificial intelligence growth.

The $1 trillion valuation of Nvidia places it behind Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon as the fifth most valuable U.S. firm. The gaming chip manufacturer Nvidia recently made a shift to the data center industry.

Nvidia
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When gaming and cloud adoption exploded during the pandemic and cryptocurrency aficionados began using the company’s chips to mine coins, the company’s business grew quickly. In the fiscal year that concluded on January 29, the company’s data center chip division generated more than 50% of its sales.

Also Read: Chip giant Nvidia nears trillion-dollar status on AI bet

This year, generative AI has become popularised by the ChatGPT chatbot, which went viral. The technology generates new content, such as poems, photos, and even computer code, using enormous amounts of pre-existing data.

The two major companies in the field, Microsoft and Alphabet Google think that generative AI will revolutionize the way that work is done. As they compete to rule the market, the two have rushed to incorporate technology into their internet search engines and efficiency programs.

By 2030, according to Goldman Sachs analysts, American investment in AI may account for close to 1% of the nation’s GDP. Powerful chips known as graphics processing units (GPUs) are used in huge computers that process data and power generative artificial intelligence. Analysts estimate that around 80% of GPUs are made by Nvidia.

The specialized type of math required for AI computation can be handled very effectively by GPUs. Generic central processing units, on the other hand, are less effective in handling a wider range of computing activities.

As an illustration, thousands of Nvidia GPUs were used to build OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, also purchased GPUs from Nvidia for his AI business, according to a Financial Times report from April. Advanced Micro Devices and internal AI processors produced by businesses like Amazon, Google, and Meta Platforms are among Nvidia’s key rivals.

Also Read: Grab co-founder Tan Hooi Ling to step down from operational roles

Nvidia is a leading manufacturer of GPUs, which are widely used in gaming, data centers, and AI applications. The demand for GPUs has been increasing as more industries and technologies rely on parallel processing capabilities for tasks such as AI training, deep learning, and high-performance computing.

Nvidia has been at the forefront of the AI boom, leveraging its GPUs to accelerate AI and machine learning workloads. The company’s GPUs are particularly well-suited for training deep neural networks, which require intensive computational power. With the rapid growth of AI applications across industries, Nvidia’s GPUs have become a crucial component of AI infrastructure.

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Nvidia

Nvidia short sellers lose $5 billion as shares rise more than 90%

As reported by financial data company S3 Partners, short sellers of Nvidia Corporation have suffered losses of 5.09 billion USD to date in the current year since the stock has increased by more than 90 percent.

According to the company’s Wednesday report, the stock is the top losing equity short that has occurred in 2023, which is followed by Apple & Tesla.

Nvidia
Image Source: finance.yahoo.com

According to the report, while the stock has increased approximately 30 percent in that time, Apple’s short sellers have suffered a loss of 4.47 billion USD up to this point in 2023. According to the article, Tesla’s short sellers have suffered a loss of 3.65 billion USD so far this year since the stock has increased by around 33 percent.

Also Read: Google Rolls Out Passkeys to (Eventually) Kill Passwords

For the year thus far, Nvidia’s short interest has decreased by 7.04 million shares or 18 percent. The percentage of float that is short currently stands at 1.32 percent, which is the lowliest level since October 2022.

Following a disappointing statement from Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) late on Tuesday, Nvidia stocks were down 1.1 percent in noon trading on Wednesday, along with drops in other chip manufacturers.

Shares are borrowed by investors who offer securities “short,” anticipating a decline in the stock price that will allow them to repurchase the shares at a less expensive rate, give them back to the lender as well, and earn the difference in cost.

NVIDIA Corp. creates and produces chipsets, processors, as well as associated multimedia software for computers. Tegra Processor, The Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), & All the additional components make up its functional units.

The GPU market is made up of product brands such as GRID used for visual computing customers and is based on the cloud, Tesla along with DGX for AI data scientists & big data experts, Quadro for creators, and GeForce for gaming enthusiasts.

Also Read: IBM to pause hiring in the plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI

The Tegra Processor section incorporates a full computer into just one chip containing multi-core central processing units and graphics processing units to power supercomputing for controllers & smartphone games and entertainment gadgets in addition to robots that are autonomous, drones, and even vehicles.

The compensation based on stock cost, business infrastructure, support costs, expenditures related to the acquisition, legal settlement expenses, and various other non-recurring charges is all included in the “All Other” division.

Nithin Kamath

Nithin Kamath: Entrepreneur who made the stock market easy for millennials

Zerodha Broking Ltd. provides financial services including retail and institutional brokerage, bonds, currency and commodities trading, and mutual funds. The company was established in 2010 by Nithin Kamath and has offices in many significant Indian cities. Its headquarters are in Bengaluru.

Nithin Kamath
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Early Life

Nithin took over his father’s brokerage account when he was 17 years old. He worked for himself as a propriety broker from 1997 to 2004 while continuing his college studies. Due to a shortage of trading cash, he spent three years working at a call center after investing a significant amount of time as a stock broker.

He traded throughout the day and worked nights doing telesales. From 2001 to 2004, he was employed by Senior Telesales Executive, a business that specialized in call centers. When Nithin joined Kamath Associates as a propriety trader, he began his professional trading career as a sub-broker. It essentially served as Reliance Money’s franchisee.

Additionally, he inferred portfolio advisory services. He was employed by the firm from January 2004 until January 2010, a period of six years. By the end of 2010, Nithin Kamath and his younger brother Nikhil established their own stock trading company, Zerodha.

Success Story

Nithin Kamath is the co-founder and CEO of Zerodha, India’s largest trading firm. Since common traders rushed to stock markets during the pandemic, its platform now facilitates over 15% of India’s retail trades. Kamath was a school dropout and started trading at the age of 17. He started stock trading after being inspired by his older brother, Nithin, and self-taught himself while doing so. It went well, and soon the two were making investments for friends and family.

However, they discovered that the method was too complicated along the road. The Bangalore-born brothers got to work and invested their savings in the creation of a straightforward and cost-effective brokerage platform for regular investors. In 2010, the established Zerodha. Today, the company has not accepted any outside investment, unlike the majority of startups.

Since then, as India’s thirst for assets outside of gold and real estate has increased, Zerodha has expanded by word-of-mouth. All of that, however, changed in 2020 due to the pandemic when the company’s customers reached over four million. In 2020, the Zerodha platform’s average investor’s age dropped from 32 to 30 years old.

This has been compared to the American trading app Robinhood, which saw a comparable increase in young users during the pandemic. This has been compared to the American trading app Robinhood, which saw a comparable increase in young users during the pandemic. The Kamath brothers joined the Forbes India Rich List in October 2020 with a combined net worth of $1.55 billion, Zerodha entered the “unicorn club” in June 2020 with a self-evaluation of roughly $1 billion.

The ESOP buyback exercise that the business did was the basis for this valuation, which valued each stock at more than four times the market price of Rs. 700/share. Zerodha established an early-stage fund Rainmatter in 2014 with a capital of Rs. 50 Crore.

The fund concentrated on risk mitigation but focused on funding start-ups in the area of innovative technology and novel product development by limiting the ticket value to under $ 1 million for each investment. Some significant start-ups in which Rainmatter has invested include Smallcase, Cred, Finception, and Sensibull.

In 2019, Zerodha introduced True Beacon, an AIF that uses a defensive investment approach to deliver returns in choppy markets. In its first year, the $2 million minimum investment fund was able to achieve a return of more than 13%. Zerodha submitted a license application in 2020 to establish an AMC mutual fund in India.