Nvidia record sales…disappoint?
Plus, Etoro boss says the UK gov should do more to help companies float, the growth story of Biscuiteers and Y Combinator has unveiled its latest intake
Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia (Image: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
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Business Agenda
A summary of the most important business news
1. Nvidia failed to impress Wall Street despite a higher-than-expected third-quarter revenue forecast. The chip designer reported record second-quarter sales of $30.04bn, up 122 per cent on the previous year and ahead of analyst estimates of $28.6bn. Its forecast of third-quarter sales of $32.5bn beat consensus forecasts but disappointed some analysts who estimated sales as high as $37.9bn. Immediately after the earnings report was released, shares in Nvidia fell by 8 per cent. The company’s share price has seen a 680 per cent rise in the past two years. You can read more here.
2. The RAC is calling for a 5p cut on fuel duty to be scrapped in October’s Budget because drivers are not gaining any benefit. It has claimed that retailers have failed to pass on lower petrol and diesel prices to motorists and instead have boosted their own profits. You can read more here.
3. The government will not defend the legal challenges brought against plans to develop the UK’s largest untapped oil and gas field and a second North Sea site. Rosebank, 80 miles west of Shetland, contains around 300 million barrels of oil and is the UK’s last major undeveloped oil site. Jackdaw, another untapped gas site, is 150 miles east of Aberdeen. Legal claims against developing the sites for oil had been brought by environmental campaign groups Greenpeace and Uplift. You can read more here.
4. Etoro’s UK boss says the government should do more if it wants the company to float in London. The stock trading platform is weighing up plans to list in London or New York. Dan Moczulski, Etoro UK MD, tells City A.M that he’d like “the Labour government to recognise the opportunity that is inherent in UK capital markets”. You can read more here.
5. Lego has revealed plans to make half the plastic in its bricks from renewable or recycled material rather than fossil fuels by 2026. The Danish company last year ditched efforts to make bricks entirely from recycled bottles because of cost and production issues. Currently, 22 per cent of the material in its colourful bricks is not made from fossil fuels. You can read more here.
Business Question
According to a recent poll conducted by recruiter Robert Walters, what percentage of UK professionals value job security over pay?
A. 77 per cent
B. 69 per cent
C. 54 per cent
D. 42 per cent
The answer can be found at the bottom of the page.
Business Thinker
Deep dives on business and leadership
By Dougal Shaw
Today on Business Thinker I just want to recommend one video, but if you have 45 minutes or so to spare, I think you will find it very rewarding:
Google has released (on YouTube, where else) a long-form video interview between Google DeepMind’s CEO and co-founder Demis Hassabis and professor Hannah Fry. They take a deep dive into AI: where it’s at now and its future direction. Hassabis discusses why AI and chatbots have been “unreasonably effective” in some areas, to his surprise. Those trained on large language models (LLMs) have performed better than expected, especially when it comes to generating abstract ‘understanding’ of general concepts.
Interestingly, while Hassabis thinks AI has been “hyped too much” in the short term, with “VC money chasing crazy ideas that just aren’t real”, he thinks that AI is actually “under-hyped” in the long term. He thinks the impact of artificial general intelligence will be profound when it arrives. He also explains how Google’s Gemini AI model compares to rivals like ChatGPT. The problem with AI in general, he argues, is that it is not good at planning or long-term problem-solving. But eventually, it will move beyond “passive Q+A” operations.
Business Quote
Inspiration from leaders
“Leadership is the key to 99% of all successful efforts.”
– Erskine Bowles
Business Leader
The best of our content
Growth Stories: Treats galore
Harriet Hastings transformed her experience in publishing and PR into a thriving business when she founded the Biscuiteers Baking Company in 2007. Seventeen years later, her luxury food gifting brand produces 3 million iced biscuits annually, employs 200 people and is set to exceed £13m in revenue.
With a focus on e-commerce and personalized gifting, Hastings has navigated the challenges of scaling an artisanal product, cementing Biscuiteers as a leader in the luxury gifting market. This is her Growth Story.
You can read the article here and about more inspirational businesses in our Growth Stories series here.
Other popular pieces
👹 The pitch from hell (and how to avoid it)
🧠 Smart firms needed smarter support to grow
🍹 The power of taking time off
And finally…
Y Combinator, the famed accelerator programme for promising start-ups, has unveiled its latest intake. The programme is based in Silicon Valley. One of the group partners who runs the scheme and advises the start-ups is Tom Blomfield, the co-founder of GoCardless and Monzo, UK businesses that are both now worth well over £1bn.
Blomfield has revealed on social media that 17 of the 26 companies he accepted into the new batch at Y Combinator have European founders…
The answer to today’s Business Question is A. 77 per cent.
