Here’s all you need to know today.
1. Procter & Gamble saw a rise in sales as people bought cleaning products in bulk
P&G reported a jump in sales as consumers stuck at home bought more on Tide laundry detergent and Mr. Clean products. Revenue for the quarter was $17.7 billion.
The company attributed the growth to higher demand in North America and China esp. for cleaning products.
P&G’s baby, feminine and family care segment reported the second-highest increase to its organic sales, up 5%. The category includes Pampers diapers, Bounty paper towels and Charmin toilet paper.
The pandemic is one of the few times where consumers probably got excited to stock up on wipes, cleaning equipment and more.
2. Telecoms giant Comcast reports steady earnings, but revenue in theme park dropped
American telecom conglomerate Comcast reported Q2 earnings, beating analysts’ estimates on both top and bottom lines.
Comcast owns NBCUniversal, Universal Studios as well as CNBC and Sky Group.
Most recently, it saw the launch of NBCUniversal’s streaming platform Peacock, which has already attracted 10 million subscribers since its limited launch in April.
Revenue came in at $23.72 billion with growth in high-speed internet customers & cable viewership. (not surprising).
The NBCUniversal division took some hits as advertisers pulled back spend and theme parks had to shut down entirely. Theme Park revenue dropped 94% this quarter to $87 million as Universal Studios closed.
3. Samsung sees jump in profit, thanks to chips
Samsung’s Q2 Profit grew 23% yoy, due largely to more sales of DRAM chips. Revenue fell 6% yoy, to 53 trillion won because of lower smartphone sales along with other devices.
The company’s semiconductor division was helped by demand for DRAM chips from data centers that need to fortify their online infrastructure to support remote workers and online education
The company also acknowledged that it faces intense competition from other smartphone makers.
It was reported that Huawei shipped more smartphones globally than any other vendor in Q2, despite its problems in the US.
But overall demand for displays was lower as COVID-19 hit smartphone sales. Operating losses were offset slightly by purchases of monitors by people working from home. Samsung Electronics said mobile display demand is expected to recover this year as its biggest clients continue to launch new products
4. Japan’s Covid-19 tally is increasing
Japan reported approximately 1,264 cases of Coronavirus on Thursday, Tokyo recorded 367 cases.
The government has asked bars and restaurants to limit their operating hours to 5am-10pm, but perhaps a stricter approach is needed.
People in their 20s-30s s accounted for 64% of the cases.
The recent surge in infections is raising questions over whether the govt. will reimpose a state of emergency, or will it continue to operate on a “let’s see” basis, which may ultimately end up overwhelming the country’s healthcare system.