BYD Defers US Debut, Alibaba’s Split Sparks Layoff Concerns, Apple Launches Much-Awaited ‘Pay Later’ Service: Today’s Top Stories

Bloomberg

BYD Co., Ltd. (OTC: BYDDF) (OTC: BYDDY) does not propose to foray into the U.S. passenger car market for now, founder Wang Chuanfu said.
At a post-earnings briefing on Wednesday, the Chinese Tesla, Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) rival said that its home market of China has already entered a “full-expansion phase” for new-energy vehicles.
Recently, BYD reduced shifts at two auto assembly plants in China, signifying weaker demand in the largest auto market. BYD has also been slowing output since the start of the year when industry-wide sales began to stall, and China terminated a national subsidy program for EVs.

Nikkie Asia

Alibaba Group Holding Limited’s (NYSE: BABA) latest business restructuring sparks layoff fears among employees.
Mar. 28 reports suggested Alibaba will reorganize its businesses into six independently run entities: Cloud Intelligence Group, e-commerce under Taobao-Tmall, Cainiao’s smart logistics operations, Local Services group, Global Digital Business Group, and the Digital Media and Entertainment Group.
The shift from Alibaba’s centralized structure sparked concerns among some of its nearly 240,000 employees after it reduced its headcount by about 20,000 in 2022.

Benzinga

After a significant delay, Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) has finally launched its “Apple Pay Later” service in the U.S.
Apple has released its service resembling the “buy now, pay later” style, allowing consumers to split any Apple Pay purchase into four equal installments over six weeks without paying additional interest or fees.
Consumers can track, manage and repay their Apple Pay Later loans from iPhone’s Wallet app and borrow $50 to $1000.

Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google Drive users have raised concerns about the recent implementation of a five-million items limit, which resulted in losing access to files for some users, despite having storage space.
On Monday, a Reddit user posted a thread saying that Google had imposed a limit of five million items on Google Drive accounts without prior notification.
The Redditor added that users started receiving “Upload Failed” notifications starting Feb. 14 for any “creation action carried out,” like creating a new empty folder.

Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) launched Microsoft Security Copilot on Tuesday, bringing OpenAI’s latest GPT-4 generative AI to cybersecurity.
With Copilot, defenders can quickly detect and respond to threats and better understand the threat landscape overall.
Security Copilot will integrate Microsoft’s vast threat intelligence footprint with expertise to augment the work of security professionals through an easy-to-use AI assistant.

UBS Group AG (NYSE: UBS) has appointed Sergio Ermotti as the Group Chief Executive Officer and President, effective Apr. 5 2023. He will succeed Ralph Hamers, who has agreed to step down.
Mr. Hamers, who has been in his role since November 2020, “has agreed to step down to serve the interests of the new combination, the Swiss financial sector, and the country,” UBS said.
Sergio Ermotti served as UBS’s Chief Executive Officer for nine years.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has reportedly sued Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) for laying off a North Carolina employee with Crohn’s disease.
Walmart allegedly refused to grant the employee disability-related leave.
The EEOC’s complaint accuses Walmart of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act in treating the worker.

Wall Street Journal

Ryan Cohen’s Plans For GameStop Keep Shrinking

GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME) recently recorded its first profit in two years, with fourth-quarter revenue of $2.23 billion, which beat average analyst estimates of $2.18 billion, and adjusted earnings of 16 cents per share, which beat analyst expectations for a loss of 13 cents per share.
The positive earnings surprise is GameStop’s first profitable quarter since 2021.
Ryan Cohen took over GameStop in 2021, aiming to turn the struggling videogame retailer into an e-commerce behemoth.

CNBC

Dollar General Corp (NYSE: DG) is reportedly in settlement talks with federal regulators after being accused of violating workplace safety rules.
A spokesperson for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said the “mandatory settlement proceedings” before the review commission would be done according to the rules.
The report noted that the discount retailer had been accused of exposing workers to fire hazards, raising safety concerns.

Reuters

Adidas AG (OTC: ADDYY) has reportedly taken back its request to the U.S. Trademark Office to reject a Black Lives Matter trademark for three parallel stripes.
The decision has been taken by concern that people might mistake the sportswear maker’s trademark objection as opposition to Black Lives Matter’s mission.
“Adidas will withdraw its opposition to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s trademark application as soon as possible,” the report cited the company.

BYD photo via company