AMD has agreed to buy artificial intelligence infrastructure group ZT Systems in a $4.9bn (£3.77bn) cash and stock transaction, as the chip company seeks to challenge market leader Nvidia (NVDA).
AMD plans to pay for 75% of the ZT Systems acquisition with cash and the remainder in stock. The company had $5.34bn in cash and short-term investments as of the second quarter.
The chipmaker said ZT Systems, will help it “deliver leadership AI training and inferencing solutions” and will also help “cloud and enterprise customers significantly accelerate the deployment of AMD-powered AI infrastructure at scale”. ZT Systems, a private company founded three decades ago, builds custom computing infrastructure for the biggest AI “hyperscalers” such as Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN) and Meta (META).
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AMD has funnelled more than $1bn into expanding its artificial intelligence ecosystem and strengthening its AI software capabilities over the last 12 months, in addition to its research and development investments, the company said.
Palo Alto (PANW)
Shares in the cybersecurity firm were higher in pre-market trading after it reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter.
Palo Alto reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $2.18bn, up 12% from the year-ago period and slightly above analysts’ estimates. Net income was $357.7m or $1.01 per share, gaining from the year prior and ahead of projections.
For the full year of fiscal 2024, revenue and net income were stronger than analysts expected at $8.03bn and $2.58bn, respectively.
The firm expects revenue between $9.1bn and $9.15bn, up between 12% and 13% year-over-year in line with estimates of $9.11bn.
For the first quarter of fiscal 2025, the company expects revenue to grow between 12% and 13% to between $2.1bn and $2.13bn, compared to estimates of $2.11bn.
“We finished off the year with strong execution on our platformisation strategy,” Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora said, adding that “as we look forward to fiscal year 2025 and beyond, we are focused on scaling our Next-Generation Security business through continued innovation and execution”.
Paramount (PARA)
Media executive Edgar Bronfman Jr on Monday submitted a $4.3bn bid for acquiring National Amusements, the company that holds a controlling interest in entertainment giant Paramount Global, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Bronfman’s offer includes $2.4bn in debt and equity for National Amusements. He also would contribute $1.5bn to Paramount’s balance sheet, which could be used to pay down.
His bid comes over a month after Redstone entered a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance Global, which will merge Paramount with Skydance and create a new company with Ellison at the helm.
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That agreement contained a 45-day “go-shop period” that allowed Paramount to solicit and evaluate other offers. That period ends on 21 August, but can be extended.
Bronfman’s offer potentially complicates Paramount’s fate, especially as the Skydance merger was reached after years of negotiations with different parties. The bid adds $400m to cover a breakup fee to end a rival deal.
A special committee of Paramount’s board is expected to meet Wednesday to determine whether Bronfman’s offer has a reasonable probability of succeeding.
Antofagasta (ANTO.L)
Antofagasta’s pretax profit declined in line with market expectations in the first six months of the year, when strong commodity prices offset lower sales volumes.
The Chilean copper miner said its pretax profit fell 7% to $712.6m in the half-year from $764.5m in the same period last year. This is still above the consensus forecast of $710.6m.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) for the first six months of the year rose to $1.39bn from $1.33bn last year.
The company saw increased depreciation and amortisation, mainly due to the start of depreciating the assets at the Los Pelambres Phase 1 Expansion project, which is now in operation.
Looking ahead, the miner reaffirmed full-year production guidance for output to be at the lower end of the 670,000-710,000 tonne range.
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