Amazon signed a deal with Plug Power to supply 10,950 tons a year of green hydrogen for its transportation and building operations, beginning in 2025, said Amazon Thursday. It will start to use green hydrogen to replace gray hydrogen, diesel and other fossil fuels as it works to decarbonize its operations, toward a goal of being net-zero carbon by 2040. The Plug Power contract will provide enough annual power for 30,000 forklifts or 800 heavy-duty trucks used in long-haul transportation, Amazon said.
Legrand AV gave a preview Tuesday of custom installation products its brands are due to unveil at CEDIA Expo next month in Dallas. Da-Lite will show a “cable-drop” feature called SightLine for its Tensioned Advantage screen with a suspension system designed to give a “floating” appearance. Cables that lower the screen are said to be “virtually undetectable” when the screen drops, eliminating the black border that appears above other projection screens, the company said. Da-Lite will also show a battery-powered motorized option for screen installations where it’s difficult to thread wires. Sanus will show stands for Sonos Five and Play:5 speakers and a sound bar TV mount designed for the Sonos Arc sound bar, the company said.
A nearly 10% plunge in AMC Entertainment’s stock price Thursday sparked CEO Adam Aron to declare his confidence in the theater chain’s future, after Cineworld, the financially imperiled British-based cinema chain, said it anticipates lower than expected box office admissions through November due to a lack of blockbuster films. “At AMC, as we have publicly disclosed previously, the film slate in the third quarter of 2022 is expected to be relatively weak,” said Aron, after the markets closed. “However, we continue to be quite optimistic about the increasing demand for our portfolio of movie theaters in the fourth quarter of 2022 and calendar year 2023.” Cineworld, which owns Regal theaters in the U.S., is second to AMC as the world’s largest cinema chain owner. The AMC stock closed 7.3% lower Friday at $18.02. Cineworld shares crashed nearly 49% Friday on reports the company was on the brink of bankruptcy.
The FuboTV board's compensation committee granted restricted stock unit awards covering 40,283 shares of its common stock to five new nonexecutive employees “to induce them to join FuboTV,” said the company Friday. The awards were granted under an employment inducement equity incentive plan and will vest annually over a four-year period following their grant, subject to continued employment, the company said. The stock closed 8.8% lower Friday at $4.35.
GoPro’s high-margin subscription service topped 2 million subscribers, said the company Tuesday. The GoPro subscription, $50 a year, includes unlimited cloud storage, the ability to automatically upload footage to the cloud, editing tools in the Quik app, a private livestreaming platform, damaged-camera replacement and discounts on accessories, the company said. Revenue from the 2 million subscribers delivers $100 million annually, with gross margin of 70-80%, said GoPro Chief Financial Officer Brian McGee.
Huawei generated revenue of 301.6 billion yuan ($44.7 billion) in 2022's first half, down 5.9% from January-June a year earlier, reported the Chinese telecom Friday. “Overall performance was in line with forecast,” it said. “While our device business was heavily impacted,” its wireless infrastructure operation “maintained steady growth," it said. Huawei’s revenue has been on the decline since the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security added the Chinese company and its affiliates to the entity list in 2020, restricting its access to U.S. technology (see 2008170043).
Masimo sent Sound United CEO Kevin Duffy a notice of termination without cause July 11, effective Friday, said an SEC filing. Duffy agreed to remain with Sound United until that day to assist with the transition on an “as-needed basis following the termination of his employment,” the filing said. The medical technology company bought Sound United parent company Viper Holdings in April for $1 billion. Duffy, also CEO of Sound United’s holding company DEI Holdings, joined DEI in 2003 and had roles including chief financial officer and president-Directed Electronics. Before joining DEI, Duffy worked for private investment firm ThinkTank Holdings. He also was director of strategy at Clarion. Masimo didn't comment Thursday. The company reports Q2 earnings Tuesday.
Cineworld upped its order for Imax theaters to 52 from 47, said the companies Wednesday. Some 52 Imax locations worldwide will be opened or upgraded by 2026, including Cineworld Leicester Square in London, Regal Irvine Spectrum in California and Regal UA Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, New York, which will feature the Imax with Laser 4K projection system that’s said to deliver deeper contrast and a wider color range vs. standard systems.
Despite its “precipitous share decline," FuboTV is “focusing on the right things within its control,” Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter wrote investors Tuesday. The virtual MVPD's subscriber growth is continuing “at a rapid pace,” it raised prices to cushion itself against rising content costs, and marketing spend is “trending in the right direction” as the company focuses on “the lifetime value of customers acquired, rather than growing its subscribers at any cost." But factors outside the company’s control are likely to limit near-term growth, said the analyst, slashing Wedbush’s 12-month price target from $9 to $6. Shares were trading at $2.61 midday Tuesday. FuboTV’s full-year guidance of $220 million-$225 million is “at risk” due to macroeconomic headwinds, said Pachter, saying the company's average revenue per user target of $15-$20 could be “years away.” FuboTV reports Q2 earnings Thursday.
Altice dropped its Suddenlink brand, putting all its products and services under its Optimum brand, it said Monday. It said it will transition all Suddenlink properties and assets, including vehicles, stores and websites, in coming months.