Kuo: iPhone 16 Pro to get larger display and periscope lens
Apple is expected to introduce four new iPhone models later this year: iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max. All four models will get a new design, but the screen sizes will remain the same as today. At the same time, only the 15 Pro Max model is rumored to get a periscope lens for better optical zoom. But according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the regular iPhone 16 Pro will also get a periscope lens in 2024.
iPhone 16 Pro with periscope lens
Rumors about the iPhone 15 lineup suggest that only the larger iPhone 15 Pro Max will get a periscope lens on its rear camera. The periscope lens relies on a prism that reflects light to multiple internal lenses at 90 degrees to the camera sensor. This allows the length of the lens to be much longer than a telephoto lens, which results in a much better optical zoom.
It’s uncertain whether Apple will try to match the 10x zoom of Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra or whether the company will opt for a 6x lens as some analysts suggest. In any case, it seems almost “confirmed” at this point that this technology will be exclusive to the 15 Pro Max model.
But analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said on Tuesday that Apple already plans to put the periscope lens on the smaller Pro model as well. This won’t happen with the iPhone 15 Pro, but with the iPhone 16 Pro in 2024. Kuo heard from sources familiar with Apple’s supply chain that iPhone 16 Pro will get a slightly larger display. This will allow the company to fit the periscope lens on both models, not just the Pro Max.
Currently, iPhone 14 Pro has a 6.1-inch display, while iPhone 14 Pro Max has a 6.7-inch display. While iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are expected to keep the same screen size, we don’t know what the new screen sizes will be for the iPhone 16 lineup. Kuo believes that Cowell will be the main supplier of the periscope camera for the iPhone 16.
Casino/Kretinsky : les avocats des deux parties travaillent ensemble chez White & Case
La proximité entre Yann Utzschneider côté Casino et Saam Golshani côté Kretinsky, tous deux associés du cabinet d'avocats White & Case, en dit long sur l'aspect amical de la montée au capital proposée par le milliardaire tchèque. Ce dernier se comporte en conquérant vis-à-vis du clan de Moez-Alexandre Zouari, qui tend la main depuis dimanche.
C'est autour d'une jolie cour pavée, à deux enjambées de l'hôtel Ritz Paris, au 19, place Vendôme, que se joue actuellement une grande partie des discussions pour le rapprochement entre le groupe Casino et le milliardaire tchèque Daniel Kretinsky. Cette prestigieuse adresse abrite les bureaux du cabinet d'avocats américain White & Case. Et deux de ses éminents associés ne s'embarrassent pas de la "muraille de Chine" habituellement invoquée par les cabinets anglo-saxons pour prévenir tout risque de fuite d'informations ou de conflit d'intérêts.
Saam Golshani a été recruté par Daniel Kretinsky pour l'aider dans sa conquête de Casino il y a environ deux mois. L'avocat est entré chez White & Case en 2018 en tant que spécialiste des restructurations d'entreprise. Il s'assoit chaque jour, lorsqu'il n'est pas à Londres, dans un bureau pas très éloigné de celui de Yann Utzschneider, entré deux ans plus tôt dans le même cabinet en provenance de Gide Loyrette Nouel. Son collègue et partner est l'avocat conseil en droit de la concurrence de Casino. Il travaille en étroite collaboration avec le PDG, Jean-Charles Naouri, et son directeur juridique, Jean-Yves Haagen, depuis de nombreuses années.
Petit deal entre amis
Difficile de croire, dans ces conditions, que l'assaut du chevalier blanc Daniel Kretinsky sur le groupe se soit fait par surprise, comme semblaient l'indiquer les communiqués et les responsables presse du distributeur le 24 avril. D'autant plus que, depuis quatre ans, Saam Golshani ne cesse de travailler en étroite proximité avec Casino. En 2019, c'est lui qui avait négocié les conditions du plan de sauvegarde de la holding de tête, Rallye, pour les banques créancières sécurisées comme BNP Paribas, Crédit agricole Corporate & Investment Bank (CACIB), Natixis, HSBC ou encore CIC. L'an dernier, c'est encore lui qui a œuvré aux côtés du fonds alternatif américain Farallon Capital pour venir à deux reprises en aide à un Jean-Charles Naouri étranglé par ses dettes (LLA du 22/09/22).
Alors, certes, pour les réflexions autour du rapprochement avec Teract depuis l'été dernier, c'est l'avocat Igor Simic, associé chez Bredin Prat, qui bûche sur les questions relatives au droit de la concurrence. Cet ancien du cabinet Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier accompagne en cela la principale banque conseil de Casino, Rothschild & Co, la kyrielle d'autres banques associées au deal étant là seulement pour recevoir dans une poche ce qu'elles s'apprêtent à perdre en tant que créancières de Casino et/ou de Rallye dans l'autre (LLA du 23/02/23).
