WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 6, 2024-- Vicarious Surgical Inc. (“Vicarious Surgical” or the “Company”) (NYSE: RBOT, RBOT WS), a next-generation robotics technology company seeking to improve lives by transforming robotic surgery, today announced the pending departure of William Kelly, its Chief Financial Officer (CFO), to pursue other career opportunities, after nearly four years of dedicated service with the Company. Mr. Kelly has served as Vicarious Surgical’s CFO since January 2021. He will assist the Company to ensure minimal disruption and a successful transition of responsibilities prior to his departure, which is slated for January 2, 2025. “On behalf of the Company and Board, I want to extend my sincerest gratitude to Bill for his significant contribution over the last few years,” said Adam Sachs, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “Bill has been an incredible asset to Vicarious Surgical, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.” Mr. Kelly added “My tenure at Vicarious Surgical has been a period of significant progress and accomplishment, both for the Company and for me personally. I am deeply grateful for the opportunities I have been afforded and the collaborative spirit of the entire team. I depart with immense pride in our collective achievements and unwavering confidence in the Company's continued success under its strong leadership.” The Company has initiated a CFO succession process and will provide updates as appropriate. About Vicarious Surgical Founded in 2014, Vicarious Surgical is a next generation robotics company, developing a unique disruptive technology with the multiple goals of substantially increasing the efficiency of surgical procedures, improving patient outcomes, and reducing healthcare costs. The Company’s novel surgical approach uses proprietary human-like surgical robots to virtually transport surgeons inside the patient to perform minimally invasive surgery. The Company is led by an experienced team of technologists, medical device professionals and physicians, and is backed by technology luminaries including Bill Gates, Vinod Khosla’s Khosla Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, Jerry Yang’s AME Cloud Ventures, Sun Hung Kai & Co. Ltd and Philip Liang’s E15 VC. The Company is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. Learn more at www.vicarioussurgical.com . Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The company’s actual results may differ from its expectations, estimates, and projections and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained herein, are forward-looking statements that reflect the current beliefs and expectations of management. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Most of these factors are outside Vicarious Surgical’s control and are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: the ability to maintain the listing of Vicarious Surgical’s Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange; the approval, commercialization and adoption of Vicarious Surgical’s initial product candidates and the success of its single-port surgical robot, called the Vicarious Surgical System, and any of its future product candidates and service offerings; changes in applicable laws or regulations; the ability of Vicarious Surgical to raise financing in the future; the success, cost and timing of Vicarious Surgical’s product and service development activities; the potential attributes and benefits of Vicarious Surgical’s product candidates and services; Vicarious Surgical’s ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval for the Vicarious Surgical System, and any related restrictions and limitations of any approved product; the size and duration of human clinical trials for the Vicarious Surgical System; Vicarious Surgical’s ability to identify, in-license or acquire additional technology; Vicarious Surgical’s ability to maintain its existing license, manufacture, supply and distribution agreements; Vicarious Surgical’s ability to compete with other companies currently marketing or engaged in the development of products and services that Vicarious Surgical is currently marketing or developing; the size and growth potential of the markets for Vicarious Surgical’s product candidates and services, and its ability to serve those markets, either alone or in partnership with others; the pricing of Vicarious Surgical’s product candidates and services and reimbursement for medical procedures conducted using its product candidates and services; the company’s estimates regarding expenses, revenue, capital requirements and needs for additional financing; Vicarious Surgical’s financial performance; economic downturns, political and market conditions and their potential to adversely affect Vicarious Surgical’s business, financial condition and results of operations; Vicarious Surgical’s intellectual property rights and its ability to protect or enforce those rights, and the impact on its business, results and financial condition if it is unsuccessful in doing so; and other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in Vicarious Surgical’s filings with the SEC. Vicarious Surgical cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. The company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Vicarious Surgical does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241206242926/en/ CONTACT: Investors Kaitlyn Brosco Vicarious Surgical Kbrosco@vicarioussurgical.com Media Inquiries media@vicarioussurgical.com KEYWORD: MASSACHUSETTS UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: MEDICAL SUPPLIES TECHNOLOGY OTHER HEALTH HEALTH ROBOTICS HEALTH TECHNOLOGY OTHER TECHNOLOGY MEDICAL DEVICES HOSPITALS SURGERY HARDWARE SOURCE: Vicarious Surgical Inc. Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/06/2024 04:05 PM/DISC: 12/06/2024 04:05 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241206242926/enBob Casey’s Departure Marks the End of an Era in Disability AdvocacyHow to watch Kansas City Chiefs vs. Houston Texans: TV channel, streaming info
