Ofcom levies largest-ever consumer protection fine after finding firm deliberately mishandled millions of phone calls Virgin Media has been fined £28m by the UK telecoms watchdog for repeatedly preventing customers from cancelling their contracts over a near-three-year period. Ofcom discovered that Virgin Media “likely mishandled” millions of phone calls between the start of 2022 and autumn 2024, ...
Ofcom levies largest-ever consumer protection fine after finding firm deliberately mishandled millions of phone calls Virgin Media has been fined £28m by the UK telecoms watchdog for repeatedly preventing customers from cancelling their contracts over a near-three-year period. Ofcom discovered that Virgin Media “likely mishandled” millions of phone calls between the start of 2022 and autumn 2024, with deliberate call-dropping tactics, unnecessary call transfers and putting customers on hold for “no reason”. Continue reading...
Right now, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) is on top of the world. Not only is the semiconductor company the largest in the world by market capitalization, but it's also posting growth numbers that would make most small tech start-ups envious. In the most recent quarter alone, Nvidia increased its revenue by 74.6% and its net income by a jaw-dropping 120.7%. But can the company keep this up over the next fi...
Right now, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) is on top of the world. Not only is the semiconductor company the largest in the world by market capitalization, but it's also posting growth numbers that would make most small tech start-ups envious. In the most recent quarter alone, Nvidia increased its revenue by 74.6% and its net income by a jaw-dropping 120.7%. But can the company keep this up over the next five years? Where will Nvidia stock be in five years? Continue reading
Visitors wear smart glasses during the sixth China International Consumer Products Expo CICPE in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, April 13, 2026. Zhang Liyun | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images Startups building consumer electronics will have a better shot at becoming the next Apple in Shenzhen than in Silicon Valley, said Will Wang, CEO of China's smart-glasses startup and the country's new...
Visitors wear smart glasses during the sixth China International Consumer Products Expo CICPE in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, April 13, 2026. Zhang Liyun | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images Startups building consumer electronics will have a better shot at becoming the next Apple in Shenzhen than in Silicon Valley, said Will Wang, CEO of China's smart-glasses startup and the country's newest unicorn Even Realities. "If we wanted to create a future around consumer electronics — if we wanted to really build possibly the next Apple — we need to be at the center of hardware, which is Shenzhen," Wang told CNBC's Chery Kang on Wednesday, citing the city's deep engineering talent pool and supply chain dominance. The Shenzhen-based company said Monday it had raised $150 million at a $1 billion valuation, with investors including Meituan and Tencent. Wang, who worked at Apple from 2016 to 2018 on the development and mass production of the Apple Watch and iPhone, is eyeing the AI wearables market dominated by Meta Platforms. Wang said that Silicon Valley has lost some of its appetite for founders who build hardware products, shunning the longer development cycles and less return upside, compared with AI applications, as well as inevitable supply chain hurdles. "Silicon Valley seems to not really reward hardware people that much anymore," he said, with talent and capital "intensively" flowing instead into AI and software agents. "You started to see less and less consumer electronics startups, or talents, around Silicon Valley." watch now VIDEO 8:09 08:09 Why Shenzhen is key to building the next Apple, according to Even Realities The China Connection Across the Pacific Ocean, Shenzhen's talent pool has, however, proven more vibrant, Wang said, with the city's cluster of phone, drone and consumer electronics makers producing a deep bench of mechanical, electrical and optical engineers. Shenzhen is home to a swath of Chinese tech giants, including Tencent, Huawei, drone ...
Earnings Call Insights: Kura Sushi USA, Inc. (KRUS) Q3 fiscal 2026 Management view “During the fiscal third quarter, we were able to make significant progress towards our goals of sustainable margin improvement and returning to our historical 20% restaurant-level operating profit margins regardless of tariff relief,” said President, CEO, Interim CFO & Chairman Hajime Uba. Uba reported the quarter’...
Earnings Call Insights: Kura Sushi USA, Inc. (KRUS) Q3 fiscal 2026 Management view “During the fiscal third quarter, we were able to make significant progress towards our goals of sustainable margin improvement and returning to our historical 20% restaurant-level operating profit margins regardless of tariff relief,” said President, CEO, Interim CFO & Chairman Hajime Uba. Uba reported the quarter’s key operating setup as pressured traffic with improved profitability, saying, “Total sales for the fiscal third quarter were $85.9 million, representing comparable sales of negative 0.4% with negative 5.1% of traffic offset by a positive 4.7% in price and mix.” On cost structure and margin, Uba highlighted tariffs and labor initiatives, saying, “Despite our cost of goods sold as a percentage of sales being 200 basis points higher than last year due to tariffs… improve our restaurant-level operating profit margin by 90 basis points over the prior year to 19.1%.” On development, Uba said, “While we continue to expect to open 16 new restaurants for this fiscal year, we have unfortunately faced significant unexpected delays… and the loss of approximately 6 revenue months have impacted our revenue expectations for the year.” With no separate CFO remarks this quarter, Uba delivered the financial and liquidity update, including, “And at the end of the fiscal third quarter, we had $66.1 million in cash, cash equivalents and investments and no debt.” Outlook “We now expect total sales to be between $330.5 million and $331.5 million,” Uba said, attributing the reduction in year revenue expectations to opening delays. “We continue to expect to open 16 new units,” Uba said, adding that the company is “maintaining an annual unit growth rate above 20% with average net capital expenditure per unit continuing to approximate $2.5 million.” On profitability, Uba said, “We now expect full year restaurant-level operating profit margins to be approximately 18.5%,” and characterized this as “i...
