Tag Archives: Coinbase Global Inc

Binance was final destination for millions in funds from Bitzlato

January 20, 2023 Admin Leave a comment

Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange, handling billions of dollars in trading volumes on a daily basis.

STR | NurPhoto via Getty Images

Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment against a little-known crypto exchange called Bitzlato on Wednesday, alleging that it facilitated the laundering of $700 million in tainted crypto tied to the now-shuttered dark-web market Hydra, and millions more in ransomware proceeds.

Blockchain data shows that tens of millions of dollars that passed through Bitzlato ultimately ended up in Binance deposit wallets, despite the stringent anti-money laundering standards that Binance says it has implemented.

Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, has not been connected to any criminal activity, nor have regulators accused it of knowingly accepting illicit funds, although the exchange is reportedly under its own criminal probe by the Department of Justice in relation to its compliance with anti-money laundering, or AML, laws.

The movement of Bitzlato’s funds raises questions about the efficacy of Binance’s AML practices, especially given that Binance’s own outside AML vendor, Chainalysis, issued a report in February 2022 estimating that 48% of Bitzlato’s 2019-2021 cryptocurrency receipts were “illicit or risky.”

Bitzlato’s highest crypto balance was valued at a mere $6.6 million, according to Arkham Intelligence. By comparison, Binance’s highest balance was valued at over $60 billion. But total flows in and out of Bitzlato were in the hundreds of millions of dollars, suggesting that Bitzlato was a way station for users looking to keep their crypto at more established exchanges.

On a larger exchange like Binance or Coinbase, for example, many customers opt to let the platform custody their crypto tokens. But smaller exchanges can often function as a sort of bridge between the entity looking to transfer their coins and the ultimate destination where the tokens will be custodied. Crypto might sit on one of these interim platforms for mere minutes.

How the money flowed

A FinCEN report from Wednesday noted that Binance was Bitzlato’s largest counterparty, but blockchain data reveals rudimentary efforts to conceal where funds came from before they arrived in Binance custody.

Much like in traditional finance, where money moves from bank to bank and between holding companies, moving crypto assets through multiple wallets is an elementary way to obscure the flow of money. But tracing assets through a blockchain is a relatively straightforward process, since every transaction is recorded on a publicly accessible ledger.

For all of 2022, and the brief weeks that Bitzlato operated in 2023, only $9.7 million moved directly from Bitzlato to Binance, according to data from Arkham Intelligence. In the four years that Bitzlato operated, only $52 million moved directly from the exchange to Binance, the same dataset shows.

But a cursory review of some of Bitzlato’s largest exchange partners indicates that tens of millions more flowed from Bitzlato through other crypto wallets to Binance, in an apparent effort to conceal the origin of the funds.

CNBC reviewed transaction data for the ten largest recipients of Bitzlato outflows, which collected over $45 million in Bitzlato-originated funds. Those wallets also received millions more in funds from other exchanges, including Huobi, FTX, Poloniex, Nexo, and WhiteBIT, a Ukrainian exchange.

One Bitzlato whale moved a little over $21 million worth of cryptocurrencies, including ether and tether, a dollar-pegged stablecoin, from Bitzlato to an intermediary wallet. From there, over the course of four years, that intermediary wallet deposited around $15 million worth of crypto onto Binance’s platform, according to data from Arkham Intelligence.

Overall, the five largest Bitzlato-connected wallets sent more than $30 million directly to Binance. Millions more in smaller transactions ultimately ended up in Binance’s wallets.

The on-chain data can’t account for any additional funds that moved to Binance from Bitzlato through mixers, services that allow users to obfuscate the origin and endpoint of their crypto. Nor does it offer any information on the kind of enforcement action that Binance might take to defend against nefarious deposits, including seizing those funds once they land in Binance’s wallets.

But Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has often touted his exchange’s aggressive efforts to clamp down on illicit funds flowing on the platform. Earlier this week, Binance announced it had seized millions of dollars worth of crypto connected to a North Korean hacking group called Harmony.

CNBC reached out to Binance to ask that the platform share its approach to preventing tainted funds from landing on the platform. We also asked whether Binance was aware that Bitzlato was allegedly used to launder money and, if so, why funds from Bitzlato were custodied on its platform. We did not immediately hear back to our request for comment.

