Amazon’s rocket swap; Surprise loss for SoftBank; PayPal launches stablecoin

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Tesla’s CFO steps aside

Tesla’s [TSLA] Zach Kirkhorn has left the business, to be replaced by chief accounting officer Vaibhav Taneja, ahead of this year’s launch of the electric Cybertruck pickup. Proterra [PTRA], a manufacturer of electric vehicle equipment including batteries, has filed for bankruptcy, with CEO Gareth Joyce citing “various market and macroeconomic headwinds”. Lucid [LCID] reiterated its annual production target in second-quarter (Q2) earnings on Monday, sending its shares up 4% after hours despite earnings and revenue missing expectations.

Vision Fund grows as SoftBank posts surprise loss

SoftBank [9984.T] posted a surprise Q1 loss of ¥477.6bn on Monday, with Refinitiv analysts having expected a ¥75bn profit. This nevertheless marked a 84.9% year-over-year improvement on the ¥3.16trn lost in Q1 the previous year. There were encouraging signs, however, as SoftBank’s Vision Fund made an investment gain of ¥159.8bn, which CNBC attributes to investment in its subsidiaries’ shares, particularly those of chip designer Arm.

Stablecoin announcement lifts PayPal’s shares

Despite regulatory headwinds, PayPal [PYPL] has given the cryptocurrency industry a vote of confidence by announcing a dollar-backed stablecoin on Monday. Stablecoins have yet to achieve mainstream adoption and are mainly used to trade other cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, but PayPal’s announcement makes it the first major fintech player to embrace the technology for transfers and payments. PayPal’s shares gained 2.7% on the day of the announcement.

Share buyback on profits boost for Palantir

Palantir [PLTR] raised its profit forecast for the year to $576m and announced a $1bn share buyback as Q2 earnings and revenue beat analyst expectations. Revenue increased 12.7% year-over-year to $533m, while operating income grew 25% to $135m. Palantir’s shares initially fell 12% after markets closed, but rebounded quickly to 3%. “We have a good chance at becoming the most important software company in the world,” CEO Alex Karp told Bloomberg.

Amazon in rocket swap

Amazon [AMZN] has announced it will swap the rocket used to launch its first two test satellites for its Project Kuiper constellation from United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan to its Atlas V rocket. Vulcan’s maiden launch has been repeatedly delayed, having at one time been scheduled for May this year; it is now set for Q4 at the earliest. Project Kuiper aims to rival SpaceX’s Starlink by creating a constellation of 3,236 satellites in low orbit to provide broadband internet coverage.