Plus, Pfizer could see full FDA approval for its COVID-19 vaccine in the coming weeks, Roku is adding another 23 shows from Quibi to its collection of original content, and Berkshire Hathaway reported an operating earnings jump of 21% year-over-year.
Stocks were slightly higher at the open on Monday with the Dow up by 21 points, or less than 0.1%. The S&P 500 also added less than 0.1%, while the Nasdaq rose by 0.1%.
Bitcoin surged above $46,000 early Monday, retaking its highest level since May 16. The move comes after the Senate delayed a vote on the infrastructure bill to Tuesday to give more time to debate two competing amendments to a cryptocurrency tax provision. “The minor breakouts reflect positive short-term momentum and improved intermediate-term momentum following July’s successful test of support near $30,000,” Fairlead’s Katie Stockton said. “The next hurdle on the chart is just above $51,000, which seems in store for a test given no signs of upside exhaustion at this time.” OANDA Europe senior market analyst Craig Erlam said in a note, “Bitcoin has found its groove once more over the last week. Now very much back into bullish territory, the question is how far it can go this time around.”
Pfizer shares are up 1% at the time of writing after it said that a study by Israel’s largest health maintenance organization showed that people who received a booster shot of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine had similar or fewer side to the shot than they did after the second dose. Of the 4,500 respondents who received the booster shot, 88% reported “a similar or better feeling” than their reaction to the previous dose, while 31% said they had localized effects like pain or swelling at the injection site. In other vaccine news, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that he’s hopeful the FDA will give full approval for the Pfizer vaccine within the coming weeks, and said he is “strongly in favor” of speeding up booster shorts to people with weakened immune systems. “We need to look at them in a different light,” Fauci said on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” referring to booster shots. “We will almost certainly be boosting those people before we boost the general population that’s been vaccinates, and we should be doing that reasonably soon.”
Roku shares are up 2.5% this morning after the company said it will add another 23 shows from failed short-video startup Quibi to its collection of original content as it works to build on its ad-supported content strategy. The first batch of 30 shows from Quibi saw users double the time they spent on The Roku Channel in the second quarter. The new slate will hit The Roku Channel on August 13. In all, Roku acquired 75 shows from Quibi and plans to release more in the future. The Roku Channel “continues to broaden its reach by growing niches,” Needham analysts wrote in a note. “Total streaming hours doubled at [The Roku Channel] in 2Q21, driven by its flywheel of creating new Roku originals, which leads to more viewing hours, which attracts new advertisers, which drives higher ad revs, which Roku invests into new original content, etc.”
Berkshire Hathaway reported an operating earnings jump of 21% year-over-year to $6.69 billion in the second quarter as the conglomerate’s businesses continue to rebound amid the economic recovery. “It’s all of the other old economy, manufacturing, service, retailing, transportation businesses that just really reflect the broad economic recovery driving this performance this quarter,” Edward Jones analyst Jim Shanahan said. “There’s a housing angle here which I think was a really strong contributor this quarter.” Berkshire Hathaway said in a regulatory filing, “Many of our businesses generated significantly higher earnings over the first half of 2021 compared to 2020, which included significant adverse effects from the pandemic. Earnings of our manufacturing, service and retail businesses in 2021 benefited from higher customer demand in many of our businesses and exceeded earnings in 2019 as well.”
And Elon Musk’s SpaceX is acquiring satellite data startup Swarm Technologies, according to a filing with the FCC. Swarm has 120 of its tiny SpaceBEE satellites in orbit, and the acquisition will expand SpaceX’s team, technological capabilities, and its growing Starlink internet service. Swarm said in the filing that it will become “a directly wholly-owned subsidiary of SpaceX upon consummation of the Proposed Transaction,” and will benefit SpaceX by bringing “access to the intellectual property and expertise developed by the Swarm team.” The deal marks an rare move for SpaceX, which typically designs and builds its systems in-house. However, it can be difficult and time consuming to get FCC licenses approved, and the deal will see Swarm transfer control of all of its satellite and ground station licenses to SpaceX.
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Tecnoglass Inc (NASDAQ: TGLS): Tecnoglass shares rose by nearly 4% on Friday after the company reported second quarter earnings results. “I am thrilled to announce our most profitable quarter on record, building on our team’s outstanding performance which again drove record results in nearly all financial metrics. During the quarter, we were able to drive substantial operating leverage while expanding our mix of single-family residential sales in the U.S., resulting in another quarter of record revenues, margin expansion, and our 5th straight quarter of significant cash flow generation,” CEO José Manuel Daes said in the earnings release. “Our strategically located, vertically integrated and low cost operations have provided us with sustainable competitive advantages that truly differentiate Tecnoglass in the tight supply environment that our industry is experiencing. We are winning new business and strengthening our existing customer relationships because we are able to supply superior quality products with short lead times at an attractive value, which is undoubtedly advancing our reputation as a global leader in both architectural glass innovation and service. Moving forward, we will continue to execute our proven strategy to capture elevated demand in the U.S., while approaching capital allocation with a returns oriented mindset. Our strong balance sheet, very low leverage profile and ample capital resources squarely position us to do so as we plan to further invest in operational enhancements. The future remains extremely bright for Tecnoglass and we are firmly situated to deliver another year of record results in 2021.”