Still, Reuters reported in December that federal prosecutors were mulling bringing charges in a “long-running” criminal investigation regarding Binance and Zhao’s compliance with AML laws. The pace of enforcement actions suggests that U.S. regulators already have an eye on tracking the flow of illicit crypto, wherever it occurs.

“Operating offshore or moving your servers out of the continental U.S. will not shield you,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco noted on Wednesday. “Whether you break our laws from China or Europe or abuse our financial system from a tropical island—you can expect to answer for your crimes inside a United States courtroom.”

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SEC charges Genesis and Gemini with selling unregistered securities

January 12, 2023 Admin Leave a comment

SEC chairman Gary Gensler testifies before a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on Sept. 14, 2021 in Washington.

Evelyn Hockstein-Pool/Getty Images

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged crypto firms Genesis and Gemini with allegedly selling unregistered securities in connection with a high-yield product offered to depositors.

Gemini, a crypto exchange, and Genesis, a crypto lender, partnered in February 2021 on a Gemini product called Earn, which touted yields of up to 8% for customers.

According to the SEC, Genesis loaned Gemini users’ crypto and sent a portion of the profits back to Gemini, which then deducted an agent fee, sometimes over 4%, and returned the remaining profit to its users. Genesis should have registered that product as a securities offering, SEC officials said.

“Today’s charges build on previous actions to make clear to the marketplace and the investing public that crypto lending platforms and other intermediaries need to comply with our time-tested securities laws,” SEC chair Gary Gensler said in a statement.

Gemini’s Earn program, supported by Genesis’ lending activities, met the SEC’s definition by including both an investment contract and a note, SEC officials said. Those two features are part of how the SEC assesses whether an offering is a security.

Regulators are seeking permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement, and civil penalties against both Genesis and Gemini.

The two firms have been engaged in a high-profile battle over $900 million in customer assets that Gemini entrusted to Genesis as part of the Earn program, which was shuttered this week.

Gemini, which was founded in 2015 by bitcoin advocates Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has an extensive exchange business that, while beleaguered, could possibly weather an enforcement action.

But Genesis’ future is more uncertain, because the business is heavily focused on lending out customer crypto and has already engaged restructuring advisers. The crypto lender is a unit of Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group.

SEC officials said the possibility of a DCG or Genesis bankruptcy had no bearing on deciding whether to pursue a charge.

It’s the latest in a series of recent crypto enforcement actions led by Gensler after the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX in November. Gensler was roundly criticized on social media and by lawmakers for the SEC’s failure to impose safeguards on the nascent crypto industry.

Gensler’s SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, chaired by Rostin Benham, are the two regulators that oversee crypto activity in the U.S. Both agencies filed complaints against Bankman-Fried, but the SEC has, of late, ramped up the pace and the scope of enforcement actions.

The SEC brought a similar action against now bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi and settled last year. Earlier this month, Coinbase settled with New York state regulators over historically inadequate know-your-customer protocols.

Since Bankman-Fried was indicted on federal fraud charges in December, the SEC has filed five crypto-related enforcement actions.

This is breaking news. Check back for updates.

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Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Google will fuel the next rally

