It's no secret that Ubisoft hasn't had the best year, with the gaming giant having had to shut down multiple live-service and single-player games this year as a result of disappointing player counts and sales figures. Now, according to a series of rumors, Ubisoft is in talks with Chinese conglomerate Tencent with the intention of a buy-out. Curiously, though, Yves Guillemot, who currently sits as CEO of Ubisoft, wants to sell at least some of the Guillemot family's shares to Tencent, effectively giving Tencent a controlling stake in Ubisoft, but the Guillemot family wants to do so without losing control of the company it helped found.

According to Reuters, inside sources claim that the Guillemot family, who are the founding shareholders and currently have a controlling stake in Ubisoft, would like to maintain a controlling position in the company after whatever potential buyout deal is being discussed. Apparently, the Guillemot Family's desire for continued control has thus far been a sticking point for Tencent, who has as yet opted not increase its stake in the French game developer and publisher, instead holding out for a more favorable deal. Tencent already has around a 10% stake in Ubisoft, but the inside sources claim that Tencent wants greater control over the company before agreeing to a buyout of Guillemot shares.

The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization has unveiled its latest projections for the global semiconductor market, highlighting robust growth expectations for 2024 and 2025.

2024: A Year of Strong Rebound
In its updated fall forecast, WSTS has revised its 2024 projections upward, anticipating a significant 19.0% year-over-year growth in the semiconductor market. The global market value for 2024 is now estimated to reach $627 billion, reflecting improved performance in second and third quarter of 2024, particularly in the computing sector.

Humanoid Origin, a game studio started and lead by former Mass Effect creator, Casey Hudson, has just announced that it will be shutting down just 3 years after its creation. The main driving factor behind the closure of Humanoid Origin is a lack of funding, with the announcement coming from a LinkedIn post on Monday, November 25. In the announcement, Hudson places some of the blame on the "broader challenges in the industry" and says that the studio's main goal right now is to support its employees in the transition to new projects.

The fledgling game studio was unable to launch its first project, which was to be an ambitious, large-scale AAA sci-fi game for which it had aggressively been hiring creative talent since the company's 2021 start. This is just the latest studio casualty in what has been a brutal year for the gaming industry as a whole. Earlier this year, studios owned by much larger corporations with deeper pockets also saw similar closures, like the somewhat mysterious shuttering of the Humble Games publishing division, which was later clarified as "restructuring."

Dell Technologies announces financial results for its fiscal 2025 third quarter. Revenue was $24.4 billion, up 10% year over year. Operating income was $1.7 billion and non-GAAP operating income was $2.2 billion, both up 12% year over year. Diluted earnings per share was $1.58, and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share was $2.15, up 16% and 14% year over year, respectively.

"We continued to build on our AI leadership and momentum, delivering combined ISG and CSG revenue of $23.5 billion, up 13% year over year," said Yvonne McGill, chief financial officer, Dell Technologies. "Our continued focus on profitability resulted in EPS growth that outpaced revenue growth, and we again delivered strong cash performance."

NVIDIA today reported revenue for the third quarter ended October 27, 2024, of $35.1 billion, up 17% from the previous quarter and up 94% from a year ago. For the quarter, GAAP earnings per diluted share was $0.78, up 16% from the previous quarter and up 111% from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share was $0.81, up 19% from the previous quarter and up 103% from a year ago.

"The age of AI is in full steam, propelling a global shift to NVIDIA computing," said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. "Demand for Hopper and anticipation for Blackwell—in full production—are incredible as foundation model makers scale pretraining, post-training and inference.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world, today announced its consolidated results of operations for the three months ended September 30, 2024.

Third Quarter 2024 Highlights

• Revenue was $2,171.2 million in 3Q24, compared to $1,901.3 million in 2Q24, and $1,620.6 million in 3Q23.
• Gross profit was $444.2 million in 3Q24, compared to $265.1 million in 2Q24, and $321.6 million in 3Q23.
• Gross margin was 20.5% in 3Q24, compared to 13.9% in 2Q24 and 19.8% in 3Q23.

