Lyft share price plunges 36% following weak profit outlook

In today’s top stories, Lyft’s share price plunged following a dismal earnings call, raising fears it will be left behind by rival Uber. Elsewhere, Brussels has raised its growth outlook for the EU by 0.8%, although member states have spent a combined €800bn weathering the energy crisis. The semiconductor sector has been rebounding this year, with Asian companies looking particularly promising. In the UK, meanwhile, trendsetter Tech Nation had its government funding pulled, prompting a fire sale of assets. Lastly, Chinese online shopping site Temu, owned by PDD, celebrated its arrival in the US with a 30-second Super Bowl ad.

Lyft share price falls

A disastrous set of results from Lyft [LYFT] last week could see it being left in the dust of ridesharing rival Uber [UBER]. Shares in Lyft tumbled 36.4% on 10 February after the company issued weak guidance and warned of lower profits in the near term. Wedbush downgraded the stock from ‘outperform’ to ‘neutral’, as analyst Dan Ives described the EBITDA outlook as “a debacle”, saying the earnings call was one of the worst he’d ever heard.

EU’s energy crisis spending

A milder-than-expected winter is easing pressure on gas prices, which should help the Eurozone to avoid a recession this year, according to Brussels, which has raised its 2023 growth outlook for the bloc by 0.8%. However, EU countries have already spent a combined €800bn to help households and businesses cope with rising energy costs and bills; Germany alone has spent €270bn. Giovanni Sgaravatti, an analyst at Bruegel, the think tank which conducted the research, told Reuters that spending needs to become more targeted.

Semiconductor stocks rebound

The semiconductor sector has been quietly rebounding this year, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index [SOX] up 18.92% through 10 February. Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global, believes that leading Asia semiconductor companies “are poised to drive an outperformance in the Asia tech sector in the next six to 12 months”, according to a note seen by CNBC. Singapore is hoping it can attract chip investment as US-China tensions over Taiwan rise, reported Bloomberg.

UK’s Tech Nation shuts down

Tech Nation helped transform the UK’s tech sector over the course of almost a decade. However, last week the government controversially pulled its funding and forced the organisation into a fire sale of its assets, reported the Financial Times over the weekend. Tech Nation ran accelerator and development programmes and supported several big-name start-ups, including Deliveroo [ROO.L]. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had reiterated his desire to make the UK the next Silicon Valley as recently as the end of January.

Chinese rival to Shein

Online shopping site Temu, owned by China’s PDD [PDD], formerly Pinduoduo, made its US debut on Sunday night with a 30-second ‘Shop Like a Billionaire’ advert that aired during the Super Bowl. “Through the largest stage possible, we want to share with our consumers that they can shop with a sense of freedom because of the price we offer,” said PDD in a statement. Temu is hoping to rival fashion marketplace Shein.