December 12, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

To build a fire — but not destroy the market by doing so. That’s the goal right now. It’s not as easy as in the famous Jack London short story (“Too Build a Fire”) where in the end the survivors profit rather than freeze to death in their sleep. In the early part of this decade, we saw the rise of Robinhood (HOOD) and the distribution of investments from the serious to the ephemeral. These days, Robinhood has the appearance of one gigantic bonfire of young peoples’ money. The gamification concept was real and the exodus of investors was noisy — culminating with the ridiculous self-immolation of GameStop (GME), AMC Entertainment (AMC) and the meme stocks. Those who fought this trend abandoned Twitter, hired bodyguards and tried to hide from the angry mob that was attempting to will stocks higher by savaging the sellers. No tinder from these clowns. Then there was the much larger-than-expected romp to crypto. The people who bought it somehow ensconced their brains into something they didn’t understand. As a result, they overran their brains and outsourced them to others who claimed to know more than they did. You had to oppose a phalanx of vociferous, self-promoting scoundrels and their fintech allies in government and venture capital — all of whom should feel shame, but shame eludes them. They will not accept their intellectual disgrace, and instead continue to argue that it was all about blockchain and DeFi (decentralized finance). They want to explain to you why they got it right and you got it wrong, even as they lost everything and you were safe keeping your cash at JPMorgan. I wish I had a hubris scale, something like a gigantic thermometer that could measure these arrogant promoters and give them the hook when they contend that they are smarter than you for believing in something with a best-use case as untraceable ransom money. But this era is running out. It’s going to be done with a fight, of course, as we see its representatives defend themselves with specious arguments that sound so self-serving and outright phony that even neutral minds are repelled and rebelling. The money furnace that was Robinhood burns blandly versus the napalm of crypto. The interests that defended crypto can’t go quietly because they will empty the coffers of their crypto banks and cause waves of bankruptcies; the $34 billion that we know of that was destroyed by Sam Bankman-Fried — the disgraced former boss of failed crypto exchange FTX — pretty much propped up everything. We keep getting stung by the alleged due diligence done by so many who should have known better, with only a couple of institutions writing their investments to nothing, along with their explanations, or lack thereof. Here’s the problem: If it all goes away — crypto and all the institutions supporting it — the money that’s left won’t help push equity prices higher. It was once a magnet to a couple trillion dollars. Now I wonder if there’s $400 billion to the entire edifice. The whole thing reminds me of a line from the film “Beau Geste,” when two of the main characters are under attack: “You’ll do your duty better dead than you ever did alive.” The biggest guns are most likely liquidating as they talk, the duplicitous cads. They will tell us that we are fools not to believe in blockchain as if somehow that is dispositive to something other than lies and blunders. My point is this: The crypto con and the Robinhood dollar conflagration can’t produce enough money to buoy stocks. There’s not enough left in these embers to do anything but marvel at how much there used to be and how little bankruptcy produces. No matter how many hearings, we will never know the full culpability behind those in Congress and those in the Securities and Exchange Commission who opposed Chair Gary Gensler. He came on CNBC specifically to warn us of made-up coins and institutions that give you too high a return compared to cash in a real bank. Self-serving cryptocurrency players have been critical of the SEC. They want to school Gensler and let him know he can only go so far before running into all the well-endowed entities and their secret paid supporters. The horror! The horror! So where else will the money come from? Unlike the chimerical trillions that vanished into thin crypto air, the fuel will come from four stocks that have a combined total of $6 trillion to donate: Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN). There is simply too much money in these names to take us higher, or at least how high we can go after the Federal Reserve’s next meeting this week. But I think some of that investor money will be transferred into the stocks of companies that have the most voracious buybacks. Those are the companies without enough stock available to handle all the money that will flood in. Money in those four stocks will be pulled out, kicking and screaming, until the valuations become earthly — better than Meta Platforms (META) and more like the S & P as they are revealed to be mortal. Not until then can the rally start in earnest. Can these valuations be played out? It’s happening as you read this. Of course, there’s one other enemy to the advance and it’s a powerful one: The 4.5% yield from 2-year Treasuries is outrageously bountiful in a market where anything north of 4% in equities is likely tied to plummeting oil. However, we cling to the oils, betting that they can maintain their well above market prices when Russia can’t produce its endless reserves and China goes voracious upon reopening. I think we will win. We will hold Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon , even as we’ve trimmed them higher. Their spiral down to earth, however, will be painful. If we hadn’t sold some, it would be getting late in the game. But I suspect there’s more pain to come. Why take it? Because these companies still have value, even though it won’t surface until the selling’s done and we don’t know when that will occur. It’s too dangerous now to depart, although Apple could see $120 and Microsoft a 10-point decline. Amazon and Alphabet control their own destinies through headcount reductions. The good news? The selling could end after the Fed meeting. The bad news: If it does, there will not be enough rocket fuel. The big four need to shed a trillion minimum to power things higher. I think it will happen in time. Which would mean a brutal week until the transfer begins to be made. Hold on to what you have, but get ready to be lifted by the stocks with the strongest buybacks. That’s where the accumulation will matter the most. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp., during the company’s Ignite Spotlight event in Seoul, South Korea, on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. Nadella gave a keynote speech at an event hosted by the company’s Korean unit.

SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images

To build a fire — but not destroy the market by doing so.

That’s the goal right now. It’s not as easy as in the famous Jack London short story (“Too Build a Fire”) where in the end the survivors profit rather than freeze to death in their sleep.

In the early part of this decade, we saw the rise of Robinhood (HOOD) and the distribution of investments from the serious to the ephemeral. These days, Robinhood has the appearance of one gigantic bonfire of young peoples’ money. The gamification concept was real and the exodus of investors was noisy — culminating with the ridiculous self-immolation of GameStop (GME), AMC Entertainment (AMC) and the meme stocks. Those who fought this trend abandoned Twitter, hired bodyguards and tried to hide from the angry mob that was attempting to will stocks higher by savaging the sellers. No tinder from these clowns.

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Business

Netflix, Lululemon, DocuSign and more

December 9, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Check out the companies making the biggest moves midday:

Lululemon — Shares of Lululemon fell 12% after the athletic apparel company gave a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter outlook. In the third quarter, the company beat Wall Street’s expectations on the top and bottom lines.

related investing news

Beyond Meat — Beyond Meat’s stock dropped more than 8% after being downgraded by Argus to sell from hold. The firm’s analyst cited falling demand amid weaker economic conditions.

Broadcom — Broadcom gained 3.1% after giving an upbeat revenue forecast and reporting better-than-expected quarterly results after the bell Thursday. The chipmaker also increased its dividend by 12.2% and said it would resume stock buybacks.

Tesla — Tesla’s stock was up more than 4%, paring some of the losses it suffered this week. Reuters reported on Friday the electric-vehicle maker will suspend Model Y assembly at its Shanghai plant between Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. Inventory levels at the plant had risen sharply over the summer.

Carvana — Shares of Carvana rose 2% after lenders told The Wall Street Journal that they don’t anticipate the online car seller will file for bankruptcy soon. These debtholders are joining together amid reports earlier this week that the company is looking to restructure its debt, the paper said. Carvana had seen success during the pandemic, but rising interest rates and weaker car demand have hurt its performance.

Netflix — Netflix gained 5% after being named a “best idea” for 2023 by Cowen and being upgraded by Wells Fargo to overweight from equal weight. Cowen said it sees free-cash flow ramping up next year, while Wells Fargo said content growth would lessen customer churn.

RH — RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, rose 4.5% after reporting third-quarter earnings-per-share and revenue that beat expectations. However, the retailer also said it expected business trends to deteriorate.

Coinbase — Shares of the crypto services firm fell 2.6% after Mizuho downgraded Coinbase and said its price could fall another 30%. Crypto equities such as Coinbase have been under pressure with cryptocurrency prices, as investors digest the macro picture and the latest developments on FTX.

DocuSign — Shares of DocuSign jumped 16% after the electronic signature company posted upbeat quarterly results. It also reported better-than-expected billings, subscription renewals and additional sales to existing customers.

Costco — The wholesaler gained 1.6% after Cowen named the stock a “best idea” heading into 2023, noting the company’s focus on value could be a winning strategy as consumers get more price conscious.

AmerisourceBergen — AmerisourceBergen fell 2.7% after Walgreens sold about $1 billion shares of the drug distributor. Walgreens remains its largest shareholder, with its stake now down to 17% from 20%.

Vale — The Brazil-based mining company gained 3.5% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to overweight from equal weight, citing a “cocktail” of positive catalysts such as price momentum for iron ore and China exiting its Covid-zero policy.

Bath & Body Works — Shares of Bath & Body Works gained rose 2.1% after activist investor Dan Loeb boosted his stake in the retailer. Loeb said he might push for board charge to improve governance issues at the company.

— CNBC’s Carmen Reinicke, Alexander Harring, Tanaya Macheel and Christina Cheddar-Berk contributed reporting.

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Stock futures inch higher as investors watch midterm results, await inflation data

November 10, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

Stock futures inched higher Thursday as investors awaited new inflation data and eyed U.S. election results.

Futures connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 28 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures added 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.2%.

