Yahoo Finance

Nearly $50 billion. In just over four years, Meta’s Reality Labs division — focused mainly on its products in augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and the metaverse — has lost as much money as the market caps of Snap Inc. and Pinterest combined. Insiders tell Yahoo Finance that the staggering cash burn is not the price of innovation, but rather the result of a “chaotic” culture that features frequent reorganizations and installation of top leaders without AR or VR expertise. With Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg warning that operating losses in Reality Labs will only continue to “increase meaningfully,” Yahoo Finance spoke to a dozen former high-level employees (mostly executives or managers across multiple segments including engineering, research, product management, hardware, content, and operating systems) who say the lack of a clear vision and mismanagement are largely to blame for Reality Labs' financial pitfalls. The former employees Yahoo Finance spoke with left within the last three years, with the earliest departing in February of 2021 and the most recent ones this year. The majority left on their own because of what they called discord within Reality Labs, but some left due to structural layoffs. More: https://lnkd.in/ee24YWXD #yahoofinance #finance #tech #AI #meta #business

The video game industry is reaching outside of its comfort zone as audiences are seeing exposure to more video game adaptations, TV series, M&A activity between studios, and even partnerships with popular streaming services. "The overall entertainment industry is large, it's a significant part of the global economy. And gaming is the biggest part of that — it's a $200 billion business today. It's bigger than streaming, bigger than the movie box office. Across the globe, 3 billion people play video games," former Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime explains. An industry veteran, Fils-Aimé held the positions of Nintendo of America president and COO from 2006 to 2019. He believes the gaming industry is "poised for an upswing" following post-pandemic contractions from game studios and consumers. Fils-Aimé weighs in on rising trends in gaming, including VR and AR headsets — namely Apple's costly Vision Pro — and cloud gaming technology. More: https://lnkd.in/eKZNEw_X #yahoofinance #finance #tech #AI #VR #gaming #business #money

Google parent Alphabet reported its fiscal second quarter earnings after the bell on Tuesday, beating analysts' estimates on the top and bottom lines, as its cloud businesses continue to pick up steam, topping the $1 billion mark for operating profit for the first time. https://yhoo.it/3A3ttDL

Tesla reported mixed results for Q2, but said new and affordable EVs will be built on the same assembly lines as current vehicles, meaning they will be cheaper to build and coming in the first half of 2025. The company did not however give an update on its robotaxi reveal date, which has been delayed from an original August 8th debut. Tesla said it would be built using the company's next-gen "unboxed" production method, which implies production of the vehicle could be some time away.

Tesla reported mixed second quarter results after the bell on Tuesday that sent shares sliding. The EV-maker did say it was on track for production of new vehicles — likely a cheaper EV — in the first half of 2025. Tesla also said its growth rate in 2024 would be "notably lower" than what it achieved in 2023. https://yhoo.it/3Wxxdqa

Google parent Alphabet reported better than anticipated Q2 results on Tuesday, as its cloud business continues to grow. But increased AI spending and a miss on YouTube ads revenue kept post-earnings share prices relatively flat.

A new Redfin report shows that typical monthly payments for homebuyers in swing states have nearly doubled since the 2020 election. Redfin head of economic research Chen Zhao joins Yahoo Finance's Wealth! to break down the report and why housing has become unaffordable for many Americans. Zhao explains that the mortgage payment associated with a median-priced home in a swing state has risen 92% since 2020. "The reason for that is because home prices have gone up more than 40% and mortgage rates have more than doubled in that time. So that's really driving the increase," she says. She adds that American families making the median household income would have to spend 33% of their income to buy a median-priced home, marking a 22% rise since 2020. As the housing supply gets squeezed, buying a home has become much more expensive. While prices have risen in the past, Zhao explains that his increase is different: "Home prices actually also went up a lot between 2016 and 2020. They also went up about 40%, as they did between 2020 and 2024. But the difference is that mortgage rates did not go up between 2016 and 2020, but between 2020 and 2024, we went from ultra-low mortgage rates to now high 6 to 7% mortgage rates. And that's really driving the difference between those two time periods." More: https://lnkd.in/e6GXXAkS #yahoofinance #finance #realestate #money #economics #housing

Exchange-traded funds that hold ether can start trading following final approval from regulators on Monday, according to the money managers that will oversee the new ETFs. The moves could make ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, a potential staple in 401(k)s, IRAs, and pension plans and grant the digital asset more mainstream acceptance. https://yhoo.it/3WjTmH0

Spotify reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that beat expectations as the audio giant posted record profit, gross margin and free cash flow in the quarter on the heels of its recent "efficiency" strategy. https://yhoo.it/3Sjlwkr

Volume three of the Yahoo Finance Chartbook is live! I asked more than 30 of Wall Street's top equity strategists and economists for their most important chart right now. This is one of our larger projects of the year and a personal favorite of mine, especially given the talented visuals from Brent Sanchez throughout the book. This project is a bear and requires a lot of eyes. A big thanks to Myles Udland, Michael B. Kelley, Adriana Belmonte, Grace O'Donnell, Becca Evans, and David Foster, who all had a hand in fine tuning this edition of the Chartbook. Take a deep dive into the state of markets and the economy with us 👇 https://lnkd.in/eAZTRpfY