GlobalFoundries Inc. (GF) today announced preliminary financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024.

Key Third Quarter Financial Highlights

• Revenue of $1.739 billion
• Gross margin of 23.8% and Non-IFRS gross margin of 24.7%
• Operating margin of 10.6% and Non-IFRS operating margin of 13.6%
• Net income of $178 million and Non-IFRS net income of $229 million
• Non-IFRS adjusted EBITDA of $627 million
• Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $4.3 billion
• Year to date net cash provided by operating activities of $1,265 million and Non-IFRS adjusted free cash flow of $779 million

Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2024 fourth quarter ended September 28, 2024. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $94.9 billion, up 6 percent year over year, and quarterly diluted earnings per share of $0.97. Diluted earnings per share was $1.64,1 up 12 percent year over year when excluding the one-time charge recognized during the fourth quarter of 2024 related to the impact of the reversal of the European General Court's State Aid decision.

"Today Apple is reporting a new September quarter revenue record of $94.9 billion, up 6 percent from a year ago," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "During the quarter, we were excited to announce our best products yet, with the all-new iPhone 16 lineup, Apple Watch Series 10, AirPods 4, and remarkable features for hearing health and sleep apnea detection. And this week, we released our first set of features for Apple Intelligence, which sets a new standard for privacy in AI and supercharges our lineup heading into the holiday season."

Supermicro shares took a big hit today when Ernst & Young quit as its auditor, making its stock fall over 30%. EY decided to leave because of their worries in July about how Supermicro runs things, shares information, and keeps track of its money. In August, Supermicro delayed its annual report as they were looking over internal financial controls following Hindenburg Research's allegations of accounting manipulation. Ernst & Young's letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about quitting says they can't trust what the company's leaders say anymore. They also don't want their name on the company's financial papers after discovering new information during their check. "We are resigning due to information that has recently come to our attention which has led us to no longer be able to rely on management's and the Audit Committee's representations and to be unwilling to be associated with the financial statements prepared by management."

Supermicro doesn't agree with the accounting firm's decision, and they say fixing these problems won't mean they have to redo any of their financial reports from 2024 or earlier. Commenting on this subject, Nathan Anderson, the founder of Hindenburg, said in a post on X, "As far as auditor statements go, E&Y's SMCI resignation letter is about as strongly worded as I have seen." According to The Wall Street Journal, the Department of Justice is currently looking into the company. Supermicro will present its first quarter fiscal 2025 business update on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. ET / 2:00 p.m. PT.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) today announced preliminary financial results for its second quarter ended September 30, 2024. "EA delivered another strong quarter with record Q2 net bookings, driven by our incredible teams, broad portfolio and technology leadership," said Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA. "The momentum in our business reinforces our strategic vision to deliver innovative experiences and interactive entertainment that deepens and expands engagement across our global communities."

"Q2 was another successful quarter for EA, exceeding the high end of our guidance range. As a result, we are also raising our FY25 outlook," said Stuart Canfield, CFO of EA. "We remain confident in our ability to drive long-term value creation through increased scale, driving top-line growth, improved margins, and greater cash flow as shared at our Investor Day."

AMD today announced revenue for the third quarter of 2024 of $6.8 billion, gross margin of 50%, operating income of $724 million, net income of $771 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.47. On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin was 54%, operating income was $1.7 billion, net income was $1.5 billion and diluted earnings per share was $0.92.

"We delivered strong third quarter financial results with record revenue led by higher sales of EPYC and Instinct data center products and robust demand for our Ryzen PC processors," said AMD Chair and CEO Dr. Lisa Su. "Looking forward, we see significant growth opportunities across our data center, client and embedded businesses driven by the insatiable demand for more compute."

Western Digital Corp. today reported fiscal first quarter financial results. "Western Digital's performance in the fiscal first quarter demonstrates our commitment to operational excellence and disciplined capital investment as our focus on lasting quality and reliability, driven by industry leading innovation and a diversified portfolio, has allowed us to target the most attractive end markets to improve profitability." said David Goeckeler, Western Digital CEO.