It follows a day of losses with the Dow dropping 646.89 points, or 1.95%. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 shed nearly 2.5% and about 2.1%, respectively.

The declines came amid uncertainty stemming from U.S. midterm elections. The market had hoped Republicans would take sweeping control of the House of Representatives and the Senate on Tuesday – a situation that would create gridlock in Washington, D.C. Instead, key Senate races in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada remain tightly contested. Indeed, the Senate race between Raphael Warnock, the Democratic incumbent, and Herschel Walker will head to a December runoff.

Stocks’ suffering worsened late Wednesday after crypto exchange Binance said it’s backing out of plans to acquire its rival FTX. This dragged down the tech sector and pulled bitcoin’s price to lows last seen in 2020.

Lack of clarity around the election, as well as uncertainty around incoming October consumer price index data and corporate earnings reports were the drivers around the selloff, said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at the Independent Advisor Alliance.

“Those three things are leading to uncertainty,” he said. “And, as everyone knows, markets really don’t like uncertainty.”

October’s CPI report, due Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET, is the next focal point for investors. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect that headline CPI rose in October by 0.6% from September, or 7.9% over a year ago. It’s a key report for the Federal Reserve, which will meet again in mid-December.

Weekly jobless claims are also due out on Thursday morning.

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Lennar, Coinbase, Array Technologies and more

September 19, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

A worker at a Lennar home under construction.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Check out the companies making the biggest moves midday Monday:

D.R. Horton, Lennar, PulteGroup — Homebuilder stocks moved higher on Monday after KeyBanc double upgraded the sector to overweight from underweight. Analyst Kenneth Zener said that homebuilders, which have underperformed this year, tend to rebound sooner and more sharply than the broader market. Shares of Lennar rose about 2%, while D.R. Horton gained over 2%, and PulteGroup jumped nearly 4%.

related investing news

Morgan Stanley downgrades payments company NCR, says investors need clarity after split announcement

Array Technologies — The solar stock jumped over 3% after Piper Sandler upgraded Array Technologies to overweight from neutral, saying the company has more upside ahead on an improved forward outlook.

SunOpta — Shares of SunOpta rallied more than 5% after being named a top pick by Cowen. Analyst Brian Holland, who has a buy rating on the stock, wrote in a note that “the company’s agnostic posture and capital execution is affording strong growth sight lines underappreciated by the market.” His $15 price target implies 55.9% upside from Friday’s close.

Opendoor Technologies — Opendoor dropped 6% after a Bloomberg reported the iBuyer lost money on 42% of its August resales. Like others in the housing space, the company faces headwinds including a housing recession and mortgage rates over 6%.

AutoZone — AutoZone shares fell more than 2% as traders pored over a mixed quarterly earnings report. The company’s gross margins of 51.5% were slightly below a StreetAccount estimate of 51.9%. Still, AutoZone earned $40.50 per share in the previous quarter, beating a forecast of $38.51 per share.

NCR — Shares of NCR slid almost 3% after being downgraded to equal-weight from overweight by Morgan Stanley. The firm said the path to unlocking shareholder value is “less clear and longer tailed” after the enterprise payment solutions company said Friday it would separate into two companies.

Wix — Shares of Wix soared 11% after activist investor Starboard Value revealed a 9% stake in the web development platform company. According to Reuters, Starboard has spoken to Wix about how it can improve operations of the company, which has lost half its value this year.

Coinbase — Shares of the cryptocurrency exchange fell more than 7% as the price of bitcoin dipped to its lowest level since June and traders continued unwinding short positions following the completion of the Ethereum merge. Stocks also fell Monday ahead of the Fed decision this week. Crypto prices are largely macro driven, and Coinbase’s revenue relies heavily on trading fees.

Theravance Biopharma — Theravance rallied more than 3% after announcing a $250 million stock buyback program.

Airlines — United Airlines, Alaska Air and American Airlines rose more than 3% and were among the best performers in the S&P 500 on Monday.

Gamco Investors — Shares of the Mario Gabelli-led investment firm plunged almost 12% after announcing after the bell on Friday it was voluntarily delisting from the New York Stock Exchange. Gamco has filed an application for its common stock to be quoted on the OTCQX platform, operated by OTC Markets Group.

