Welcome to this week’s edition of top stock market highlights.
Amazon Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN)
A strong rally in the NASDAQ Composite Index has pushed Amazon’s market capitalisation past the US$2 trillion mark for the first time.
Shares of the e-commerce behemoth are up 29% year-to-date to close at US$193.61 on 27 June, giving the company a market capitalisation of US$2.01 trillion.
Amazon now joins the ranks of an elite bunch of technology stocks that have surpassed the US$2 trillion threshold such as Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).
The e-commerce outfit reported a stellar set of earnings for the first quarter of 2024 (1Q 2024).
Sales increased by 12.5% year on year to US$143.3 billion while operating profit soared 220% year on year to US$15.3 billion.
Net profit came in at US$10.4 billion, more than triple the US$3.2 billion reported a year ago.
Amazon also generated a positive free cash flow of US$4.1 billion for the quarter, reversing the US$9.4 billion free cash outflow in the prior period.
In particular, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is seeing a US$100 billion annual revenue run rate in line with the increased appeal of incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into AWS’s capabilities.
Amazon has provided an optimistic outlook for its 2Q 2024.
Sales are projected to come in between US$144 billion to US$149 billion for a 7% to 11% year on year growth.
Operating income is projected to come in at US$12 billion at the mid-point of the company’s guidance, translating into a 55.8% year-on-year jump.
Hongkong Land Holdings (SGX: H78)
Hongkong Land, or HKL, will invest more than US$400 million over three years to expand and upgrade its retail portfolio at The Landmark.
Works are expected to commence in 3Q 2024.
The Landmark is a commercial building owned by HKL.
In addition, 10 of the property’s retail tenants will chip in an additional US$600 million to design and create the new offerings.
Some of these brands include Cartier, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prada (SEHK: 1913), Yves Saint Laurent, and Sotheby’s.
These anchor tenants, which have been with the property for many years, are set to double their footprint to more than 220,000 square feet.
They will do so by elevating their retail concepts into two-to-eight-storey Maison destinations which will be some of the largest worldwide.
HKL did, however, acknowledge that there will be a temporary reduction in rental income during the upgrading.
The investment will help to deliver strong growth in tenant sales and retail income as these fashion brands expand their presence within The Landmark.
Post-transformation, the Landmark will house more than 200 tenants.
These tenants will be spread out across 260,000 square feet of food and beverage space with more than 30 new refreshed concepts.
The Landmark will boast more than 100 food and beverage offerings and the project will also make extensive use of green building material to reduce emissions.
Valuetronics Holdings (SGX: BN2)
Valuetronics has partnered with Sinnet Cloud HK Limited to tap the widespread use of AI applications.
A joint venture (JV), Trio AI Limited, will be formed to provide Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) and AI-related value-added cloud services.
Valuetronics will invest HK$7.7 million in cash for a 55% stake in this JV.
Sinnet Cloud is an experienced GPU and AI provider and is affiliated with Shenzhen-listed Beijing Sinnet Technology Co., Ltd.
Sinnet will hold the remaining 45% of the JV.
Trio AI will utilise servers powered by high-performance GPUs to deliver powerful computing capabilities to serve AI model development and applications.
The business will also offer data and model services such as application optimisation, model training, and inference.
Chairman and managing director of Valuetronics, Ricky Tse, believes that this investment can help the group tap into the rising demand for cutting-edge AI solutions and position the JV at the forefront of this technological trend.
Valuetronics will acquire the services and related hardware on behalf of the JV and lease them back to Trio AI over 60 months to cover the equipment acquisition cost of up to HK$60 million.
The group will evaluate the outcome of this initial investment before it makes further capital commitments to this JV and may also seek shareholder approval to extend Valuetronics’ core business should this initiative bear fruit.
By the time your child grows up, inflation will have gobbled up their savings. If you not only want to protect their money but also grow it, there are 3 SGX stocks you can consider buying. One has already proven to give a 55.8% dividend pay rise. Get all the details in our latest special FREE report. Just click here.
Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of Apple and Alphabet.
