💰 Pfizer earns big
India grants approval for 5G trials, Bezos offloads $2.5B Amazon shares, and Pfizer beats earnings expectation.
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First up,
Market Snapshot 📈
Sensex: 48,949.76 (+0.56%) ↑
Nifty 50: 14,724.80 (+0.73%) ↑
Dow Jones: 34,230.34 (+0.29%) ↑
Nasdaq 100: 13,503.37 (-0.30%) ↓
Top Stories 📰
1. India grants telcos approval for 5G trials…except China 📱
The Indian Department of Telecommunications on Tuesday granted permission to dozens of telecom operators across nationalities to conduct a six-month trial of 5G technology, except China's Huawei and ZTE.
While these companies have not been explicitly named but according to TechCrunch, a person familiar with the matter confirmed that China was not among the list of companies. In its statement, the department also stated that each operator will have to conduct trials in urban, semi-urban, and rural areas to avoid restricting the 5G technology only to urban areas.
Among the list of telecom service operators that received grants include Bharti Airtel Ltd., Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., Vodafone Idea Ltd., and MTNL.
Shortly after the news, China expressed its concern in a statement, saying that the decision "will hinder the improvement of the Indian business environment."
Why it matters?
Chinese-linked telecom companies have been banned in several countries, including the US and the UK citing national security concerns.
2. Jeff Bezos sold $2.5 billion worth of Amazon stock… and may offload more 📈
After selling more than $10 billion worth of stocks last year, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is now offloading an additional 739,000 shares worth $2.5 billion under a pre-arranged trading plan, US Securities and Exchange Commission filings reveal.
The 57-year-old billionaire plans to sell as many as 2 million shares this year. The deal leaves Bezos with 52.5 million shares of Amazon, a 10.4% stake in the company.
Amazon's stock ballooned in 2020, rallying up to 76% as the coronavirus pandemic pushed people away from physical stores and promoted online shopping.
So far, Bezos has used the sale proceeds to fund his rocket company Blue Origin that plans to send its first manned space mission on July 20 this year. He's also dedicated to further his philanthropic efforts such as his Bezos Earth Fund, a $10 billion commitment to fight climate change.
Why it matters?
The deal comes a week after Amazon posted its first-quarter earnings results that beat Wall Street's expectations as the pandemic-fueled surge boosted its e-commerce business.
3. Pfizer makes billions from selling vaccines 💉
The drug giant announced that its COVID-19 vaccines earned $3.5 billion in the first three months of 2021. This figure represents a quarter of its total revenue of $14.6 billion that it netted in the first quarter of 2021 alone, beating its previous estimates of $15 billion for the entire year.
Pfizer also expects to earn around $26 billion this year based on the contracts for 1.6 billion vaccine doses that it has signed as of mid-April. The company plans on filing for full approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by the end of May.
So far, Pfizer and BioNTech have together shipped nearly 430 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to 91 countries.
Why it matters?
Pfizer is the only company among several American COVID-19 vaccine producers, including Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and AstraZeneca, that's manufacturing vaccines without federal funding as it expects to make huge profits.
The decision has drawn concerns from drug prizing advocates and Democratic lawmakers who argue that this could lead to price gouging.
Top Reads 📑
If you've got some extra cash lying around (think $100,000), here’s where you should invest it.
Instant noodle maker Monde Nissin is raising the Philippines' biggest IPO yet.
For SpaceX, fifth time's the charm! The company successfully launched and landed its futuristic Starship that will send people to Mars.
"The future of work is flexibility," Google CEO Sundar Pichai says as the company envisions a hybrid workweek for employees.
Good news for Bitcoiners! CoinDesk editor Ollie Leech predicts that the cryptocurrency will at some point hit '$1 million a coin.'
Tweet Of The Day 🌟
Twitter crop is gone. Now, you can see images in all their glory. Tap #twittercropisgone and scroll away!
Well, that's all from us. Until next time 👋
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