Ralph Lauren — The luxury clothing and household goods maker rose almost 2% after an investor update pointed to high single digit sales growth.

—CNBC’s Alexander Harring, Sarah Min, Jesse Pound, Tanaya Macheel and Yun Li contributed reporting.

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Coinbase, Roblox, Wendy’s and more

August 10, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

Coinbase reported a 27% decline in revenues in the first quarter as usage of the platform dipped.

Chesnot | Getty Images

Coinbase – Shares of the crypto services operator jumped about 6% despite the company reporting a wider-than-expected loss late Tuesday and a decline in volumes in the most recent quarter. The rally coincided with a move higher in bitcoin after a key inflation reading showed a better-than-expected slowdown in rising prices.

Wendy’s – The restaurant chain saw its shares fall more than 2% after reporting a revenue miss. U.S. same-restaurant sales rose 2.3% — less than analysts had estimated — as consumers spent more cautiously. Wendy’s earnings in the latest quarter topped estimates, however.

Roblox – Shares of the video game platform were down 5% in midday trading after postmarket earnings Tuesday missed analyst expectations. Roblox’s quarterly loss was wider than expected, and its bookings, which include sales recognized during the quarter and deferred revenue, declined by 4% year over year.

Twitter – The social media company climbed more than 3% after Elon Musk disclosed the sale of nearly $7 billion in Tesla shares in the past few days. Investors are uncertain whether a Delaware Chancery court will force Musk to follow through on his deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion. Shares of Tesla gained more than 2.5%.

Sweetgreen — Shares dropped 5% after the salad chain lowered its full-year forecast, and second quarter revenue missed analyst estimates. Sweetgreen also said it laid off 5% of support center employees.

Trade Desk — Shares of the digital advertising firm soared 35% after it gave an upbeat forecast for the current quarter and revenue beat estimates in the quarter just ended.

Fox — The media company rose 4% even after Fox missed estimates on the top and bottom lines in the latest quarter. Earnings per share came in 1 cent below estimates.

Unity Software — The software company jumped more than 7% after Unity reported an adjusted loss of 18 cents per share, three cents better than estimates, according to Refinitiv. Unity’s revenue and guidance were lower than expected. The stock is now trading within 10% of $58.85 per share, which is the price offered by AppLovin in a nonbinding merger proposal earlier this week.

H&R Block — The tax preparation services company jumped more than 12% after it raised its dividend and authorized a new $1.25 billion buyback. H&R Block also beat top and bottom line estimates in the most recent quarter.

BuzzFeed — BuzzFeed slumped 4.3% after posting earnings. The company reported a bigger-than-expected loss per share, noting that it faces rising costs and a troublesome advertising market.

— CNBC’s Tanaya Macheel, Sarah Min, Carmen Reinicke, Jesse Pound, Michelle Fox and Yun Li contributed reporting.

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Business

Wendy’s, Coinbase, Buzzfeed and more

August 10, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

Wendy’s (WEN) – Wendy’s shares fell 1% in premarket trading following a mixed quarter, which saw the restaurant chain report better-than-expected earnings while revenue fell short of Street forecasts. U.S. same-restaurant sales rose 2.3%, less than analysts had estimated, as consumers spent more cautiously.

Coinbase (COIN) – The cryptocurrency exchange operator’s shares slid 5% in the premarket after the company reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, with business impacted by the slide in crypto prices during the spring months. Coinbase saw volumes fall as the number of active traders declined during the quarter.

Buzzfeed (BZFD) – The digital media company reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss amid a pressured advertising market and rising expenses. Buzzfeed fell 3.7% in premarket trading.

Twitter (TWTR) – Twitter added 3.6% in premarket action following news that Elon Musk sold nearly $7 billion in Tesla (TSLA) shares over the past few days. The move comes amid uncertainty over whether a court will force Musk to follow through on his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter. Tesla shares gained 1.3%.

Roblox (RBLX) – The videogame company’s stock tumbled 15.1% in the premarket after Roblox reported a quarterly loss that was wider than expected and bookings – a key sales metric – fell short of analyst forecasts.

Wynn Resorts (WYNN) – The resort operator reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, but revenue was shy of expectations as results in Macau continue to be pressured by Covid-related shutdowns. Wynn Resorts fell 2.9% in premarket trading.