"The strength of our diversified product portfolio is demonstrated by the rapid emergence of enterprise SSD as a core pillar of growth within our Flash business. The strength of our HDD product portfolio lies in our UltraSMR technology, delivering the industry's highest capacity hard drives with unmatched reliability, quality, and performance, offering a compelling TCO to our customers. With the continued proliferation of the AI Data Cycle, our Flash and HDD product portfolios are well-positioned to capitalize on significant opportunities as adoption continues to grow." continued David Goeckeler.

Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ: STX) (the "Company" or "Seagate"), a leading innovator of mass-capacity data storage, today reported financial results for its fiscal first quarter ended September 27, 2024. "Seagate is off to an outstanding start to the fiscal year, highlighted by gross margin expanding to the highest level in more than a decade," said Dave Mosley, Seagate's chief executive officer.

"We executed on our plans to aggressively ramp our 28-terabyte nearline drives and broaden the number of cloud customers entering qualification on HAMR-based Mozaic products. We are excited by the strong product momentum which positions us well to address customer demand while delivering profitable growth. Our confidence in Seagate's future opportunities is reflected in the decision to raise the quarterly dividend as announced today," Mosley concluded.

Logitech International today announced financial results for the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2025.

• Sales were $1.12 billion, up 6 percent in US dollars and 6 percent in constant currency compared to Q2 of the prior year.
• GAAP gross margin was 43.6 percent, up 210 basis points compared to Q2 of the prior year. Non-GAAP gross margin was 44.1 percent, up 210 basis points compared to Q2 of the prior year.
• GAAP operating income was $161 million, up 3 percent compared to Q2 of the prior year. Non-GAAP operating income was $193 million, up 5 percent compared to Q2 of the prior year.
• GAAP earnings per share (EPS) was $0.95, up 10 percent compared to Q2 of the prior year. Non-GAAP EPS was $1.20, up 10 percent compared to Q2 of the prior year.
• Cash flow from operations was $166 million. The quarter-ending cash balance was approximately $1.4 billion.
• The Company returned $340 million of cash to shareholders through its annual dividend payment and share repurchases.

TSMC today announced consolidated revenue of NT$759.69 billion (US$23.50 billion), net income of NT$325.26 billion (US$10.08 billion), and diluted earnings per share of NT$12.54 (US$1.94 per ADR unit) for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024. Year-over-year, third quarter revenue increased 39.0% while net income and diluted EPS both increased 54.2%. Compared to second quarter 2024, third quarter results represented a 12.8% increase in revenue and a 31.2% increase in net income. All figures were prepared in accordance with TIFRS on a consolidated basis.

In US dollars, third quarter revenue was $23.50 billion, which increased 36.0% year-over-year and increased 12.9% from the previous quarter. Gross margin for the quarter was 57.8%, operating margin was 47.5%, and net profit margin was 42.8%. In the third quarter, shipments of 3-nanometer accounted for 20% of total wafer revenue; 5-nanometer accounted for 32%; 7-nanometer accounted for 17%. Advanced technologies, defined as 7-nanometer and more advanced technologies, accounted for 69% of total wafer revenue.

NVIDIA today reported revenue for the second quarter ended July 28, 2024, of $30.0 billion, up 15% from the previous quarter and up 122% from a year ago. For the quarter, GAAP earnings per diluted share was $0.67, up 12% from the previous quarter and up 168% from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share was $0.68, up 11% from the previous quarter and up 152% from a year ago.

"Hopper demand remains strong, and the anticipation for Blackwell is incredible," said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. "NVIDIA achieved record revenues as global data centers are in full throttle to modernize the entire computing stack with accelerated computing and generative AI."