The end of the year is almost in sight for traders, yet the last mile will be anything but slow. Central banks in the United States, Japan and Britain meet, while Germany holds a vote of no confidence in the government. Here’s all you need to know about the coming week in world markets from Lewis Krauskopf in New York, Kevin Buckland in Tokyo and Naomi Rovnick, Amanda Cooper and Dhara Ranasinghe in London. The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to continue monetary easing with a 25 basis point (bps) rate cut on Wednesday, in what would be its third straight reduction, with the latest consumer price index rising in line with economists’ estimates. Investors have curtailed expectations for how much the Fed will cut next year. Traders expect rates to fall to about 3.7% by end-2025 from the current 4.5%-4.75% range, roughly 90 basis points higher than what was priced in September. That puts the focus on the Fed’s own rate projections and on any insight from Chair Jerome Powell about his expectations for future easing. Powell has said the economy is stronger now than the Fed had anticipated in September, and appeared to signal his support for a slower pace of rate cuts ahead. The pendulum of BOJ policy expectations has swung widely in the last two weeks, tying traders in knots. But as the Dec. 19 decision looms, the signal is becoming clearer – even if the outcome is still uncertain. Reuters reported on Thursday that policymakers are leaning towards a pause, waiting for further data on wages and clarity on Donald Trump’s policies before raising rates for a third time. A day earlier, Bloomberg reported that BOJ officials see “little cost” from delaying additional tightening. No doubt the BOJ decision is live, meaning market volatility could be high. One mooted risk is that the Fed surprises by not cutting rates on Dec. 18, triggering a jump in dollar/yen. But analysts note it would be very rare for the Fed to go against the grain when market conviction for a cut is so strong. Germany’s DAX index is this year’s best-performing European index, up 22%, hitting record high after record high. Defence, tech and construction stocks have more than made up for the performance of its out of favour auto sector. Corporate Germany appears to be weathering sluggish growth and political drama. A no-confidence vote in the government on Dec 16 should pave the way for a February snap election. But the devil is in the details. Goldman Sachs says just 18% of DAX sales come from Germany versus the 33% for companies on the mid-cap MDAX .MDAXI, which is down 1.1% this year. German corporate earnings shrank 5.4% on an annual basis in the third quarter, versus 8.2% growth for STOXX earnings .STOXX, based on LSEG data. German equities may start aligning a little more closely with the underlying economic and political reality. When it comes to rate cuts, the Bank of England has been driving in the slow lane. Traders expect the BoE to hold rates at 4.75% on Thursday, just 50 bps below a previous 16-year peak, and to resist a third 25 bp cut until February. Employer tax hikes in the Labour government’s October budget motivated big businesses to warn of price rises, fuelling inflation concerns and helping propel sterling to 2-1/2 year highs against the euro GBPEUR= as the ECB eases policy more rapidly than the BoE. But bond markets are querying this divergence, with two-year gilt yields GB10YT=RR, which move on rate forecasts, dropping to about 4.38% from more than 4.5% a month ago. UK employment growth is slowing as tax rises deter hiring plans and consumer confidence is weak. Sterling bulls should watch out for the BoE shifting gears. Once-robust services sectors across big economies are faltering, bringing a divergence with sluggish manufacturing activity to an end. That was the takeaway from November PMIs. December numbers, out across the globe next week, should show if the slowdown is getting deeper. The November euro zone composite PMI, seen as a good gauge of overall economic health, sank to 48.3 from October’s 50.0. Britain’s all-sector PMI fell to its lowest in a year at 50.9 – just above the marker that separates contraction from expansion. Even U.S. services sector activity slowed. U.S. tariff worries, and French and German political ructions have the potential to hurt business activity. For some observers, the PMI data paints too pessimistic a picture of underlying activity, with falling interest rates helping to bolster sentiment. Source: Reuters (Graphics by Prinz Magtulis, Pasit Kongkunakornkul, Vineet Sachdev ; Compiled by Dhara Ranasinghe, KIrsten Donovan)
