व्यापार

(Reuters) -Taylor Swift's 12th studio album "The Life of a Showgirl" on Friday debuted to midnight Target runs, theater-release parties and glitzy pop-ups that lit up the United States, from New York to Los Angeles. "The Tortured Poets Department", her last album, had opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and moved the equivalent of 8 million albums in the U.S., according to music sales data from Luminate. The new record also looks set for a massive uptake from her global fan base, despite a mixed reception from the music press. Here's how the latest Swift release is gathering steam and engagement across platforms: Spotify ** Swift shattered a Spotify record for 2025 with "The Life of a Showgirl" ** By August 28, the album had more than 6 million pre-saves, becoming the most pre-saved album countdown page in platform history ** On October 3, the album became the most streamed on the platform in a single day this year, hitting the milestone in under 11 hours ** More than 1.2 million fans are listening to the album on the platform currently TikTok ** Swift was the most searched-for music artist globally over the past seven days, according to TikTok data ** In the month leading up to the release, TikTok said #TSthelifeofashowgirl was among the top hashtags related to the album, amassing 180,000 posts – a 5,500% month-on-month increase Album-fueled cinema rush ** AMC Entertainment's domestic box office forecast has been consistent at $25 million to $30 million for the weekend release of the "The Official Release Party of a Showgirl" companion movie, according to a person familiar with the matter ** Given the two‑week window from announcement to showtimes, no Thursday previews to boost Friday, and a $12 ticket price versus $19.98 for the Eras Tour, a domestic opening of $25 million to $30 million is realistic, the person said Recording Industry Association of America ** The Recording Industry Association of America said on Tuesday in a post on Instagram that Swift is now the first and only female artist in history to surpass 100 million album sales ** According to information available on the RIAA's website, she has sold 105 million albums to date and is sixth on the list of most albums sold after music legends like The Beatles, Garth Brooks, Elvis Presley, Eagles and Led Zeppelin. (Reporting by Kritika Lamba, Jaspreet Singh and Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Prakhar Srivastava (Reuters) -AI chip startup Cerebras Systems, which competes with industry leader Nvidia in the booming AI chip market, on Friday filed to withdraw its plans for an initial public offering in the United States, effective immediately. Its withdrawal comes as U.S. IPO activity picks up in recent months, reversing an earlier slowdown caused by trade-policy uncertainty, with recent listings, such as that of data center real estate investment trust Fermi, getting warm receptions amid surging investor enthusiasm for AI-related stocks. "Given that Cerebras just very recently completed a sizeable fund raise, it is of no surprise that they are holding off to pursue the IPO at this time," said Josef Schuster, CEO of IPO research firm IPOX. Cerebras had on Tuesday said it raised $1.1 billion in a funding round led by Fidelity Management & Research and Atreides Management, valuing the company at $8.1 billion. The round added investors Tiger Global, Valor Equity Partners and 1789 Capital, the fund in which U.S. President Donald Trump's son is a partner. But CEO Andrew Feldman said at the time the company still plans to hold a public offering. Last year, Cerebras filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq. The company’s highly anticipated listing was delayed by a U.S. national security review of a $335 million investment by G42, an Abu Dhabi-based cloud computing and AI company. "We believe this is more a company-specific strategic decision and does not tell us anything about the state of U.S. IPO sentiment, which we view as exceptionally strong," Schuster added. Sunnyvale, California-based Cerebras Systems makes high-performance AI chips and systems designed to speed up training and running large AI models. (Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Sahal Muhammed)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Corrects name of commission in 2nd paragraph to "Utilities" not "Utility") By Ross Kerber (Reuters) -Minnesota power regulators on Friday approved a $6.2 billion plan for a BlackRock unit and Canada Pension Plan to buy utility owner Allete, parent of Minnesota Power, saying recent modifications by the parties should address concerns about rates and clean-power investments. The 5-0 vote by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission may reassure investors that BlackRock will be able to address regulatory and antitrust concerns as its Global Infrastructure Partners unit, which it bought last year, presses for more deals. Earlier this week, people familiar with the matter said the infrastructure unit was in talks to buy utility group AES. Separately, on Friday two people said the unit was in talks to buy a data center business backed by Macquarie. Company executives said the Minnesota deal, first announced last year, would help Allete to transition to clean energy sources. Opponents, including the environmental group Sierra Club, business customers and State Attorney General Keith Ellison, had raised concerns the agreement could lead to higher rates and did not guarantee that Minnesota Power could meet a requirement for state electricity to be carbon-free by 2040. At Friday's meeting, which was webcast, commissioners said recent modifications helped to ease their previous skepticism towards the deal. A filing from the companies indicates recent term changes