Trade Desk (TTD) – The digital advertising firm’s stock surged 16.3% in the premarket after it reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and gave an upbeat forecast for the current quarter. The company said its performance gives it confidence that it can gain market share in any economic environment.

H&R Block (HRB) – The tax preparation firm’s stock jumped 4% in premarket action after quarterly results were better than expected, helped by a strong tax season. H&R Block also announced a 7% dividend increase and a new $1.25 billion stock buyback program.

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Stocks making biggest after hour moves: Coinbase, Roblox and more

August 9, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

In this photo illustration, the Coinbase logo is displayed on a smartphone screen.

Rafael Henrique | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Check out the companies making headlines in after hours trading.

Coinbase – Coinbase fell more than 3.5% in afterhours trading after reporting quarterly earnings. The company missed analyst expectations on both revenue and earnings, partially due to the “crypto winter” seen in the second quarter.

Roblox – Roblox shed nearly 14% postmarket Tuesday after the company’s quarterly earnings came in below Wall Street expectations. Roblox reported a loss of 30 cents per share and $639.9 million in revenue, versus analysts’ estimate of a loss of 21 cents on $644.4 million in revenue. In addition, Roblox reported 52.2 million daily active users in the quarter, less than expected by Wall Street and down from the first quarter.

Wynn Resorts – Shares of Wynn Resorts slipped more than 2.5% late Tuesday after the gaming company missed Wall Street’s estimates for revenue. Wynn reported a loss of 82 cents per share and revenue of $908.83 million, against analysts’ estimates of a loss of $1.11 and revenue $980.85 million.

Unity Software – Unity Software shed nearly 3% after the closing bell after disappointing quarterly earnings that missed Wall Street expectations. Unity reported $297 million in revenue and a 69-cent loss per share, versus expectations of $299 million in revenue and a 21-cent loss.

Sweetgreen – Shares of the salad company lost more than 20% in afterhours trading Tuesday after it lowered its full-year outlook, said it would layoff 5% of its workforce and downgrade its office space. The company met earnings expectations, reporting 36 cents per share, but fell short on revenue, reporting $124.9 million versus $130.2 million expected.

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Uber, DoorDash, Coinbase and more

July 6, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

Uber Eats delivery

Jonathan Raa | NurPhoto via Getty Images

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

Uber, DoorDash – Shares of Uber slumped 4.6% and DoorDash fell 9% on news that Amazon agreed to take a stake in Grubhub in a deal that will give Prime subscribers a one-year membership to the food delivery service.

Coinbase – Coinbase slipped 3.1% after Atlantic Equities downgraded the crypto exchange to neutral and slashed its price target, citing increased volatility in the industry.

Netflix – Netflix dropped 2.1% after Barclays slashed its price target for the streaming service to $170 from $275, anticipating a subscriber loss in the second quarter amid increased competition.

Rocket Companies – Shares of the consumer fintech company jumped 5.5% after Wells Fargo upgraded it to an overweight rating and said Rocket’s set up for a big comeback after tumbling more than 42% this year. Despite a “tough mortgage backdrop,” Rocket will “continue to take market share from its peers,” Wells Fargo said.

Rivian — The electric vehicle maker surged more than 10% after saying it’s on track to deliver 25,000 vehicles this year. In its most recent quarter, Rivian said it produced 4,401 vehicles, and delivered 4,467, in line with the company’s expectations.

Energy stocks – Energy stocks slid Wednesday as oil continued its slump from Tuesday, slipping to about $95 a barrel. The S&P 500 Energy sector fell 4% with shares of Marathon Oil, Conocophillips and Halliburton falling 5.1%, 3.9% and 4.1%, respectively. Occidental Petroleum weakened 2.5%, while Exxon Mobil fell 3.8%.

Cruise stocks – Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings slumped 9.6%, Royal Caribbean fell 5.9%, and Carnival eased 6.7% on concern about second-half cruise ship demand. Norwegian said it would no longer require guests to test for Covid-19 before joining a cruise, unless required by local regulations.

— CNBC’s Tanaya Macheel, Samantha Subin and Sarah Min contributed reporting.

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