In November 2020, Raspberry Pi disrupted its established line of single-board computers (or SBCs for short) with the release of the Raspberry Pi 400 , essentially a more user-friendly version of the Raspberry Pi 4 SBC that the company released over a year earlier. Instead of being a bare board intended mainly for use by dedicated tinkerers, the Pi 400 came prebuilt in a case with a keyboard built into it as well as a microSD card with Raspberry Pi OS pre-installed. It still needed a power supply, HDMI cable, and a mouse, but aside from the lack of a power supply, you can say the same thing about the stock version of Apple's Mac Mini. Now, in December 2024, 14-plus months after the release of the Raspberry Pi 5, the Pi 400 has gotten a follow-up, the Raspberry Pi 500, which was announced on December 9. As its predecessor was to the Raspberry Pi 4, the Raspberry Pi 500 is to the Raspberry Pi 5, the same board thrown in a cute little keyboard case. There are other differences, though, like the addition of a heatsink, which had to happen given the Pi 5's beefier CPU. If you want, you can spend an extra $30, for a total of $120, to get a kit that includes the USB Type-C power supply, HDMI cable, and mouse. In addition, the Pi 500 was announced alongside another new product, the 15.6-inch Raspberry Pi Monitor. Let's take a look at some of the more attractive features of the Raspberry Pi 500. In the upgrade from the Raspberry Pi 4 to the Raspberry Pi 5, one complicating factor was that the Raspberry Pi 5 was the first model that needed a heatsink and fan to live up to its full potential. For basic computing, you don't need one, but if you're going to really push the CPU and GPU by, for example, emulating PlayStation 2 games on your Raspberry Pi 5 ? Then you definitely needed some extra cooling help. "The takeaway here is that you really want to invest in an active cooler this time," said popular emulation authority Modern Vintage Gamer on YouTube . "I wouldn't recommend using a Raspberry Pi 5 with anything substantial without an active cooler." Raspberry Pi — the company — was clearly aware of this, as it has various official coolers and cooler cases available for the bare boards. With the Raspberry Pi 500 being a prebuilt, self-contained version of the Raspberry Pi 5, one would hope that it has a cooling solution built-in. That's doubly true since its predecessor, the Raspberry Pi 400, doesn't have any kind of cooling apparatus. Sure enough, the Pi 500 includes a built-in aluminum heatsink. However, being a passive cooler, it raises the question of whether a Pi 500 can be pushed to the performance levels of a Pi 5 since there's no fan to help pull the heat away. So far, it looks good, with Tom's Hardware describing the heatsink's performance as "remarkable," even when overclocking the CPU. If you've wanted a Raspberry Pi 5 for serious classic gaming because of the overall bang for your buck but were discouraged by the need to buy an aftermarket case and/or heatsink, much less assemble the parts yourself, then you're in luck. The Raspberry Pi 500 is a Raspberry Pi 5 with an aluminum heatsink in a snazzy-looking keyboard case, all pre-built, and comes with a 32GB microSD card. This all only retails for $10 more, at $90, than a bare Raspberry Pi 5 board sans microSD card. It's still missing a USB Type-C power supply — Raspberry Pi is obviously assuming you have plenty of those lying around — and the HDMI cable needed to connect it to a TV or monitor, though you can grab a "Desktop Kit" that includes those items and an HDMI cable for an additional $30. With reviews of the performance of the heatsink being very positive so far, it looks like this is a very solid alternative to the Raspberry Pi 5, even for gaming, especially if you'd prefer to have something fully prebuilt. Regardless, if you've been on the fence about a Raspberry Pi 5, the negligible increase in price makes the Pi 500 an incredibly tempting alternative to the Pi 5 for anyone looking to use it more as a general-purpose desktop computer. One of the coolest things about the Raspberry Pi 500 (and previously the Raspberry Pi 400) is that you don't technically don't need any additional input devices to use it. That's because the case is also the keyboard. As of this writing, the official Raspberry Pi website doesn't have a specs page up yet for the Pi 500 that includes its physical dimensions, but the footprint of the Pi 400 measures a little over 11 inches across, giving a decent indication of how big it might be. Your mileage may vary as to whether or not that's comfortable enough for regular use, especially since, with the simultaneous release of the Raspberry Pi Monitor, the Pi 500 is explicitly positioned as a desktop computer replacement. However, if your plan is to use the Raspberry Pi 500 as a classic gaming hub or something else that you'd ideally be using with something like a wireless gamepad as the primary input device, then the keyboard size doesn't matter as much. If you look at it as a way for you to be able to easily set up your Raspberry Pi 500 without having to keep a USB keyboard around the house, then it's pretty enticing. And if you have tiny hands, then it's probably even more enticing as an all-in-one desktop computer, making it an interesting choice as, for example, a child's starter computer. Sure, the Raspberry Pi 500 is basically just a Raspberry Pi 5 in a package that's friendlier for the average user. But it's still a Raspberry Pi 5 at heart, and the Raspberry Pi 5 is easily the most powerful model in the history of the single-board computer series to date. That's particularly tantalizing if you're interested in using Raspberry Pi 5 to run a classic console emulation-centric operating system like RetroPie or Batocera . If you're a fan of video games from the sixth generation of consoles or earlier, then the Raspberry Pi 5 and Raspberry Pi 500 are both capable of smoothly running the vast majority of emulators and games you throw at them. Raspberry Pi boards aren't yet capable of emulating games from the original Microsoft Xbox , but the Pi 5 — and thus the Pi 500 — has the horsepower to do a great job with the Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube, and, to a lesser extent, the Sony PlayStation 2. We haven't seen any specific reviews yet looking at how the Pi 500's passive cooling handles emulation of those consoles, which was better off with an active cooler on the Pi 5. But with Tom's Hardware verifying in its review that the heatsink keeps the system on a chip sufficiently cool even when overclocking, it seems like the Pi 500 should be able to easily compete with the Pi 5 when it comes to heavy loads like 3D game emulation. If you were already in the market for Raspberry Pi's existing keyboard computer, the Raspberry Pi 400, then the best feature may simply be the overall spec improvements in the Raspberry Pi 500. The jump from the 4/400 to the 5/500 is pretty significant, even before you get to the computers' raw horsepower. The networking is now significantly faster, with the ethernet going from 1 gigabit to 2.5 gigabits per second and the Wi-Fi leaping a generation from Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6. The display output is also upgraded, as the device's two micro-HDMI ports are now capable of feeding 4K displays at 60Hz. On the inside, the 500's system on a chip is a lot beefier, with the 500's Broadcom BCN12712 ARM Cortex A76 CPU delivering about two to three times the performance of the 400's Broadcom BCM2711 ARM Cortex A72. On the GPU side, the 500's VideoCore VII, which supports OpenGL ES 3.1 and Vulkan 1.2, is also a significant upgrade from the 400's VideoCore VI, which supported up to OpenGL ES 3.1 and Vulkan 1.0. The GeekBench scores for the new CPU speak pretty loudly, as, from the Pi 400 to the Pi 500, the single-core score jumps from 249 to 892, while the multi-core score is 717 to 2112, living up to the promises of tripled performance. If you're in the market for one of Raspberry Pi's keyboard computers, the Pi 500 is a lot beefier, especially for gaming purposes.
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Not for distribution to U.S. news wire services or dissemination in the United States. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / December 13, 2024 / Electric Metals (USA) Limited ("EML" or the "Company") (TSXV:EML)(OTCQB:EMUSF) announces that, further to its news release dated October 31, 2024 , it has closed the first tranche of the Company's non brokered private placement (the "Offering") issuing an aggregate of 5,837,000 common shares ("the "Shares") at $0.10 per share for gross proceeds of C$583,700. The Company also announces that it has obtained an additional 30-day extension from the TSX Venture the "TSXV") Exchange to close a second tranche of the Offering. The final closing and filing acceptance of all documentation required by the TSXV in respect of the Offering has been extended from December 13, 2024, to January 13, 2025. The Shares issued under the Offering will be subject to a statutory hold period expiring four months and one day from the date of issuance of such securities for Canadian subscribers and six months from the date of issuance for U.S. subscribers. Under the Offering, directors of the Corporation have subscribed for a total of 3,737,000 Shares for a total consideration of C$373,700, which constitutes a "related party transaction" within the meaning of Regulation 61-101 respecting Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("Regulation 61-101") and TSXV Policy 5.9 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions. However, the directors of the Corporation who voted in favor of the Offering have determined that the exemptions from formal valuation and minority approval requirements provided for respectively under subsections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of Regulation 61-101 can be relied on as neither the fair market value of the Shares issued to this insider, nor the fair market value of the consideration paid exceeded 25% of the Corporation's market capitalization. None of the Corporation's directors have expressed any contrary views or disagreements with respect to the foregoing. A material change report in respect of this related party transaction will be filed by the Corporation but could not be filed earlier than 21 days prior to the closing of the Offering, due to the fact that the terms of the participation of each of the non-related parties and the related parties of the Offering were not confirmed. The securities of the Company have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any U.S. state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an available exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there by any sale of the securities referenced in this press release, in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. About Electric Metals (USA) Limited Electric Metals (USA) Limited (TSXV:EML)(OTCQB:EMUSF) is a US-based mineral development company with manganese and silver projects geared to supporting the transition to clean energy. The Company's principal asset is the Emily Manganese Project in Minnesota, the highest-grade manganese deposit in North America, which has been the subject of considerable technical studies, including National Instrument 43-101 Technical Reports - Resource Estimates. The Company's mission in Minnesota is to become a domestic US producer of high-value, high-purity manganese metal and chemical products to supply the North American electric vehicle battery, technology and industrial markets. With manganese playing a critical and prominent role in lithium-ion battery formulations, and with no current domestic supply or active mines for manganese in