Vietnam Law May Impact Facebook, Twitter; Amazon Has A Sleep Tracker; India Lures Apple, Dell, HP: Top Financial Media Stories Thursday, Sept. 29

Reuters

Vietnam's Social Media Law May Impact Facebook (NASDAQ:META), YouTube, Twitter

• Vietnam plans to introduce new laws to limit which social media accounts can post news-related content. This could come as a setback for social media giants such as Meta Platforms Inc.'s (NASDAQ: META) Facebook, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) YouTube, and Twitter Inc . (NASDAQ: NYSE:TWTR).

• BP plc (NYSE: LON:BP) laid off most contractors at the Toledo, Ohio, refinery it owns with Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE: CVE).
• Approximately 160,000 barrel-per-day plant will experience a prolonged shutdown following last week's explosion and fire.

• Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) signed a cooperation framework agreement in China for its COVID-19 antiviral pills, which were co-developed by Ridgeback Therapeutics.
• The pharma giant has granted Sinopharm exclusive import and distribution rights to Lagevrio (molnupiravir).
• The companies will also negotiate the feasibility of a technical transfer under the framework so that the drug molnupiravir could be produced and provided in the Chinese mainland market.

Porsche (F:P911_p) Shares Race Higher In Landmark Frankfurt IPO

• Shares of Porsche's parent company Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p) AG (OTC: VWAGY) rose in its Frankfurt stock market debut.
• Touted as one of the biggest initial public offerings in Europe, the shares traded at €84 ($81) in Frankfurt on Thursday morning, after the IPO was priced at €82.50.
• The IPO is expected to provide Porsche with a financial boost of €19.5 billion.

• The National Franchisee Leadership Alliance representing McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: NYSE:MCD) restaurant owners said the company had rejected their proposal to delay franchising policy change.
• In a letter to the owners of the alliance, McDonald's denied the request to make changes in June 2023 instead of Jan. 1, 2023.
• The new franchise policy changes left several owners unhappy, expressing their lack of confidence in CEO Chris Kempczinski.

India Offers Incentives To Apple, Dell, HP

• India plans to boost the financial incentives for tablet and laptop manufacturers, wooing companies like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:AAPL), Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL), and HP Inc. (NYSE: NYSE:HPQ) to broaden or begin local production.
• Notably, India wants to court Apple, which already assembles iPhones in India, to make iPads locally.
• India weighed offering up to INR 45 billion ($549 million) per manufacturer. Foreign companies must invest INR 7 billion in India over five years.

• HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) plc (NYSE: HSBC) saw prospects in Chinese sectors, including internet firms with better-than-expected earnings growth, developers to win from significant industry consolidation, renewable firms blessed with favorable policies, and consumer goods producers that benefit from demographic shifts.
• HSBC analysts highlighted an apparent disconnect between the gloomy macroeconomic picture and the more positive bottom-up view of Chinese equities.
• Additionally, most funds are underweight, and valuations are low.
• Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA), Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:BIDU), and Tencent (HK:0700) Holding Ltd. (OTC: TCEHY) top the list of Chinese tech titans.

Chevron Sells Global HQs In California, Expands In Texas

• Chevron Corp. (NYSE: NYSE:CVX) has sold its current California headquarters and plans to move into a leased space about one-third of the size.
• Chevron also signed a lease for nearly 400,000 square feet of space in a nearby office building that could house about 2,000 employees after interior construction finishes in late 2023.

Musk Touts Starlink's Utility In 'Heavy Seas & Hurricane Winds' As Ian Rages

• Elon Musk highlighted the advantages of having a Starlink internet connection during rough weather as Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful storms to make landfall in the U.S.
• Musk took to Twitter late on Wednesday and said the Starlink Maritime system enables high-speed internet connectivity even in "heavy seas & hurricane winds."

• Apple's self-driving car continues to be pushed out despite on-and-off rumors about the project getting started.
• Cupertino could soon have a well-set team in place for the car project, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from Taiwan-based TFI Securities.
• "My latest survey indicates that Apple will likely build the new Apple Car project team before the end of 2022," Kuo said in a tweet.

• Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:AMZN) boosted pay for its U.S. front-line employees.
• Average starting pay for front-line employees in customer fulfillment and transportation (or warehouse and delivery workers) increased from $18 per hour to more than $19 per hour, with employees earning between $16 and $26 per hour in the U.S.
• Anytime Pay provides Amazon employees access to up to 70% of their eligible earned Pay whenever they choose and without fees.
• Amazon also announced additional investments in career development programs.

• Amazon announced a contactless gadget that can monitor people's sleep.
• The online retailer said its $139.99 sleep gadget, dubbed Halo Rise, tracks room temperature, humidity, and light, plus the breathing patterns of the person closest to it.
• Advanced machine learning and sensor technology provide highly accurate ambient analysis of sleep patterns.
• The device can personalize a person's bedtime and morning routines when paired with Alexa.

• U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly has ordered the freeze of several assets related to people and entities accused of operating a U.S. supply chain that distributes counterfeit bottles of Gilead Sciences Inc 's (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:GILD) HIV drugs.
• Gilead has identified and named as defendants two individuals responsible for leading and orchestrating the counterfeit scheme.

• Fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB (OTC: HNNMY) has unveiled a SEK2 billion (~$178 million) cost savings plan to streamline the business further.
• The company expects the savings from the program to become visible in the second half of 2023.
• H&M's Q3 net sales increased by 3%. In local currencies, net sales decreased by 4%.

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