Author: GT

The Shell gas station logo is displayed on February 13, 2025 in Austin, Texas.Brandon Bell | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesBritish oil giant Shell on Friday reported a sharp fall in first-quarter profit, following a period of weaker crude prices.Shell reported adjusted earnings of $5.58 billion for the first three months of the year, beating analyst expectations of $5.09 billion, according to an LSEG-compiled consensus. A separate forecast from analysts polled by Vara Research had expected Shell’s first-quarter profit to come in at $4.96 billion.Shell reported adjusted earnings of $7.73 billion over the same period last year and $3.66…

Amazon’s upgraded digital assistant powered by generative AI, Alexa+, has rolled out to over 100,000 users, CEO Andy Jassy said on the company’s earnings call Thursday. While that’s a far cry from the 600 million Alexa devices out there, the company is making some progress on the rollout of Alexa+, which was first unveiled in February. At the time, Amazon said that Alexa+ would roll out in waves over the coming months. Amazon’s new digital assistant aims to let users talk with it in a more natural style, and eventually have agentic abilities that allow it to use third-party apps…

Disclaimer: The analyst who co-wrote this piece owns shares of Strategy (MSTR). Strategy (MSTR) reported a first-quarter 2025 loss of $16.49 after posting a $5.9 billion writedown on its bitcoin stack thanks to a sizable decline in the price of BTC during the year’s first three months. Led by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, the company, though, shows no signs of slowing its pace of bitcoin acquisitions. Having used up nearly all of its previous $21 billion common stock offering with its most recent BTC buys last week, the company alongside earnings announced a fresh $21 billion at-the-market offering. Turning to…

Source: TradingView.com Bitcoin has surged to its highest point since February and is back within reach of the psychological $100,000 level. In a win for the bulls, the pioneer cryptocurrency staged a breakout above a pennant pattern Thursday, setting the stage for a continuation move higher. Investors should watch crucial overhead levels on bitcoin’s chart around $100,000 and $107,000, while also eyeing key support near $92,000 and $85,000. Bitcoin (BTCUSD) has surged to its highest point in more than two months, putting it back within reach of the psychological $100,000 level. The digital asset rallied Thursday after reports surfaced that…

Companies of all sizes are recognizing the game-changing possibilities of AI. Despite the excitement about the new technology, most of their pilot projects don’t make it into production. Gruve.ai, a startup founded by the team behind Rahi Systems aims to help enterprises get AI solutions out of testing phase and into real-world application by using AI to deliver its services. Rahi Systems is an IT solutions company acquired by Wesco for $225 million in 2022.  IT services firms, including major players like Accenture, have long been the go-to consultants to implement new tech projects for companies when they don’t have…

Apple sent notifications this week to several people who the company believes were targeted with government spyware, according to two of the alleged targets.  In the past, Apple has sent similar notifications to targets and victims of spyware, and directed them to contact a nonprofit that specializes in investigating such cyberattacks. Other tech companies, like Google and WhatsApp, have in recent years also periodically sent such notifications to their users.   As of Wednesday, only two people appear to have come forward to reveal they were among those who received the notifications from Apple this week.  One is Ciro Pellegrino, an…

(Bloomberg) — Bitcoin is fast approaching $100,000 once again, after reaching its highest level since late February, with investors’ appetite for risk being rekindled across financial markets. Most Read from Bloomberg The original cryptocurrency has faced downward pressure in recent weeks as Donald Trump’s tariff policy prompts a steep rout in both the stock and digital-asset market. It had dropped as much as 30% after reaching a record high of about $109,000 on Jan. 20, the day Trump was inaugurated for a second time as US president. The largest token by market value climbed as much as 3.1% to $97,483,…

Meta has updated the privacy policy for its AI glasses, Ray-Ban Meta, giving the tech giant more power over what data it can store and use to train its AI models. The company emailed Ray-Ban Meta owners on Tuesday with a notice that AI features will now be enabled on the glasses by default, according to The Verge. This means Meta’s AI will analyze photos and videos taken with the glasses while certain AI features are switched on. Meta will also store customers’ voice recordings to improve its products, without an option to opt out. To be clear, Ray-Ban Meta…

Morgan Stanley, one of the world’s largest investment banks, plans to introduce crypto trading on its consumer platform in the latest move by a traditional financial institution to capitalize on President Donald Trump’s deregulation of the crypto industry. The banking giant plans to allow its customers to buy and sell crypto on its subsidiary, E*Trade, starting sometime next year, according to a Bloomberg report, citing “people familiar with the matter.” In order to establish and maintain the complex mechanisms needed to trade crypto, the company is reportedly considering partnering with one or more established crypto firms, according to the report.…

In the increasingly crowded market for peer-to-peer payments, Venmo is showing momentum while Cash App has hit a rough patch. The parents of both businesses reported quarterly results this week. PayPal, which owns Venmo, reported an earnings beat and kept its forecast for the year. Block, meanwhile, plummeted in extended trading on Thursday after the Cash App parent missed on revenue and issued disappointing guidance. Venmo and Cash App are simultaneously competing to gobble up more consumers for their peer-to-peer offerings while also adding services like debit, credit and transfer services so they can actually make money from those users.…