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How Apple and Goldman Sachs are faring in consumer finance

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How Apple and Goldman Sachs are faring in consumer finance

Apple and Goldman Sachs have each made multi-billion-dollar bets on shopper finance — in a single case, collectively. To date, the bigger, much less regulated tech firm appears to be having extra success than the systemically necessary financial institution.

Why it issues: Apple Pay was launched in 2014; Marcus, the consumer-facing financial institution from Goldman Sachs, in 2016. The businesses’ joint bank card, the Apple Card, got here in 2019. However solely now are we starting to get a really feel for the way the 2 firms’ methods are faring.

The massive image: Apple and Goldman are established legacy companies with stability sheets within the a whole bunch of billions of {dollars}, however they’re additionally relative newcomers in relation to shopper finance.

The place it stands: Apple has quietly constructed a world juggernaut in Apple Pay, its contactless funds expertise that has expanded from its early days on American Specific, MasterCard and Visa to help 24 completely different cost networks around the globe, together with native debit and e-money networks. It is now in 65 nations and has signed up greater than 10,000 banks.

  • Revenues usually are not disclosed, however the FT reported at launch that Apple had negotiated a take of 0.15% of each transaction.
  • The European Fee has arrived at a “preliminary view” that Apple has abused its smartphone monopoly to limit competitors in cellular funds as a way to maximize the market share of Apple Pay.
  • Apple Pay is even taking off within the U.S., which has lengthy been a laggard in contactless funds. A current report estimated that it allows $200 billion of U.S. retail gross sales per 12 months, with a 48% share of cellular pockets transactions — nicely forward of the 17% share held by rival Google Pay.

In the meantime: Goldman’s shopper banking unit, Marcus — which focuses on on-line financial savings accounts — is prone to lose nicely over $1 billion this 12 months. It is going through vital employees turnover, excessive charges of delinquent loans on its bank cards, and ongoing investigations from each the Shopper Monetary Safety Bureau and the Federal Reserve.

  • That stated, it additionally has greater than $100 billion in deposits and greater than $16 billion in excellent loans, a lot of which is attributable to the Apple Card.

State of play: The businesses’ joint undertaking, Apple Card, has labored out very nicely for Apple, which makes use of the bank card to assist convey its costly devices to as many People as doable.

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  • The product lives as much as Apple’s requirements of being well-designed, handsome, and carrying very excessive buyer satisfaction rankings.
  • For Goldman, the cardboard is a little more of a blended bag. Within the continued absence of a Marcus checking account, the Apple Card is Goldman’s highest-profile shopper providing — and it would not even carry the Marcus model. (Within the app, the place it’s most used, it carries no Goldman branding in any respect.)
  • Apple’s latest foray into the consumer-loan area, Apple Pay Later, entails lending immediately from its personal stability sheet somewhat than partnering with Goldman — solidifying the impression that Goldman wants Apple greater than Apple wants Goldman.

Between the traces: Apple drives a tough discount.

  • Past encouraging Goldman to supply the Apple Card to as many individuals as doable, it additionally pushed MasterCard to offer the cardboard World Elite standing, which carries the best swipe charges.

The underside line: For all of the billions that Goldman has poured into Marcus, it nonetheless would not appear to be a serious aggressive risk in shopper banking.

  • Apple, however, is slowly constructing finance deep into its iOS working system. And that’s a number of the most respected actual property on the earth.
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Intel Corporation (INTC) Attracts Bids from Rivals Amid Financial Turnaround Efforts, Secures Multibillion-Dollar Contracts with Amazon and US Government

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Intel Corporation (INTC) Attracts Bids from Rivals Amid Financial Turnaround Efforts, Secures Multibillion-Dollar Contracts with Amazon and US Government

We recently compiled a list of the 20 AI News That Broke The Internet This Month. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) stands against the other AI stocks that broke the Internet this month.

AI is transforming industries and reshaping the world by enhancing efficiency, driving innovation, and opening up new economic opportunities. A recent McKinsey report estimates that AI could add up to $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy by 2030. The rapid growth of AI technologies — especially generative AI — has enabled organizations to streamline processes, automate complex tasks, and develop personalized services. In healthcare, AI is revolutionizing diagnosis and treatment. For example, AI-powered diagnostic tools, such as those developed by Google Health, achieve accuracy rates that rival or surpass human doctors in detecting diseases like cancer. These advancements can reduce diagnostic errors and improve patient outcomes. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 50% of healthcare providers will invest in AI-driven technologies to improve patient care, underscoring the potential for massive growth.

Read more about these developments by accessing 33 Most Important AI Companies You Should Pay Attention To and 20 Industrial Stocks Already Riding the AI Wave.

Financial services are also being transformed by AI. According to a 2023 report from PwC, AI could increase global GDP by up to 14% by 2030, with financial services being a key driver. Banks and fintech companies are leveraging AI to enhance fraud detection, streamline customer service through AI chatbots, and offer personalized investment advice. Manufacturing is another sector experiencing rapid change due to AI. AI-powered robots are automating production lines, reducing human error, and increasing efficiency. According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), global sales of industrial robots are expected to reach $31 billion by 2025. These robots, coupled with AI-driven predictive maintenance systems, are lowering downtime and operational costs for manufacturers. Tesla, for instance, uses AI in its Gigafactories to streamline the production of electric vehicles, aiming to achieve greater sustainability and lower manufacturing costs.