Teract obligé de suivre
Mais le rapprochement avec Teract, comme l'a annoncé en creux la sortie de communication de Moez-Alexandre Zouari ce week-end, semble de plus en plus compromis. Ce qui laisse du champ à Saam Golshani et Yann Utzschneider pour donner toute la mesure de leur étroite collaboration sur le prochain accord. Moez-Alexandre Zouari vient en effet de tendre la main à Daniel Kretinsky. Et ce, en contradiction avec le discours va-t-en-guerre de son associé dans Teract, Thierry Blandinières chez InVivo. Le directeur général de la première coopérative de France affirmait le 25 avril sur BFM TV qu'il avait la main du fait des discussions exclusives engagées avec Casino et qu'il entendait bien prendre le contrôle du groupe à terme.
Moez-Alexandre Zouari, de son côté, apparaît comme beaucoup plus pragmatique et ouvert aux échanges. Le redresseur de Picard, détenteur de près de 200 Franprix et Monoprix, entend rester un recours pour la direction de l'entreprise Casino France, sans sembler se soucier plus que cela du nom de son futur premier actionnaire. L'ambition du milliardaire tchèque d'écraser rapidement une partie de la dette détenue par les créanciers non sécurisés (LLA du 09/05/23) a dû finir de le convaincre.
Selon nos informations, la présence de Moez-Alexandre Zouari est perçue par le clan d'en face comme un "actif", car il est un des seuls CEO à pouvoir orchestrer le plan de relance industrielle de l'entreprise. Daniel Kretinsky, en revanche, semble avoir plus de doute quant à l'utilité de créer un lien trop étroit d'approvisionnement avec InVivo, une association qui pourrait mettre Casino France en porte-à-faux vis-à-vis d'autres fournisseurs issus du monde coopératif.
Rise in Distressed Sales Signals New Chapter for Beleaguered Office Market
Uptick in troubled office-building sales indicates more owners believe weak demand is here to stay
Property owners are starting to unload troubled office buildings at fire-sale prices, a sign that the office market slump is moving into a new phase where more landlords are ready to capitulate.
In recent weeks, Blackstone sold the Griffin Towers office complex in Santa Ana for $82 million, or about 36% less than the firm paid in 2014, say people familiar with the matter. Principal Financial Group sold a Parsippany, N.J., office building for $14.3 million, down from the $52 million it paid in 2008, according to participants in the sale.
The tower at 350 California in San Francisco, valued at $300 million in 2019, is expected to trade at about $60 million, or roughly 80% below that previous valuation.
Office building values have steadily declined during the pandemic as shifting workplace strategies reduced demand for space and vacancies rose. Higher interest rates have also hammered the sector, making it much more difficult for landlords to refinance a property or fund the building improvements and amenities needed to attract tenants.
Still, up until recently, the office sales market has been moribund. Investors purchased only $10.7 billion worth of office property in the first quarter of this year, down 68% from the same period last year, according to data provider MSCI Real Assets.
The lack of activity is common in the early stages of real-estate market downturns because owners try to extend their loans or find other solutions, rather than dump their properties at a big loss. During the global financial crisis, many owners negotiated mortgage extensions with creditors on the assumption that office markets would rebound when the economy started expanding.
Now, the uptick in troubled office-building sales indicates that more owners believe that weak demand is here to stay. The volume of distressed office deals is expected to rise even further in the months to come, as billions of dollars worth of mortgages need to be refinanced.
Listings of office buildings for sale are also rising. “Office inventory is growing,” said Steven Jacobs, president of Ten-X, one of the biggest auctioneers of commercial property online. “Investors want out.”
Sales at marked-down prices likely will put more downward pressure on the office market, not only by establishing lower prices for comparisons but by undercutting their competitors’ rents, market participants say.
For example, a buyer who pays far less than replacement cost for a building in a market where neighbors charge $25 a square foot, will be able to rent space at $15 a square foot, said Mr. Jacobs.
“They’re going to annihilate those other buildings,” he said.
Ten-X listed 91 office properties in the first quarter, up 44% from the first quarter in 2022. The second quarter of this year is on track for similar growth, Mr. Jacobs said. In the first week in May, Ten-X held 11 successful auctions of office properties.
Most of those traded at sharp discounts. On average, the sellers met the market at prices that were about 31% below their initial expectations, Mr. Jacobs said. During the same period one year ago, office sellers accepted an average 7.1% discount, he said.
The delinquency rate of office loans that were converted into commercial mortgage-backed securities increased to 2.77% in April, the highest rate since August 2019, according to data firm Trepp. In the first quarter of this year, 26 office buildings were taken over by creditors in foreclosure actions, compared with six in the first quarter of 2022, according to MSCI.
