A longer conflict in the Middle East could disrupt supplies of key materials used in chip manufacturing. One of them is helium, and Qatar accounts for more than one-third of its production. While Asia's chipmakers have a supply buffer of three months, the Iran war shows that they remain vulnerable to supply-chain disruptions. (Source: Bloomberg)
A longer conflict in the Middle East could disrupt supplies of key materials used in chip manufacturing. One of them is helium, and Qatar accounts for more than one-third of its production. While Asia's chipmakers have a supply buffer of three months, the Iran war shows that they remain vulnerable to supply-chain disruptions. (Source: Bloomberg)
neirfy Meta Platforms ( META ) has paused part of a massive effort to expand internet service across Africa as the war in the Middle East freezes activity in the region, Bloomberg reported. The disruption comes less than six months after Meta acknowledged that another section of 2Africa, a planned 45,000-kilometer (28,000-mile) underwater cable system, was delayed by geopolitical conflict. 2Africa...
neirfy Meta Platforms ( META ) has paused part of a massive effort to expand internet service across Africa as the war in the Middle East freezes activity in the region, Bloomberg reported. The disruption comes less than six months after Meta acknowledged that another section of 2Africa, a planned 45,000-kilometer (28,000-mile) underwater cable system, was delayed by geopolitical conflict. 2Africa is the first cable to connect East and West Africa in a continuous system and link Africa to the Middle East, South Asia, and Europe. Of note, major U.S. tech firms are scaling back operations in Dubai as tensions escalate over the U.S.–Iran conflict, with office closures and travel disruptions leaving many employees stranded in the Gulf. Amazon Web Services ( AMZN ) also suspended normal operations after two of its data centers in the UAE were hit by drone strikes, with another facility in Bahrain damaged by nearby blast effects, leading to significant service disruptions in the region. More on Meta Wall Street Lunch: Ex-Meta AI Chief LeCun's Startup AMI Secures $1B Meta: Time To Sit On The Fence (Downgrade) Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Presents at Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference 2026 Transcript Microsoft also shows interest in unfinished Oracle Stargate site in Abilene: report AI names dominate institutional flows as ownership breadth expands across tech: BofA Research
neirfy Meta Platforms ( META ) has paused part of a massive effort to expand internet service across Africa as the war in the Middle East freezes activity in the region, Bloomberg reported. The disruption comes less than six months after Meta acknowledged that another section of 2Africa, a planned 45,000-kilometer (28,000-mile) underwater cable system, was delayed by geopolitical conflict. 2Africa...
neirfy Meta Platforms ( META ) has paused part of a massive effort to expand internet service across Africa as the war in the Middle East freezes activity in the region, Bloomberg reported. The disruption comes less than six months after Meta acknowledged that another section of 2Africa, a planned 45,000-kilometer (28,000-mile) underwater cable system, was delayed by geopolitical conflict. 2Africa is the first cable to connect East and West Africa in a continuous system and link Africa to the Middle East, South Asia, and Europe. Of note, major U.S. tech firms are scaling back operations in Dubai as tensions escalate over the U.S.–Iran conflict, with office closures and travel disruptions leaving many employees stranded in the Gulf. Amazon Web Services ( AMZN ) also suspended normal operations after two of its data centers in the UAE were hit by drone strikes, with another facility in Bahrain damaged by nearby blast effects, leading to significant service disruptions in the region. More on Meta Wall Street Lunch: Ex-Meta AI Chief LeCun's Startup AMI Secures $1B Meta: Time To Sit On The Fence (Downgrade) Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Presents at Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference 2026 Transcript Microsoft also shows interest in unfinished Oracle Stargate site in Abilene: report AI names dominate institutional flows as ownership breadth expands across tech: BofA Research
SoftBank Group Corp. -backed PayPay Corp. is open to a dual listing with a presence on Tokyo’s bourse, its chief said after the digital payments company’s $880 million trading debut in New York. American Depositary Receipts of Japan’s dominant payments app rose 14% to close at $18.16 in New York, above its initial public offering price of $16 and valuing the company at $12.1 billion. The IPO — the...
SoftBank Group Corp. -backed PayPay Corp. is open to a dual listing with a presence on Tokyo’s bourse, its chief said after the digital payments company’s $880 million trading debut in New York. American Depositary Receipts of Japan’s dominant payments app rose 14% to close at $18.16 in New York, above its initial public offering price of $16 and valuing the company at $12.1 billion. The IPO — the biggest in the US by a Japanese company in a decade — is a boon for SoftBank and its telecom arm, which together own a majority of PayPay’s shares. While going public in the US is what PayPay needs for growth at the moment, the company will remain flexible about exploring a similar move in its home country, Chief Executive Officer Ichiro Nakayama said in an interview. “We’re not ruling that option out at all,” he said. Besides giving the QR-code payments app fuel for growth at home and abroad, the IPO raises SoftBank’s US profile and gives support to its finances at a time founder Masayoshi Son is preparing to inject an additional $30 billion in OpenAI. Thursday’s offering represents just 8% of PayPay’s outstanding shares. SoftBank Seeks Record Loan of Up to $40 Billion for OpenAI Stake SoftBank’s $30 Billion OpenAI Bet Spurs S&P Credit Outlook Cut OpenAI Finalizes $110 Billion Funding at $730 Billion Value PayPay is the latest demonstration of how SoftBank’s solid operations at home help fuel Son’s ambitious goals. Since its launch in 2018, PayPay has amassed 72 million users, equivalent to roughly half of Japan’s population and accounting for an estimated 20% of cashless payments by value. It’s outrun local rivals like Rakuten Group Inc. ’s Rakuten Pay through heavy marketing, aggressive subsidies and SoftBank’s support in signing on merchants. PayPay, which has so far remained largely corralled within Japan’s cash-reliant ecosystem, will now focus on boosting profitability using its access to overwhelming data on consumer behavior, Nakayama said. “While doing so, we wil...