The retail industry is embracing AI to optimize supply chains and enhance customer experiences. AI-driven recommendation systems, like those used by Amazon and Alibaba, have significantly improved customer satisfaction by offering personalized shopping experiences. A Forbes report suggests that AI could reduce supply chain forecasting errors by 50%, helping retailers better meet consumer demands. However, as AI adoption grows, so do concerns around job displacement. The World Economic Forum estimates that AI will replace 85 million jobs by 2025 but also create 97 million new roles, particularly in sectors like AI development, data science, and cybersecurity. This transition will require workers to adapt and reskill to remain relevant in the evolving job market.

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Read more about these developments by accessing 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock and Beyond the Tech Giants: 35 Non-Tech AI Opportunities.

Our Methodology

For this article, we selected the most important AI news by combing through news articles, stock analyses, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

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Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 75     

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) markets key technologies for smart devices. A number of Intel rivals have reportedly made bids to take over parts of the business of the chipmaker as it seeks a financial turnaround. Some of those weighing potential investments in Intel include Broadcom, QUALCOMM, and Apollo Asset Management. Meanwhile, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) continues to land government contracts and funding, announcing earlier this month that it had been selected for multibillion-dollar contracts to make chips for Amazon and the United States government. Analysts have urged Intel to exit the foundry business but a potential deal in this regard is faced with regulatory problems.

Overall INTC ranks 16th on our list of the AI stocks that broke the Internet this month. While we acknowledge the potential of INTC as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than INTC but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

 

READ NEXT: $30 Trillion Opportunity: 15 Best Humanoid Robot Stocks to Buy According to Morgan Stanley and Jim Cramer Says NVIDIA ‘Has Become A Wasteland’.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.

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Gilbert Palter Buys 100% More Sagicor Financial Shares

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Gilbert Palter Buys 100% More Sagicor Financial Shares

Those following along with Sagicor Financial Company Ltd. (TSE:SFC) will no doubt be intrigued by the recent purchase of shares by insider Gilbert Palter, who spent a stonking CA$1.3m on stock at an average price of CA$5.60. That purchase boosted their holding by 100%, which makes us wonder if the move was inspired by quietly confident deeply-felt optimism.

Check out our latest analysis for Sagicor Financial

Sagicor Financial Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent purchase by Gilbert Palter is the biggest insider purchase of Sagicor Financial shares that we’ve seen in the last year. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of CA$5.50. It’s very possible they regret the purchase, but it’s more likely they are bullish about the company. To us, it’s very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price. We note that Gilbert Palter was also the biggest seller.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 316.59k shares for CA$1.8m. But insiders sold 39.00k shares worth CA$225k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Sagicor Financial insiders. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

insider-trading-volume

insider-trading-volume

Sagicor Financial is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find small cap companies at attractive valuations, this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It appears that Sagicor Financial insiders own 11% of the company, worth about CA$85m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Do The Sagicor Financial Insider Transactions Indicate?

It is good to see recent purchasing. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Sagicor Financial insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it’s beneficial to identify the risks facing Sagicor Financial. For instance, we’ve identified 3 warning signs for Sagicor Financial (1 is concerning) you should be aware of.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Difference Between Savings Account and Emergency Fund, According to Financial Activist Dasha Kennedy

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Difference Between Savings Account and Emergency Fund, According to Financial Activist Dasha Kennedy

PredragImages / Getty Images

Most Americans have different bank accounts to serve different needs, from basic checking accounts for daily transactions to certificates of deposit for long-term savings. If you have multiple savings accounts, at least one should be devoted to an emergency fund. In fact, money blogger and influencer Dasha Kennedy says you shouldn’t consider a savings account and emergency fund the same thing.

Find Out: 9 Things the Middle-Class Should Consider Downsizing To Save on Monthly Expenses

Discover More: 7 Reasons a Financial Advisor Can Grow Your Wealth in 2024

In a recent Instagram post, Kennedy referred to savings accounts and emergency funds as “cousins, not twins.” The self-proclaimed “financial activist” also laid out some of the main differences between savings accounts and emergency funds:

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Savings Account

In her post, Kennedy wrote that a savings account is “ideal for planned expenses and achieving short- to medium-term financial goals.” She also called a savings account “perfect for setting aside money for specific future purchases or experiences.”

Example: If you’re planning to buy a new laptop next year, use money from your regular savings account.

Check Out: 5 Unnecessary Bills You Should Stop Paying in 2024

Emergency Fund

This fund is “strictly for unexpected, urgent expenses that you can’t cover with your regular income or other savings,” Kennedy wrote, adding that the fund should serve as a “financial safety net for emergencies.”

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Example: If your car breaks down unexpectedly and requires immediate repairs, dip into your emergency fund to pay for it.

Which Expenditures Warrant Savings vs. Emergency?

Here are some other guidelines Kennedy shared in terms of which expenditures should come out of which account:

Scenario

Savings Account

Emergency Fund

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Planning a vacation

 

Sudden job loss

 

Buying holiday gifts

 

Saving for a new phone

 

Medical emergency

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Buying concert tickets

 

Unexpected home repairs

 

Sudden legal expense

 

Planning for a baby shower

 

Unexpected travel expenses

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The amount of money you should keep in your emergency fund depends on different factors, most having to do with your location, household size, income, and monthly expenses. As a general rule, you should aim to save enough money to cover at least three to six months’ worth of expenses. A good place to build an emergency fund is in a high-yield savings account that can help you grow your balance faster.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Difference Between Savings Account and Emergency Fund, According to Financial Activist Dasha Kennedy

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