SoftBank has reportedly decided against using Intel's foundry for its ambitious AI venture, Project Izanagi, and is opting for TSMC instead. The conglomerate aims to challenge NVIDIA in the AI accelerator market by developing its own AI processors. This decision marks another setback for Intel, which has faced several challenges recently. In February 2024, reports emerged that SoftBank's CEO, Masayoshi Son, planned to invest up to $100 billion to create a company similar to NVIDIA, focused on selling AI accelerators. Although SoftBank initially worked with Intel, it recently switched to TSMC, citing concerns about Intel's ability to meet demands for "volume and speed."

The decision, reported by the Financial Times, raises questions about Intel's future involvement and how SoftBank's ownership of Arm Holdings will factor into the project. While TSMC is now SoftBank's choice, the foundry is already operating at full capacity, making it uncertain how it will accommodate this new venture. Neither SoftBank, Intel nor TSMC has commented on the situation, but given the complexities involved, it will likely take time for this plan to materialize. SoftBank will need to replicate NVIDIA's entire ecosystem, from chip design to data centers and a software stack rivaling CUDA, a bold and ambitious goal.

Lenovo Group Limited, together with its subsidiaries, today announced Q1 results for fiscal year 2024/25, reporting profitability improvements across all areas of the business and making significant progress in capturing hybrid AI opportunities. Group revenue increased 20% year-on-year to US$15.4 billion, net income was up 65% year-on-year to US$315 million on a non-Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards (non-HKFRS) basis, and non-PC revenue mix was up five points year-to-year reaching a historic high of 47%. The Group's results reflect its clear strategy and strong execution, persistent focus on innovation and operational excellence, as well as the advantages it reaps from being a globalized business.

The Group is both uniquely positioned and well-prepared to lead in an era of hybrid AI with its full-stack portfolio featuring AI devices like AI PCs, AI servers that support all major architectures, as well as rich AI native and AI embedded solutions and services. User feedback from Lenovo's AI PCs, defined by five key characteristics, have been encouraging, with the first AI PCs having launched in May and many more to come during IFA and Tech World later this year. The Group is confident that it will lead the industry in market share for next-generation AI PCs, which overall are expected to be more than 50% of the PC landscape by 2027, as well as lead in seizing the enormous growth opportunities across the IT market. The Group continued its commitment to innovation, with R&D spending up 6% year-to-year to US$476 million.

As Intel's recent challenges continue, the company just sold its 1.18 million share stake in Arm Holdings during Q2, as revealed in a recent regulatory filing, according to Reuters. The sale potentially generated around $146.7 million for Intel, based on Arm's average stock price between April and June. The company recently announced plans to reduce its workforce by over 15% (about 15,000 jobs) and suspend dividend payments, reflecting a downturn in traditional data center semiconductor demand and a shift towards AI chips, a sector where Intel trails competitors like NVIDIA.

CEO Pat Gelsinger is steering Intel towards developing advanced AI chips and expanding its contract manufacturing capabilities, aiming to regain ground lost to Taiwan's TSMC, the industry's leading contract chipmaker. This strategic pivot has increased costs and squeezed profit margins, necessitating cost-cutting measures.

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (NasdaqGS: SIMO) ("Silicon Motion," the "Company" or "we") today announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2024. For the second quarter of 2024, net sales (GAAP) increased sequentially to $210.7 million from $189.3 million in the first quarter of 2024. Net income (GAAP) increased to $30.8 million, or $0.91 per diluted American Depositary Share of the Company ("ADS") (GAAP), from net income (GAAP) of $16.0 million, or $0.48 per diluted ADS (GAAP), in the first quarter of 2024.

For the second quarter of 2024, net income (non-GAAP) increased to $32.5 million, or $0.96 per diluted ADS (non-GAAP), from net income (non-GAAP) of $21.6 million, or $0.64 per diluted ADS (non-GAAP), in the first quarter of 2024.