Some buyers are finding the discount pricing too good to resist. In Chicago, the investment firm of the family that owns Jose Cuervo tequila is in advanced talks to buy 300 South Wacker Drive for about $100 million, a 38% discount from 2017, according to people familiar with the matter.
Jose Perez, a managing director of the firm, Agave Holdings, declined to comment on any specific deal. But, in general, he said Agave is looking at discounted office deals throughout the country.
“We have learned from the past, that when everyone is selling, buy; and when everyone is buying, sell,” he said.
Earlier this spring, global investment manager Hines paid $60 million for a new office tower in Washington, D.C., less than half of what it cost to develop, according to Alfonso Munk, the firm’s chief investment officer, Americas.
By paying that price, Hines was able to invest enough in interior work and building amenities to sign the law firm Davis Polk as a tenant for more than half of the 11-story building.
“That suffering we’re seeing across financial markets is creating an opportunity,” Mr. Munk said.
Former Audi boss pleads guilty to Dieselgate charges
Rupert Stadler tells court he suspected emissions cheating before practice was uncovered
The former boss of Volkswagen’s Audi brand has confessed that he suspected emissions cheating before the diesel-emissions scandal was uncovered, raising further questions as to how many VW executives had knowledge of the widespread cover-up.
Rupert Stadler, a former VW board member, on Tuesday told the district court of Munich that he had continued authorising cars for sale even after he “recognised it as a possibility” that the vehicles contained devices that tricked regulators, and by extension customers and investors, into believing they emitted lower emissions.
“I did not know that vehicles had been manipulated and buyers had been harmed as a result, but I recognised it as a possibility,” Stadler said in a statement read out by his defence attorney. “I see for myself that more care was required,” he added.
Stadler’s confession to fraud by omission and false certification is the first by a former high-ranking executive at VW, which has attempted to draw a line behind “Dieselgate” uncovered by US regulators in 2015.
He spent more than two years denying the allegations, but the court earlier this year offered Stadler a suspended sentence and a €1.1mn fine if he admitted to the allegations — a turning point in the case, together with the previous confessions of two Audi engineers charged alongside him. The verdict is expected at the end of June.
Dieselgate is the biggest scandal to have rocked VW in recent years and the company has paid out more than €32bn in legal fees and fines related to the cover-up.
Complaints over the handling of Dieselgate were raised by investors as recently as last week at VW’s annual general meeting. Ingo Speich, head of corporate governance at the top-20 shareholder Deka, criticised the “lack of transparency” towards shareholders over the matter.
“We continue to be extremely dissatisfied with the contribution that [VW’s] supervisory board is making to clarifying the diesel scandal,” he said last week.
Attention will now be turned to the status of three trials of VW’s former chief executive Martin Winterkorn, two of which have been on hold due to the 75-year-old’s ailing health. The one under way in Braunschweig, to establish whether Winterkorn knew of the fraud, is taking place without the participation of the former VW boss.
Before taking the top job at the VW group, Winterkorn had been Stadler’s predecessor at Audi, where the emissions cheating had originated.
The scandal, where VW was forced to admit to having installed software that could manipulate nitrogen oxide tests in close to 10mn vehicles, reverberated across the whole car industry and revealed how companies were pushing the limits on how to exploit loopholes when it came to emissions requirements.
VW said it was not party to the proceedings against Stadler but added that “we are following these proceedings and will closely examine the content of the statements made and their consequences”.