North America, the development of the Emily Manganese Project represents a significant opportunity for America, the State of Minnesota and for the Company's shareholders. For further information, please contact: Electric Metals (USA) Limited Brian Savage CEO & Director (303) 656-9197 or Valerie Kimball Director Investor Relations 720-933-1150 info@electricmetals.com Forward-Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is generally identifiable by use of the words "believes," "may," "plans," "will," "anticipates," "intends," "could", "estimates", "expects", "forecasts", "projects" and similar expressions, and the negative of such expressions. Such statements in this news release include, without limitation: the ability of the Company to complete the Offering; the size, terms and timing of the Offering; participation in the Offering by insiders of the Company; the timing and receipt of TSXV and other approvals required in connection with the Offering; the intended use of proceeds of the Offering; the Company's mission to become a domestic US producer of high-value, high-purity manganese metal and chemical products to supply the North American electric vehicle battery, technology and industrial markets; that manganese will continue to play a critical and prominent role in lithium-ion battery formulations; that with no current domestic supply or active mines for manganese in North America, the development of the Emily Manganese Project represents a significant opportunity for America, Minnesota and for the Company's shareholders; and planned or potential developments in ongoing work by Electric Metals. These statements address future events and conditions and so involve inherent risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results implied or expressed in such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, but are not limited to, the failure to obtain all necessary stock exchange and regulatory approvals; investor interest in participating in the Offering; and risks related to the exploration and other plans of the Company. Forward-looking information is based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and perception of trends, updated conditions and expected developments, and other factors that management believes are relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date such statements are made. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events, or developments, except as required by law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Electric Metals (USA) Limited View the original on accesswire.comWASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Wednesday passed a $895 billion measure that authorizes a 1% increase in defense spending this fiscal year and would give a double-digit pay raise to about half of the enlisted service members in the military. The bill is traditionally strongly bipartisan, but some Democratic lawmakers opposed the inclusion of a ban on transgender medical treatments for children of military members if such treatment could result in sterilization. The bill passed the House by a vote of 281-140 and will next move to the Senate, where lawmakers had sought a bigger boost in defense spending than the current measure allows. Lawmakers are touting the bill’s 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% increase for others as key to improving the quality of life for those serving in the U.S. military. Those serving as junior enlisted personnel are in pay grades that generally track with their first enlistment term. Lawmakers said service member pay has failed to remain competitive with the private sector, forcing many military families to rely on food banks and government assistance programs to put food on the table. The bill also provides significant new resources for child care and housing. “No service member should have to live in squalid conditions and no military family should have to rely on food stamps to feed their children, but that’s exactly what many of our service members are experiencing, especially the junior enlisted,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “This bill goes a long way to fixing that.” The bill sets key Pentagon policy that lawmakers will attempt to fund through a follow-up appropriations bill. The overall spending tracks the numbers established in a 2023 agreement that then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached with President Joe Biden to increase the nation’s borrowing authority and avoid a federal default in exchange for spending restraints. Many senators had wanted to increase defense spending some $25 billion above what was called for in that agreement, but those efforts failed. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who is expected to serve as the next chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the overall spending level was a “tremendous loss for our national defense,” though he agreed with many provisions within the bill. “We need to make a generational investment to deter the Axis of Aggressors. I will not cease work with my congressional colleagues, the Trump administration, and others until we achieve it,” Wicker said. House Republicans don’t want to go above the McCarthy-Biden agreement for defense spending and are looking to go way below it for many non-defense programs. They are also focused on cultural issues. The bill prohibits funding for teaching critical race theory in the military and prohibits TRICARE health plans from covering gender dysphoria treatment for children under 18 if that treatment could result in sterilization. Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the ranking Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, said minors dealing with gender dysphoria is a “very real problem.” He said the treatments available, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, have proven effective at helping young people dealing with suicidal thoughts, anxiety and depression. “These treatments changed their lives and in many cases saved their lives,” Smith said. “And in this bill, we decided we’re going to bar servicemembers’ children from having access to that.” Smith said the number of minors in service member families receiving transgender medical care extends into the thousands. He could have supported a study asking medical experts to determine whether such treatments are too often used, but a ban on health insurance coverage went too far. He said Speaker Mike Johnson’s office insisted upon the ban and said the provision “taints an otherwise excellent piece of legislation.” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called the ban a step in the right direction, saying, “I think these questions need to be pulled out of the debate of defense, so we can get back to the business of defending the United States of America without having to deal with social engineering debates.” Smith said he agrees with Roy that lawmakers should be focused on the military and not on cultural conflicts, “and yet, here it is in this bill.” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, said his team was not telling Democrats how to vote on the bill. “There’s a lot of positive things in the National Defense Authorization Act that were negotiated in a bipartisan way, and there are some troubling provisions in a few areas as well,” Jeffries said. The defense policy bill also looks to strengthen deterrence against China. It calls for investing $15.6 billion to build military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region. The Biden administration had requested about $10 billion. On Israel, the bill, among other things, includes an expansion of U.S. joint military exercises with Israel and a prohibition on the Pentagon citing casualty data from Hamas. The defense policy bill is one of the final measures that lawmakers view as a must-pass before making way for a new Congress in January. Kevin Freking, The Associated Press
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Developments in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector have generated a lot of headlines over the past couple of years. The abilities of AI systems to create original content, automate processes, and increase productivity have businesses of all stripes eager to secure a part of the resulting windfall. One company that's well positioned to benefit from this trend is Palantir Technologies ( PLTR 8.54% ) . It has decades of experience creating novel AI solutions, which came in handy when the generative AI trend went mainstream early in 2023. That secular tailwind has been extremely profitable for the company and its shareholders. The stock is up 333% so far this year and up 1,060% since the start of 2023, with its gains driven by robust results and an expanding opportunity. Positive developments for Palantir were so plentiful over the past week, it's likely that some investors didn't catch all the announcements. So here are four things you may have missed this week. 1. Admission to the Nasdaq-100 index To kick off the week, Nasdaq announced that Palantir will be added to the Nasdaq-100 index before the market opens on Dec. 23. This was widely expected after Palantir switched its listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq last month. In a press release at the time, Palantir said, "The company expects to begin trading as a Nasdaq-listed company on November 26, 2024 and its common stock will continue to trade under the symbol "PLTR." Upon transferring, Palantir anticipates meeting the eligibility requirements of the Nasdaq-100 Index." While the listing move was largely a cosmetic change, it could boost demand for Palantir stock, as mutual funds , institutional investors, and exchange-traded funds that track the index will have to buy it. 2. A new partnership Palantir and Red Cat Holdings ( RCAT 18.33% ) announced a strategic partnership that will see Palantir's Visual Navigation software integrated into Red Cat's Black Widow drone. The company will also deploy Palantir's Warp Speed manufacturing operating system. "Equipped with Palantir's visual navigation and artificial intelligence, the Black Widow will be among the most capable drones ever fielded by the Department of Defense, compact enough to fit in a rucksack," said Red Cat CEO Jeff Thompson. The terms of the contract weren't provided. 3. Extending its Army Vantage contract Palantir announced an extension to its "long-standing partnership with the U.S. Army to deliver the Army Vantage capability in support of the 'Army Data Platform' (ADP)." The platform leverages data and Palantir's AI to accelerate decision-making and improve combat readiness. While the original contract was focused on personnel and combat readiness, the ADP system has become integral to the Army's data-driven decision-making process. It supports soldiers in a growing list of use cases in areas such as logistics, risk management, recruiting, and financial management. This new agreement will expand the contract to include data across the entire Department of the Army. The total value of the contract is $400 million, though it could potentially be increased to as much as $618 million over the next four years. 