All financial numbers are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

Intel Corporation today reported second-quarter 2024 financial results. "Our Q2 financial performance was disappointing, even as we hit key product and process technology milestones. Second-half trends are more challenging than we previously expected, and we are leveraging our new operating model to take decisive actions that will improve operating and capital efficiencies while accelerating our IDM 2.0 transformation," said Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO. "These actions, combined with the launch of Intel 18A next year to regain process technology leadership, will strengthen our position in the market, improve our profitability and create shareholder value."

"Second-quarter results were impacted by gross margin headwinds from the accelerated ramp of our AI PC product, higher than typical charges related to non-core businesses and the impact from unused capacity," said David Zinsner, Intel CFO. "By implementing our spending reductions, we are taking proactive steps to improve our profits and strengthen our balance sheet. We expect these actions to meaningfully improve liquidity and reduce our debt balance while enabling us to make the right investments to drive long-term value for shareholders."

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) today announced preliminary financial results for its first quarter ended June 30, 2024. "EA delivered a strong start to FY25, beating net bookings guidance as we continue to execute across our business," said Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA. "Our focus on delivering bigger, bolder, and more connected experiences for our players has never been sharper and is illustrated by the record-breaking launch of EA SPORTS College Football 25 as we head into another historic Q2 sports season at EA."

"Strong execution, live events and continued player engagement across our experiences, delivered Q1 results above expectations," said Stuart Canfield, CFO of EA. "Looking ahead, the remarkable success of our launch week for College Football, combined with the upcoming launches for EA SPORTS Madden NFL, EA SPORTS FC and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, is building momentum for FY25 and beyond. We are well positioned to deliver our multi-year financial objectives."

AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) today announced revenue for the second quarter of 2024 of $5.8 billion, gross margin of 49%, operating income of $269 million, net income of $265 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.16. On a non-GAAP(*) basis, gross margin was 53%, operating income was $1.3 billion, net income was $1.1 billion and diluted earnings per share was $0.69.

"We delivered strong revenue and earnings growth in the second quarter driven by record Data Center segment revenue," said AMD Chair and CEO Dr. Lisa Su. "Our AI business continued accelerating and we are well positioned to deliver strong revenue growth in the second half of the year led by demand for Instinct, EPYC and Ryzen processors. The rapid advances in generative AI are driving demand for more compute in every market, creating significant growth opportunities as we deliver leadership AI solutions across our business."

SK hynix Inc. announced today that it recorded 16.4233 trillion won in revenues, 5.4685 trillion won in operating profit (with an operating margin of 33%), and 4.12 trillion won in net profit (with a net margin of 25%) in the second quarter. Quarter revenues marked all-time high, far exceeding the previous record of 13.811 trillion won in the second quarter of 2022. Operating profit also increased significantly, marking 5 trillion won for the first time in 6 years since the second quarter (5.5739 trillion won) and the third quarter (6.4724 trillion won) of 2018 during the semiconductor super boom.

The company said that continuous rise in overall prices of DRAM and NAND products with strong demand for AI memories including HBM led to 32% increase in revenues compared to the previous quarter. Also, with the sales for premium products on the rise and exchange rate effects adding, the operating profit ratio in the second quarter rose 10 percentage points from the previous quarter to 33%, performing to market expectations.

Logitech International today announced financial results for the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2025.

• Sales were $1.1 billion, up 12 percent in US dollars and 13 percent in constant currency, compared to Q1 of the prior year.
• GAAP operating income was $153 million, up 96 percent, compared to Q1 of the prior year. Non-GAAP operating income was $182 million, up 67 percent, compared to Q1 of the prior year.
• GAAP earnings per share (EPS) was $0.92, up 136 percent compared to Q1 of the prior year. Non-GAAP EPS was $1.13, up 74 percent compared to Q1 of the prior year.
• Cash flow from operations was $176 million, down 27 percent compared to Q1 of the prior year.

"We started the new fiscal year strong, with high-quality, broad-based growth across all regions and key categories," said Hanneke Faber, Logitech chief executive officer. "Our team continued disciplined execution, as evidenced by excellent gross and operating margin growth. I am pleased to increase our FY25 outlook for both net sales and non-GAAP operating income."