Visa Misses Revenue Targets

Visa's reported third-quarter revenue missed Wall Street’s expectations, causing shares to fall 4.6% in extended trading.

Chris Suh (Visa's CFO) noted stable growth among high-spend consumers. However, there is a slight moderation among lower-spend consumers. American Express also missed revenue expectations last week.

Visa's quarterly net revenue stood at $8.90 billion, just below analysts' estimates of $8.92 billion. This is the first miss since early 2020.

The company saw a 7% rise in payment volumes and a 14% jump in cross-border volumes, indicating strong international travel demand.

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Tesla's Profit Margins Plummet

Tesla reported its lowest profit margin in over five years. Price cuts and incentives hit hard. Gross margin dropped to 14.6%, below analyst estimates of 16.3%.

Revenue hit $25.50 billion but still fell short. Net income dropped to $1.48 billion from $2.70 billion last year. Adjusted earnings missed Wall Street expectations at 52 cents per share.

Tesla's Robotaxi unveiling was delayed to October 10 for improvements.

The company also laid off over 10% of its workforce to cut costs.

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Google Soars on Strong Ads and Cloud Boom

Alphabet, Google's parent company, reported strong second-quarter results, driven by robust digital ad sales and cloud service demand.

Revenue from ads grew 11% to $64.6 billion, helping Alphabet's total revenue hit $84.74 billion, above analysts' expectations.

The cloud computing sector also saw a 28.8% increase, reaching $10.35 billion. Net income rose 28.6% to $23.6 billion.

For the remainder of 2024, operating costs will stay above $12 billion per quarter. Alphabet is investing in artificial intelligence and self-driving technology.

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Mystery of ‘Dark Oxygen’ Unveiled

Scientists discovered that Polymetallic nodules found on the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) can produce oxygen without sunlight. This revelation challenges our understanding of oxygen production.

Researchers initially believed their sensors were malfunctioning when they detected rising oxygen levels at a depth of 13,000 feet. However, repeated experiments confirmed the phenomenon.

The Polymetallic nodules act like natural batteries, potentially splitting seawater into oxygen and hydrogen through seawater electrolysis.

This discovery raises questions about these nodules' role in deep-sea ecosystems. It also complicates the debate on deep-sea mining, as these nodules are crucial habitats for various marine life.

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