AMD (AMD) has agreed to buy artificial intelligence infrastructure group ZT Systems in a $4.9bn (£3.77bn) cash and stock deal as the chipmaker seeks to challenge market leader Nvidia (NVDA).
AMD plans to pay 75% of the ZT Systems acquisition in cash and the rest in stock. The company had $5.34 billion in cash and short-term investments as of the second quarter.
The chipmaker said ZT Systems will help “deliver leadership AI training and inference solutions” and also help “cloud and enterprise customers significantly accelerate large-scale adoption of AMD-powered AI infrastructure.” ZT Systems, a private company founded 30 years ago, builds custom computing infrastructure for the largest AI “hyperscalers,” including Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta (META).
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AMD said it has committed more than $1 billion in the past 12 months to research and development investments, expanding its artificial intelligence ecosystem and enhancing its AI software capabilities.
Palo Alto (PANW)
Shares of the cybersecurity company rose in premarket trading after it reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit.
Palo Alto reported fourth-quarter revenue of $2.18 billion, up 12% from the same period last year and slightly beating analyst expectations. Net income was $357.7 million, or $1.01 per share, up from a year ago and beating expectations.
For the full year 2024, revenue and net income are expected to be $8.03 billion and $2.58 billion, respectively, beating analyst expectations.
The company now expects revenue to be between $9.1 billion and $9.15 billion, up 12% to 13% from a year ago and in line with its guidance of $9.11 billion.
The company now expects first-quarter fiscal 2025 sales to rise 12-13% to $2.1 billion-$2.13 billion, compared with guidance of $2.11 billion.
“We ended the year with strong execution on our platform strategy,” said Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora. “As we look ahead to fiscal 2025 and beyond, we are focused on expanding our next-generation security business through continued innovation and execution.”
Paramount (PARA)
Media executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. submitted a $4.3 billion bid on Monday to buy National Amusements, which controls entertainment giant Paramount Global, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Bronfman's proposal includes $2.4 billion in debt and equity for National Amusements, and he would also put $1.5 billion into Paramount's balance sheet, which could be used to pay off the debt.
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The bid comes more than a month after Redstone inked a deal with David Ellison's Skydance Global that would merge Paramount and Skydance into a new company led by Ellison.
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The deal included a 45-day “go-shop period” to allow Paramount to solicit and evaluate other proposals, which expires on August 21 but could be extended.
Bronfman's proposal could complicate Paramount's fate, especially since the Skydance merger came after years of negotiations with various parties. The proposal includes a $400 million break-up fee to terminate the rival deal.
A special committee of Paramount's board of directors is scheduled to meet Wednesday to determine whether Bronfman's proposal has a reasonable prospect of success.
Antofagasta (ANTO.L)
Antofagasta's pre-tax profit fell in line with market expectations in the first half of the year as higher commodity prices offset lower sales volumes.
The Chilean copper miner said first-half pre-tax profit fell 7 percent to $712.6 million from $764.5 million a year earlier, but still beat market expectations of $710.6 million.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose to $1.39 billion in the first half of this year from $1.33 billion a year ago.
The company experienced an increase in depreciation expense, primarily due to the commencement of depreciation of assets in its Los Pelambres Phase 1 expansion project, which is now operational.
Looking ahead, the company reaffirmed its full-year production guidance, with production volumes at the lower end of the 670,000 to 710,000 tonnes range.
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