Private debt placements from the Middle East are surging as volatility due to the Iran war drives borrowers into alternative markets. Sales from Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa amounted to $33 billion so far in 2026, about 10 times more than a year ago, said Stefan Weiler , the head of debt capital markets for the region at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Overall volumes for emerging-m...
Private debt placements from the Middle East are surging as volatility due to the Iran war drives borrowers into alternative markets. Sales from Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa amounted to $33 billion so far in 2026, about 10 times more than a year ago, said Stefan Weiler , the head of debt capital markets for the region at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Overall volumes for emerging-market private placements were little changed, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Borrowers from the Middle East, some of which were particularly hit by market volatility triggered by the US-led conflict with Iran, account for roughly two-thirds of all issuance activity from CEEMEA, Weiler said. Private placements, sales of securities directly to a private investor, rather than as part of a public offering, offer key advantages. Borrowers such as Qatar, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi, along with corporations and financial institutions from the region, can source billions of dollars in funding without market exposure and on an accelerated basis. The transactions also demonstrated ongoing investment appetite from some of the largest global investors even amid war, which for weeks shut the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane and included aerial attacks on Persian Gulf nations. Privately placed securities are not traded on public exchanges, meaning investors can’t easily exit their positions. To compensate for this, investors demand a higher yield — referred to as the illiquidity premium. The average interest rate on private placements during the first half of 2026 amounted to 5.12%, compared with a coupon of 3.18% on emerging-market bonds sold on international markets in the period, according to data complied by Bloomberg. Qatar Energy closed the biggest deal, raising $3.5 billion in June, which JPMorgan helped to arrange. Other deals from Gulf issuers included Emirates NBD Bank PJSC, and Saudi Arabian Oil Co. each raising $1.5 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Africa was another region...
It might seem hard to believe, but artificial intelligence (AI) has only been a major story for a few years now. ChatGPT didn't even hit its stride until around late 2022 to early 2023. But just as with the internet and other technological breakthroughs, widespread adoption can take years. AI is probably going to remain a top investment trend for the foreseeable future. Therefore, it's crucial to ...
It might seem hard to believe, but artificial intelligence (AI) has only been a major story for a few years now. ChatGPT didn't even hit its stride until around late 2022 to early 2023. But just as with the internet and other technological breakthroughs, widespread adoption can take years. AI is probably going to remain a top investment trend for the foreseeable future. Therefore, it's crucial to consider which companies are most likely to benefit from more people and companies using it. Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) stand out as two clear winners here. Both companies sit squarely at the application layer, the key to bringing society and AI together. Here's how and why these two tech stocks are ones investors will want to buy and hold for the next 10 years. Continue reading
The Netherlands and the UK signed a £2.4 billion ($3.2 billion) agreement to produce new amphibious transport ships, part of a flurry of deals between European NATO members in Ankara. The ships will be based on a Dutch design and built in UK shipyards alongside Dutch industry, according to a British government statement on July 7. They will form the ‘backbone’ of a strengthened joint amphibious fo...
The Netherlands and the UK signed a £2.4 billion ($3.2 billion) agreement to produce new amphibious transport ships, part of a flurry of deals between European NATO members in Ankara. The ships will be based on a Dutch design and built in UK shipyards alongside Dutch industry, according to a British government statement on July 7. They will form the ‘backbone’ of a strengthened joint amphibious force, with each nation operating four vessels. The ships will transport troops, vehicles and equipment including drones wherever they are needed, with flight decks designed to operate current and future long-range drones and autonomous systems. The deal comes after Norway picked the UK to supply frigates for its navy in a £10 billion deal last year, the largest ever investment in the Nordic country’s defense. The UK-Dutch partnership is part of at least $50 billion in defense industry deals signed by NATO allies during the annual summit, as Europe races to show US President Donald Trump its willingness to ramp up its defense spending. Other agreements include a $4.3 billion contract from seven allies for Airbus SE’s A400M military aircraft and $12 billion in deals to buy next-generation drones, surveillance planes and military aircraft. The contract also aims to accelerate industrial and military cooperation on autonomous and uncrewed technology. The Netherlands recently pledged to invest heavily in autonomous military systems, with the country’s Defense Ministry saying it wants more than half of the military’s “operational effects” to involve such technology within five years. During the NATO summit, the Dutch also signed an agreement with Germany to explore the possibilities for joint production of Amraam ammunition, and a letter of intent with Germany, Poland, and Sweden for the first European maintenance facility for various types of PAC-3 missiles.