4. Translating faith-based content On the other side of the war and peace coin, Pray.com chose Palantir to help it with foreign language translations for the company's faith-based content. The company noted the challenge of providing its offerings in a variety of languages, which has been cost-prohibitive due to the staffing requirements and the complexity of local idioms. Using Palantir's Ontology Software Development Kit, Pray.com was able to process audio and video transcripts and translations "across multiple languages," achieving the "quality of native language speakers." Perhaps equally important, it was able to achieve these results in a matter of minutes, rather than the days or weeks of human efforts its large volumes of translations had previously required. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. What it all means for investors It's important to point out that none of these developments are likely to move the needle for Palantir individually. Taken together, however, they bolster the company's investment thesis. Given Palantir's rapid growth trajectory, commonly used valuation metrics like price-to-earnings and price-to-sales ratios fall short as gauges of its stock. However, applying the more appropriate forward price/earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio -- which considers Palantir's robust growth rate -- provides a multiple of 0.61. Generally speaking, the experts view any positive PEG ratio below 1 as signifying an undervalued stock. For price-sensitive investors concerned about its current level, it might be worth buying Palantir using a dollar-cost averaging strategy -- investing set amounts in the stock at regular intervals, regardless of what the price is doing at those times. Or, one could wait and hope the stock dips. That said, given the company's accelerating growth and the magnitude of the opportunity, I believe Palantir is a buy .
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HAMBURG, Germany, Dec. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- XCHG Limited (“XCharge” or the “Company”), (NASDAQ: XCH), a global leader in integrated EV charging solutions, today announced its unaudited financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2024. Operational Highlights Q2 2024 DC fast charger deliveries were 438, representing a decrease of 31.8% from 642 in the corresponding period of 2023. Q2 2024 Total EV charger deliveries were 619, representing a decrease of 5.4% from 654 in the corresponding period of 2023. DC fast charger deliveries in the first six months of 2024 were 764, representing a decrease of 30.0% from 1,092 in the corresponding period of 2023. Total EV charger deliveries in the first six months of 2024 were 1,155, representing an increase of 2.1% from 1,131 in the corresponding period of 2023. Management Remarks Mr. Yifei Hou, Chief Executive Officer of XCharge, commented, “We are pleased to achieve a resilient operating performance in the second quarter of 2024 despite the challenging macroeconomic environment. In this quarter, as we strove to meet customer demands and strengthen our leading position in the global industry, we delivered 26 Net Zero Series (“NZS”) chargers, representing substantial growth from the prior year, which brought our total NZS charger deliveries up to 51 for the first half of 2024. As a pioneer in the EV charger market, we are committed to enhancing our cutting-edge technologies and developing creative solutions to tackle energy problems, innovatively meeting our clients’ needs. Looking ahead, we will continue to invest in research and development, creating new commercialization opportunities and building a global green future.” Initial Public Offering (“IPO”) In September, the Company successfully completed its initial public offering of 3,462,223 American depositary shares ("ADSs") at a price of US$6.20 per ADS, including 128,888 ADSs that the underwriter partially exercised over-allotment options. Each ADS represents 40 Class A ordinary shares. The total offering size was approximately US$21.5 million before deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and relevant expenses, with net proceeds of US$19.1 million. Financial Highlights for the Second Quarter of 2024 (in USD millions, except for per ordinary share data and percentage) __________________________________________ 1 Except for gross margin, where absolute change instead of percentage change is presented. 2 See “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and “Unaudited Reconciliation of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results” included in this release for further details. Revenues were US$9.0 million for the second quarter of 2024, representing a decrease of 26.3% from US$12.2 million for the same period of 2023. Product revenues were US$8.9 million for the second quarter of 2024, representing a decrease of 26.7% from US$12.1 million for the same period of 2023. The year-over-year decrease was mainly due to the decrease in deliveries to a major customer in Europe. Service revenues were US$0.1 million for the second quarter of 2024, representing an increase of 50% from US$0.1 million for the same period of 2023. The year-over-year increase was mainly due to the increase in maintenance services revenue. Cost of revenues was US$4.8 million for the second quarter of 2024, representing a decrease of 28.2% from US$6.7 million for the same period of 2023. The year-over-year decrease was mainly due to the decrease in revenue. Gross margin was 46.1% for the second quarter of 2024, compared with 44.7% for the same period of 2023. The year-over-year increase was mainly due to our enhanced cost control