Research Calls
- Upgrades:
- Amdocs (DOX) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays; tgt raised to $115
- America Movil SA (AMX) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at New Street; tgt raised to $27
- Expedia Group (EXPE) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Gordon Haskett
- Gilead Sciences (GILD) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets; tgt raised to $100
- NovoCure (NVCR) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo; tgt raised to $104
- Palomar Holdings (PLMR) upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at Keefe Bruyette; tgt raised to $64
- Savara (SVRA) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies; tgt raised to $4
- Veris Residential (VRE) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank; tgt raised to $19
- Williams Cos (WMB) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup; tgt $36
- Downgrades:
- Commerce Bancshares (CBSH) downgraded to Underweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley; tgt lowered to $48
- Cullen/Frost (CFR) downgraded to Equal-Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley; tgt lowered to $121
- NeoGenomics (NEO) downgraded to Mkt Perform from Outperform at Raymond James
- Prosperity Bancshares (PB) downgraded to Underweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley; tgt raised to $60
- Royal Bank of Canada (RY) downgraded to Neutral from Sector Outperform at CIBC; tgt $4
- Others:
- Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (AMBP) initiated with a Hold at Truist; tgt $4
- Carvana (CVNA) resumed with an Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley; tgt $12
- Coinbase Global (COIN) initiated with a Hold at Berenberg; tgt $55
- First Horizon (FHN) resumed with a Buy at BofA Securities; tgt $14
- GE HealthCare (GEHC) initiated with an Outperform at Oppenheimer; tgt $97
- Rayonier (RYN) initiated with a Hold at Truist; tgt $33
- Vor Biopharma (VOR) initiated with a Buy at Jones Trading; tgt $18
- Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL) resumed with a Buy at BofA Securities; tgt lowered to $42
Gapping down
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
- SE -7.3%, BUR -6.1%, VOD -5.3%, RUM -3.4% (also acquires CallIn), FLNG -3.2%, HD -2.4%, YALA -2.1%, CBAY -2%, ONON -1.8%, TME -1.4%, FSM -1.1%
Other news:
- DCO -14.9% (prices offering of 2.0 mln shares of common stock at $40.00 per share)
- FWRG -7.8% (stock offering)
- CHRS -7.4% (priced its underwritten public offering of 11764706 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $4.25/share)
- AGL -6.8% (prices secondary offering of 86884353 shares of common stock by selling stockholders at $21.50 per share)
- SOVO -6.1% (stock offering)
- MIST -4.8% (stock offering)
- RH -4.1% (Warren Buffett closes stake)
- NOG -3.1% (prices offering of 6.65 mln shares of common stock for gross proceeds of ~$199.5 mln)
- KOD -3% (files $350 mln mixed shelf)
- VKTX -2.3% (top-line results from phase 2b voyage study of VK2809 in patients with biopsy-confirmed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis)
- SILK -1.5% (files mixed shelf)
- BK -1.3% (Warren Buffett closes stake)
Analyst comments:
- PB -0.5% (downgraded to Underweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley)
Gapping up
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
- SSYS +6.2%, NU +5.9%, QIPT +4.9%, HUYA +4.4%, PSFE +3.5%, DAC +3.4% (also appoints new COO), JHX +3%, LAC +1.5% (approves agreement providing for separation into two leading lithium companies), BIDU +1.2%, XP +1%, .
Other news:
- PX +6.3% (increases dividend)
- COF +6.3% (Warren Buffett discloses stake)
- BTAI +5.5% (Top-Line Data from Repeat Dosing of BXCL501 in Phase 1b Multiple Ascending Dose Trial)
- IMMP +5.2% (discloses it receives positive feedback from FDA on late-stage clinical development of eftilagimod alpha in non-small cell lung cancer)
- DISH +4.4% (Director bought 3000000 shares at $6.11 - $6.36 worth approx. $18.6 mln)
- CABA +4.4% (announces that the Company's second Investigational New Drug application for CABA-201 has been cleared by the U.S. FDA for a Phase 1/2 study)
- ROIV +3.6% (results from ADORING 1)
- IFRX +3.3% (InflaRx and Wuxi announce manufacturing partnership to advance Gohibic for the treatment of certain critically ill COVID-19 patients)
- NVTA +2.4% (appealing NTRA verdict)
- HPQ +1.7% (Warren Buffett increases stake)
- CUTR +1.5% (cancels special meeting)
- DEO +1.2% (Warren Buffett discloses stake)
Analyst comments:
- WAL +4% (resumed with a Buy at BofA Securities)
- FHN +3.9% (resumed with a Buy at BofA Securities)
- NVCR +3.6% (upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo)
- DOX +2% (upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays)
- PLMR +1.5% (upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at Keefe Bruyette)
- AMX +0.8% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at New Street)
- GILD +0.8% (upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets)
Early premarket gappers
- Gapping up:
- NU +7.6%, PX +6.3%, COF +5.7%, QIPT +4.9%, DISH +3.8%, NVTS +3.2%, JHX +3%, IMMP +2.6%, HUYA +2%, BIDU +1.9%, IFRX +1.7%, XP +1.7%, ONON +1.7%, HPQ +1.6%, NVTA +1.6%, DEO +1.5%, CUTR +1.5%, LAC +1.4%, OMCL +1.3%, DAC +0.9%, MCK +0.8%, RKLB +0.7%, GMED +0.6%, AA +0.5%, BRKR +0.5%
- Gapping down:
- DCO -15.3%, AGL -9.2%, CHRS -9%, FWRG -7.8%, VOD -6.7%, SOVO -6.6%, SE -5.4%, RUM -5.2%, MIST -4.8%, RH -4.7%, HD -4.7%, CBAY -4.1%, FLNG -3.3%, NOG -3%, KOD -3%, YALA -2.1%, BK -1.6%, SILK -1.5%, TME -1%, FSM -0.9%, CMG -0.8%