Earnings Call Insights: The Oncology Institute, Inc. (TOI) (TOI) Q4 2025 Management View Daniel Virnich, CEO & Executive Director, opened the call by highlighting that "the fourth quarter marked an important milestone being our first profitable quarter as a public company from an adjusted EBITDA perspective." He also reaffirmed the expectation to achieve full year positive adjusted EBITDA in 2026....
Earnings Call Insights: The Oncology Institute, Inc. (TOI) (TOI) Q4 2025 Management View Daniel Virnich, CEO & Executive Director, opened the call by highlighting that "the fourth quarter marked an important milestone being our first profitable quarter as a public company from an adjusted EBITDA perspective." He also reaffirmed the expectation to achieve full year positive adjusted EBITDA in 2026. Virnich emphasized the continued expansion of the capitated care model, with nine new capitated contracts signed in 2025 across California, Florida, and Nevada, adding approximately 260,000 patient lives under management. The Part D dispensing platform reached nearly $270 million in revenue and contributed close to $50 million in gross profit for the year. SG&A declined 2% year-over-year, and clinical trial operations were outsourced to improve focus and scalability. Virnich reported that TOI reduced debt on its convertible preferred note by $24 million and ended the year with $33.6 million in cash following positive free cash flow in Q4. Delegated capitation partnership with Elevance in Florida is ramping and expected to more than double in 2026, with approximately 70,000 lives under capitated arrangements currently. New agreements with Humana and CarePlus in Florida added about 22,000 Medicare Advantage lives. The network of participating providers in Florida increased to about 207 physicians and advanced practice providers, supporting a "hybrid model" of patient care. Organizational developments included new appointments: Jeffrey Langsam as Chief Clinical Officer and Kristin England as Chief Administrative Officer. Virnich stated, "We expect continued strong growth in our delegated capitation model, having guided in January to over 80% growth in capitated revenue for the year." A proprietary network portal is scheduled for launch in Q2 2026 to improve engagement, utilization management, and pharmacy adoption. The Board was strengthened with the addition of Mark Stolper ...
We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing Beijing’s arms imports have nose-dived by nearly three-quarters over the past five years, as it has replaced overseas weapons purchases wi...
We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing Beijing’s arms imports have nose-dived by nearly three-quarters over the past five years, as it has replaced overseas weapons purchases with domestic technology, according to a Swedish think tank report. As hundreds of Hongkongers stranded in the Middle East scramble for air tickets home with the US-Israel war on Iran entering its 10th day, a local couple spent nearly HK$50,000 (US$6,395) on a direct flight back after repeated failed booking attempts and a cancellation blunder caused by mental exhaustion. A United States Air Force B-2 stealth strategic bomber. Photo: Handout A private company in China providing intelligence-gathering services to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) claims to have intercepted radio signals from American stealth bombers that struck Iran on March 1 as part of the US-Israel military action.
VEON Delivers Record Digital Growth: 4Q25 Digital Revenues Grow 84% to 20.1% of Total, Driving 17% Revenue and 29% EBITDA Growth in 4Q25 Dubai and New York, March 13, 2026 – VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a global digital operator, today announced strong financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025. Key Highlights – Fourth Quarter 2025 Total revenue grew ...
VEON Delivers Record Digital Growth: 4Q25 Digital Revenues Grow 84% to 20.1% of Total, Driving 17% Revenue and 29% EBITDA Growth in 4Q25 Dubai and New York, March 13, 2026 – VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a global digital operator, today announced strong financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025. Key Highlights – Fourth Quarter 2025 Total revenue grew 17.4% year-on-year (“YoY”) to USD 1,171 million. EBITDA increased 29.1% YoY to USD 527 million, with EBITDA margin expanding 410 bps to 45.0%. Digital revenues grew 84.1% YoY to USD 235 million, accounting for 20.1% of Group revenue. Financial services revenues rose 28.1% YoY to USD 120 million. Key Highlights – Full Year 2025 Total revenue increased 9.9% YoY to USD 4,399 million. EBITDA rose 18.8% YoY to USD 2,009 million, with EBITDA margin expanding 350 bps to 45.7%. Digital revenues grew 62.5% YoY to USD 759 million, representing 17.3% of Group revenue. Digital EBITDA was USD 207 million, reflecting an EBITDA margin of 27.3%. Financial services revenues grew 34.3% YoY to USD 425 million. Equity free cash flow after leases and licenses reached USD 624 million. Capex amounted to USD 930 million, with LTM capex intensity of 21.2% (16.6% excluding Ukraine). Total cash, cash equivalents and deposits stood at USD 1,734 million, including USD 557 million at headquarters. Net debt (excluding lease liabilities) to EBITDA improved to 1.09x. Capital Allocation and Strategic Developments VEON maintained disciplined capital allocation, completing its first USD 100 million buyback program (2.14 million ADSs repurchased), and launching a second program on November 14, 2025 (614.5K ADSs repurchased for USD 32.5 million, plus USD 3 million of 2027 Notes, as of 10 March 2026). VEON has adopted a policy framework targeting at least USD 100 million in annual share repurchases, subject to market conditions and Board approval. VEON intends to implement this framework for future buyback progr...