will add benefits worth up to $258 million for utility stakeholders, including through a clean technology fund and via bill credits for consumers. Commissioner Hwikwon Ham, in comments made before the decision, said those modifications gave him confidence in the agreement and that the commission could review company rates "if they misbehave." Commission Chair Katie Sieben said Minnesota Power needs massive new investments to pay for projects such as a new transmission line to bring in hydropower from Manitoba. In a securities filing, leaders of BlackRock and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board praised the decision and said that, with all required regulatory approvals now secured, the transition is expected to close in late 2025. "We are committed to preserving Allete's legacy of intense community focus as it continues to provide safe, reliable, and affordable energy which is increasingly carbon-free for Northeastern Minnesota," said Global Infrastructure Partners' founding partner Jonathan Bram in the filing. Several groups voiced criticism towards the decision, including the Private Equity Stakeholder Project and the Sierra Club, which said it remains concerned about rates and that it is not certain the investors would provide capital for less-polluting energy. (Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Prakhar Srivastava (Reuters) -AI chip startup Cerebras Systems, which competes with industry leader Nvidia in the booming AI chip market, on Friday filed to withdraw its plans for an initial public offering in the United States, effective immediately. Its withdrawal comes as U.S. IPO activity picks up in recent months, reversing an earlier slowdown caused by trade-policy uncertainty, with recent listings drawing strong investor demand. Cerebras on Tuesday said it raised $1.1 billion in a funding round led by Fidelity Management & Research and Atreides Management, valuing the company at $8.1 billion. "Given that Cerebras just very recently completed a sizeable fund raise, it is of no surprise that they are holding off to pursue the IPO at this time," said Josef Schuster, CEO of IPO research firm IPOX. Last year, Cerebras filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq. The company’s highly anticipated listing was delayed by a U.S. national security review of a $335 million investment by G42, an Abu Dhabi-based cloud computing and AI company. "We believe this is more a company-specific strategic decision and does not tell us anything about the state of U.S. IPO sentiment, which we view as exceptionally strong," Schuster added. Sunnyvale, California-based Cerebras Systems makes high-performance AI chips and systems designed to speed up training and running large AI models, offering faster and cheaper alternatives to traditional GPUs. (Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Nell Mackenzie and Anirban Sen LONDON (Reuters) -Hedge funds returned 1.3% in September, with managers in Europe, Asia and the Middle East outperforming their North American rivals, according to a JPMorgan client note on Thursday, seen by Reuters on Friday. Global equities in September climbed 3.4%. An index of developed market sovereign bonds rose around 0.7% last month. The JPMorgan note, which tracks hedge fund trading, said positioning in U.S. stocks was only "somewhat bullish," indicating an expectation for equities to rise.  Crowding in the biggest "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks, which include Apple, Amazon and Nvidia, remained near historical highs, the note said.  In Europe, stock-pickers tended to bet that equities would rise. But multi-strategy funds – those that trade many strategies – and quantitative funds, which use algorithms, tended to wager that stock prices would decline.  In Asia, where stocks rose, hedge funds had more bets on a decline than a rise, the note said.  The $92.1 billion Bridgewater notched a 6% monthly gain in its Pure Alpha fund to September 29. From the beginning of the year until September 29, Bridgewater's Pure Alpha, Asia Total Return, All Weather, and China Total Return funds posted returns of 26.2%, 32.5%, 15.3%, and 28.4%, respectively. British hedge fund Marshall Wace posted September returns of 1.32%, up 8.04% for the year so far in its Eureka Fund, a source said. The $79 billion hedge fund's Market Neutral Tops fund returned 0.45% in September and was up 13.66% for the year, the source added. Systematic stock-trading hedge funds, such as Marshall Wace, are up over 13% for 2025 so far, Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients. Multi-strategy funds remained largely flat on the month, apart from the $28 billion Balyasny Asset Management, which added 1.3% in September to its annual return so far this year of 10%, another source with knowledge of the matter said.    (Reporting by Nell Mackenzie in London, Anirban Sen in New York and Summer Zhen in Hongk Kong; Editing by Amanda Cooper and Barbara Lewis)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -Drugmaker AbbVie said on Friday it has lowered its annual profit forecast, after a flagging an expected $2.7 billion charge related to in-process research and development (IPR&D) expenses in the third quarter. Shares of the North Chicago-based company were down nearly 1% at $232.0 in extended trade. AbbVie said in a regulatory filing that such expenses may arise from collaborations, licensing deals or asset buys, but are not forecast due to uncertainty around timing and occurrence. It did not specify how the expense was incurred. Including the third-quarter charge, AbbVie now expects full-year adjusted earnings per share between $10.38 and $10.58, compared with the prior range of $11.88 to $12.08. Analysts were expecting full-year adjusted EPS to be $12.02, according to data compiled by LSEG. The company's previous forecast for full-year adjusted earnings, issued on July 31, excluded any IPR&D expenses beyond the second quarter, it said. AbbVie added that results for the quarter ended Sept. 30 have not been finalized and are subject to its financial statement closing procedures. "There can be no assurance that our final results will not differ from these preliminary estimates," the company said. It forecast third-quarter adjusted EPS in the range of $1.74 to $1.78, including the impact of the IPR&D expense, much lower than the analysts' estimate of $3.27. Separately, AbbVie said earlier this week it started building a new active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing plant in North Chicago, Illinois. The $195 million plant is expected to produce medicines in immunology, oncology, and neuroscience, and be fully operational by 2027. AbbVie has been leaning on newer immunology drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq to offset declining sales of its blockbuster arthritis treatment Humira, which began facing biosimilar competition in the U.S. in 2023. The company has spent more than $20 billion on acquisitions since then to bolster its pipeline. (Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -AI chip firm Cerebras Systems on Friday filed to withdraw, effective immediately, its plans for an initial public offering in the United States. Last year, Cerebras filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq. The offering was delayed by a U.S. national security review of a $335 million investment by G42, an Abu Dhabi-based cloud computing and AI company. Cerebras on Tuesday said it raised $1.1 billion, bringing the company's valuation to $8.1 billion. (Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Greg Bensinger SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Just days after putting on its annual devices and services showcase, Amazon is losing a vice president who helps oversee the division. Rob Williams, vice president of device software and services and a member of the elite internal group known as the S-team advising CEO Andy Jassy, left his post and will step down entirely from Amazon at year's end, according to a memo sent internally Thursday and reviewed by Reuters. Amazon confirmed the memo after a query from Reuters without providing additional detail. "Rob has had a big impact on the software and experiences of nearly all of the products we’ve created and shipped," said Panos Panay, the senior vice president of devices and services, in the memo. He said Williams decided to "retire from Amazon," but Reuters could not learn his future plans. Panay also announced the consolidation of several teams in his unit, including moving the Alexa Smart Vehicle team into the broader Alexa group. He said the changes were effective Thursday including the elevation of Tapas Roy, previously a vice president overseeing Fire TV product and engineering, to Williams' former post.  Williams will remain an advisor to Panay and on the S-team through the end of 2025, according to the memo.  It is rare for S-team, or senior leadership team, members to depart, as the group is regarded as a badge of honor within the company with unique access to the CEO. Williams joined the 29-member S-team in late 2022 and worked at Amazon for 12 years. He attended Amazon’s devices event on Tuesday in New York where the firm showed off an array of new products like refreshed Echo voice assistant speakers, color Kindle e-readers and Fire TV sets with improved screen quality. In an email, he pointed to a LinkedIn posting where he wrote that he had been working on his exit all year and remained on to see the recent device launches. He did not disclose his plans beyond 2025. The money-losing devices and services unit has undergone multiple rounds of layoffs as it pares back on products. A multi-year project to update its Alexa voice assistant with embedded generative artificial intelligence has rolled out slowly and has no clear path to profitability and Amazon is overhauling its Fire tablets with Android operating software for the first time, Reuters reported in August. Earlier this week, Williams in a LinkedIn post touted the debut of a new operating system called Vega that will be in use in forthcoming Fire TV devices, including a streaming stick available later this month. Amazon’s proprietary Vega is meant to replace Google’s Android software and promises faster speeds at lower prices. “No one else has anything like it,” said Williams in the post. (Reporting by Greg Bensinger; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -Locomotive engineers at Union Pacific voted to ratify a new five-year contract with the railroad operator, the BLET-Teamsters union said on Friday. Under the new contract, nearly 6,000 members represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, a division of the rail conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), will earn raises of 18.8% over the life of the agreement. The contract also includes improved health and welfare benefits, the union said. Last week, the largest U.S. railroad union, SMART-TD, approved Union Pacific's $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern, helping to advance a deal that had been expected to face resistance from unions and regulators. The deal will create the nation's first coast-to-coast freight rail operator and reshape the movement of goods from grains to autos across the country. The two companies are expected to file a formal merger application with the Surface Transportation Board, which oversees rail competition and service, by late October or by January 2026. (Reporting by Aatreyee Dasgupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)