(Bloomberg) -- Over two decades, Richard Liu built a tiny suburban electronics outlet into China’s second largest e-commerce empire. Now, the billionaire entrepreneur is retreating from the spotlight and entrusting fast-rising lieutenant Xu Lei with steering JD.com Inc. through the greatest crisis since its founding.Liu is gradually ceding more control to Xu, who runs JD’s core retail operation and devised its answer to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s widely celebrated Singles’ Day phenomenon. Xu has led JD’s delegation to Davos since 2019 and replaced Liu as head of a key subsidiary this month, burnishing his credentials as presumptive heir.In an exclusive interview, the 45-year-old sketched out how JD’s business withstood the initial shock of Covid-19 and where it plans to go in the future. In five years, the flagship JD.com website and platform should contribute less than half of the company’s revenue as consumers gravitate toward social media town squares like Tencent...
GoPro Inc (GPRO) shed 14% in Wednesday’s trading after the company pre-announced Q1 revenue of $119 million, down 51% year-over-year, and far below its prior guidance of $140-160 million.The action camera maker reported adjusted losses in the middle of its projected range of $0.30-$0.40 per share, with cash of $125 million and channel inventory down by 30%. However with direct to consumer up significantly in the quarter, the average selling price (ASP) increased 23% sequentially to $350.“For a consumer electronic company with a non-essential product levered towards tourism and getting outside … the numbers were ugly” stated Oppenheimer analyst Andrew Uerkwitz.But he is encouraged by the fact that GoPro management is doing something many others aren’t doing: accelerating its business plan.For GoPro that involves accelerating its strategy towards a direct-to-consumer model, which ‘makes sense’ given that Core GoPro users are already mostly digital.This will enable the company to restructure its sales and...
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) said it is rolling out a laboratory-based blood test which can detect antibodies designed to identify whether someone has had the coronavirus strain Covid-19. The digital device maker is planning to ramp up manufacturing to produce 20 million tests by June.Shares of the healthcare company, which is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings on Thursday, rose 2% to $90.94 a share, while the NYSE Composite Index dropped 2.9%. Analysts expect Abbott to earn an average 58 cents per share in the quarter.The company announced that it expects to ship close to 1 million tests this week to hospitals and labs in the U.S, and will ship a total of 4 million tests in April. By June and beyond, Abbott will be shipping 20 million tests to the U.S. per month, according to the report.The digital device maker’s third Covid-19 test, or IgG antibody test, is different than diagnostic tests....
(Bloomberg) -- European stocks rose alongside U.S. equity futures on Thursday, trimming some losses from a day earlier as investors seeking to gauge the extent of damage caused by the coronavirus await the next set of corporate earnings and economic data. The dollar extended gains.The Stoxx Europe 600 Index opened higher with all major national gauges and most industry sectors in the green. Contracts for the three main American benchmarks also advanced after sliding on Wednesday amid miserable economic data. Shares fell in Hong Kong and Japan while stocks in China saw modest gains. Treasuries edged lower after rallying a day earlier and oil fluctuated near its lowest in two decades.The market is now bracing for the weekly U.S. unemployment figures due Thursday as both corporate results and economic data highlight the severe hit from the shutdown of industry and commerce needed to combat the spread of the coronavirus. American retail...
Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday deepened its ambition to battle climate change, setting the oil and gas sector's broadest plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. "Society's expectations have shifted quickly in the debate around climate change," Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden said in a statement. "Shell now needs to go further with our own ambitions, which is why we aim to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 or sooner."...
