Plus, Bitcoin jumped above $48,000 over the weekend, Sonos shares are up after a U.S. judge ruled that Google infringed on five patents belonging to the company, and Oatly raised its guidance for full-year revenue.
Stocks were lower at the open on Monday with the Dow dropping 24 points, or less than 0.1%. The S&P 500 slid by 0.1%, while the Nasdaq traded 0.3% lower.
Tesla shares are down more than 5% at the time of writing after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it has launched a formal investigation into the electric vehicle maker’s Autopilot system following a series of crashes that have left at least 17 people injured and 1 dead. The NHTSA said it has identified 11 crashes since January 2018 where Tesla vehicles have “encountered first responder scenes and subsequently struck one or more vehicles.” “Most incidents took place after dark and the crash scenes encountered included scene control measures such as first responder vehicle lights, flares, an illuminated arrow board, and road cones,” the NHTSA added. “The involved subject vehicles were all confirmed to have been engaged in either Autopilot or Traffic Aware Cruise Control during the approach to the crashes.”
Bitcoin rose to more than $48,000 over the weekend, marking its highest level since May, before falling to $46,370.92 at the time of writing. The recovery in Bitcoin saw the value of the entire cryptocurrency market rise above $2 trillion for the first time on Saturday since mid-May. Vijay Ayyar, head of business development at cryptocurrency exchange Luno, said that he “wouldn’t expect Bitcoin to run through” resistance at between $48,000 and $50,000 “in one shot,” but that when it does break through that resistance, Bitcoin is “definitely looking to go back to all-time highs.”
Sonos shares are up nearly 10% this morning after a U.S. trade judge ruled that Alphabet’s Google infringed on five patents belonging to Sonos for its smart speakers and related technology. Sonos said that it is pleased with the preliminary ruling, which it said “confirmed Google’s blatant infringement” and furthered its efforts to defend its technology against alleged misappropriation by larger rivals. The ruling from Charles Bullock, the chief administrative law judge of the U.S. International Trade Commission, is now subject for review by the full ITC, which is scheduled for December 13.
Retail stocks are inching higher this morning with Walmart up more than 1% ahead of its earnings release on Tuesday, while Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Target are all slated to report later this week. “Second quarter numbers will be fine, but [retailers] will likely be more cautious about the second half of the year,” said Telsey Group senior managing director Joe Feldman.”The delta variant may delay the recovery. “ Feldman added, “The consumer is ready to spend, but I am worried about the cost side of things. [Retailers] are nervous due to freight expenses and labor costs. How much can they pass on?”
And Oatly shares are up 1.5% currently after the oat milk producer issued revenue guidance for the full year that beat expectations. For the second quarter, Oatly reported a net loss of $0.11 per share on revenue of $146.2 million, just shy of estimates for a net loss of $0.10 per share on revenue of $147 million. For the full fiscal year, the company said it now expects revenue to jump more than 64% to $690 million, higher than analysts estimates for full year revenue of $682 million. CEO Toni Petersson said in the earnings release, “2021 represents the most transformational year in our Company’s history with the completion of our successful IPO in May, which has provided us with the capital to fuel new production capacity globally as we scale our business across three continents to meet the robust consumer demand for our leading oat-based brand. Our record second quarter revenues were in-line with our expectations and demonstrate broad-based growth across geographies and sales channels, despite certain COVID-19 and start-up related manufacturing headwinds we experienced in the quarter.”
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WidePoint Corp (OTC: WYY):WidePoint announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary WidePoint Mobile Corporation had achieved R2v3 certification for its Columbus, Ohio facility to include the “Core Requirements” as well as the following “Specialty Process Requirements”: Downstream Vendor Management, Logical Sanitization, Testing and Repair of Used Mobile Devices. “WidePoint is pleased to have achieved the R2v3 certification, as it helps fulfill the vision of our Green Initiative Policy and reflects our perpetual commitment to broaden our corporate ESG initiative,” CEO Jin Kang said in a statement. “It expands the scope of our Managed Mobility Services (MMS) offering by ensuring responsible recycling of our clients’ devices and validating that all residual data is sanitized. Not only will this credential ensure that we meet the industry standards for responsible testing, repair, reuse and recycling programs, but it also expands our revenue streams.”