measures. Selling and marketing expenses were US$2.3 million for the second quarter of 2024, representing an increase of 74.2% from US$1.3 million for the same period of 2023.The year-over-year increase was mainly due to increases in staff costs, sales commissions and advertising expenses for business expansion. Research and development expenses were US$1.2 million for the second quarter of 2024, representing an increase of 18.7% from US$1.0 million for the same period of 2023. The year-over-year increase was mainly due to the increase in staff costs for researching and developing new products. General and administrative expenses were US$1.6 million for the second quarter of 2024, representing an increase of 47.4% from US$1.1 million for the same period of 2023. The year-over-year increase was mainly due to increases in staff costs, tax expenses and professional service expenses. Operating (loss)/income was US$(0.9) million for the second quarter of 2024, compared with US$2.1 million for the same period of 2023. Net (loss)/income was US$(1.0) million for the second quarter of 2024, compared with US$2.0 million for the same period of 2023. Excluding changes in fair value of financial instruments and gain on extinguishment of convertible debt, adjusted net income (loss) was US$(0.9) million for the second quarter of 2024, compared with US$2.0 million for the same period of 2023. Net (loss)/income attributable to ordinary shareholders was US$(1.3) million for the second quarter of 2024, compared with US$0.5 million for the same period of 2023. Basic and diluted (loss) /e arnings per ordinary share was US$(0.002) for the second quarter of 2024, compared with US$0.001 for the same period of 2023. Cash and cash equivalents were US$24.3 million as of June 30, 2024, compared with US$12.8 million as of March 31, 2024. About XCharge XCharge, founded in 2015, is a global leader in integrated EV charging solutions. The Company offers comprehensive EV charging solutions which primarily include the DC fast chargers, the advanced battery-integrated DC fast chargers, as well as its accompanying services. Through the combination of XCharge’s proprietary charging technology, energy storage system technology, and accompanying services, the Company enhances EV charging efficiency and unlocks the value of energy storage and management. Committed to providing innovative and efficient EV charging solutions, XCharge is actively working towards establishing a global green future that is critical to long-term growth and development. For more information, please visit: https://investors.xcharge.com/ Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures We consider adjusted net income (loss), a non-GAAP financial measure as a supplemental measure to review and assess our operating performance. The presentation of this non-GAAP financial measure is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We present this non-GAAP financial measure because it is used by our management to evaluate our operating performance and formulate business plans. We also believe that the use of this non-GAAP measure facilitates investors’ assessment of our operating performance. This non-GAAP financial measure is not defined under U.S. GAAP and is not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. This non-GAAP financial measure has limitations as an analytical tool. One of the key limitations of using this non-GAAP financial measure is that it does not reflect all items of income and expense that affect our operations. Further, this non-GAAP measure may differ from the non-GAAP information used by other companies, including peer companies, and therefore its comparability may be limited. We compensate for these limitations by reconciling this non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest U.S. GAAP performance measure, all of which should be considered when evaluating our performance. We encourage you to review our financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure. We define adjusted net income (loss) as net income (loss) excluding changes in fair value of financial instruments and gain on extinguishment of convertible debt. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the tables captioned “Unaudited Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results” set forth at the end of this release. Exchange Rate Information This announcement contains translations of certain EUR amounts into U.S. dollars and RMB amounts into U.S. dollars at specified rates solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from EUR to U.S. dollars, from U.S. dollars to EUR, from RMB to U.S. dollars and from U.S. dollars to RMB are made at EUR1.0711 to US$1.00 and RMB7.2672 to US$1.00, the exchange rates on June 28, 2024, set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board. The Company makes no representation that any amounts that could have been, or could be, converted into another currency, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all. Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and a number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “target,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “potential,” “continue,” “is/are likely to”, or other similar expressions. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company’s filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake any duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: XCharge IR Department Email: ir@xcharge.com Piacente Financial Communications Brandi Piacente Tel: +1-212-481-2050 Jenny Cai Tel: +86 (10) 6508-0677 Email: XCharge@tpg-ir.com Source: XCHG Limited