Will Satellite Merger Create Starlink Rival?

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Will Satellite Merger Create Starlink Rival?

Luxembourg-based SES [SESG:PA] has agreed to buy Intelsat for $3.1bn in cash. The deal will give rise to a satellite giant which may be able to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink. SES and Intelsat first held merger discussions last year, which fell through; SES’ biggest shareholder is the government of Luxembourg. The SES share price has fallen 20% this year, giving the company a market value of approximately €2.1bn as of Tuesday, reported Bloomberg.

Semiconductor Profit Helps Samsung Beat Estimates

The world’s largest memory chipmaker [005930:KS] reported net income of ₩6.6trn in the last quarter, higher than LSEG analyst consensus estimates of ₩5.9trn, and representing four times the company’s earnings in the year-ago period. The results may be taken as an indication that demand for memory chips is on the rebound, driven by a surge in spending on artificial intelligence (AI).

Apple Snaps Up Google AI Talent

The Financial Times reported that the Cupertino company [AAPL] has headhunted at least 36 AI experts from Google [GOOGL] since 2018. Apple has also set up a new research laboratory in Zurich off the back of the acquisition of virtual reality group FaceShift and image recognition company Fashwell. Meanwhile, the Apple share price closed up 2.5% on Monday after a Bernstein analyst upgraded the stock to ‘outperform’.

Microsoft Joins the Rush to Indonesia

“The intelligence revolution is going to be the next major bend in the curve of GDP growth,” Microsoft [MSFT] CEO Satya Nadella said at an event in Jakarta, according to Bloomberg. “This is going to have a real impact even in Indonesia where we will have in the region [of] 10–12% extra growth.” The firm is investing some $1.7bn in cloud and AI infrastructure, following in the footsteps of Nvidia [NVDA] and Apple, both of which have recently courted the country.

Pfizer Cervical Cancer Drug: Full Approval

The US Food and Drug Administration has granted full approval for Pfizer’s [PFE] new cervical cancer drug. Called Tivdak, the treatment is an antibody-drug conjugate codeveloped by Danish biotech Genmab [GMAB]. The treatment has demonstrated it can reduce the risk of death in cancer patients by 30%. It was added to the Pfizer oncology portfolio last year as part of its $43bn deal to acquire Seagen.