Semiconductor Sellout for SK Hynix

Every day, we handpick the 5 Top Stories stock market investors need to know. In 5 minutes, you’ll learn the stocks, CEOs, and money managers moving markets.

Microsoft’s Thai AI Pledge

Microsoft [MSFT] is doubling down on its southeast Asian presence, with CEO Satya Nadella committing on Wednesday to “significant commitments” within the region. This will include the provision of artificial intelligence (AI) skills training for over 100,000 people in Thailand. On the same day, Microsoft pledged to invest $2.2bn into Malaysian AI infrastructure, following a commitment to spend $1.7bn on cloud and AI infrastructure in Indonesia over the next four years the previous day.

Semiconductor Sellout for SK Hynix

SK Hynix [000660:KS] has sold nearly all of its chipmaking capacity through 2025, reported Bloomberg. The South Korean semiconductor firm said in a statement on Thursday that it plans to start production of its latest 12-layer HBM3E chip next quarter. Meanwhile, Qualcomm [QCOM] has stated it expects to bring in up to $9.6bn in revenue and generate EPS of up to $2.35 in the three months to June, with the optimistic figures credited to an uptick in smartphone demand.

Nio Over-Delivers

Nio’s [NIO] share price gained more than 20% Thursday after the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker announced a 134.6% year-over-year increase in April deliveries. “The deliveries consisted of 8,817 premium smart electric SUVs and 6,803 premium smart electric sedans,” said Nio in a statement. Elsewhere, Reuters reported on Thursday that Tesla [TSLA] is retreating from its ‘gigacasting’ manufacturing process, while General Motors’ [GM] CEO Mary Barra has reaffirmed the company’s EV commitment, despite slowing growth.

What’s Weighing on Novo Nordisk?

Sales of Novo Nordisk’s [NVO] celebrated weightloss drug Wegovy more than doubling year-over-year to kr9.38bn during Q1, fuelling a 28% increase in net profit to kr25.4bn. Novo raised its sales growth guidance to 19–27%. Nevertheless, Novo shares opened 1.45% lower on Thursday, with Jyske Bank cited by Reuters as attributing Novo’s beat and upgrade to a one-off US sales adjustment.

200 Core Jobs Cut By Google

Alphabet’s [GOOGL] share price was up 1% premarket Thursday, after Google announced plans to lay off at least 200 employees from its ‘Core’ teams, with many of the roles to be relocated to India and Mexico, according to CNBC. The Core team builds the technical infrastructure that underpins Google’s flagship products and protects users’ online safety. The restructure continues Alphabet’s drive to cut 6% of its workforce, which has been underway since early 2023.