Tag Archives: sales

Entertainment

Switch vs PS5 vs Xbox Series X sales figures: Nintendo console lays down huge marker

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The Nintendo Switch has just hit another incredible sales milestone. Earlier this year the Nintendo Switch celebrated its fourth birthday with the hit hybrid console first releasing on March 3 2017. And now Ninty has revealed how many units the console sold between its launch and the end of March this year.
As of March 31 2021 the Nintendo Switch has sold a staggering 84.59million units.

That means the Switch, after just over four years on sale, has already sold more than the Xbox 360 and Gameboy Advance did during its lifetime.

The Switch is already the eighth best selling console of all time, and is just behind the PS3 which it looks certain to eclipse soon.

The PS3 sold 87.4million consoles during its lifetime, with the Nintendo Wii the next console on the all-time leaderboard – selling 101.63million units during its lifetime.

Analysts previously predicted the Switch could eclipse the Wii’s all-time sales figures this year, and when all is said and done it could be very high up the list of the best selling consoles ever.

The PS2 is the most successful console of all time, selling 155million units with the Nintendo DS not too far behind on 154.02million.

The latest Switch sales figures lay down an enviable marker for the PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles.

Both the PS5 and Xbox Series X launched last November, kicking off the ninth console generation.

Sony and Microsoft’s latest consoles have been hit with widespread stock shortages since launch which are continuing across the globe.

Despite this though, the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles have still sold millions of units.

According to new analysis by VGChartz, between launch and April 24 the PS5 has managed to sell more than the Xbox Series X and S.

Worldwide the PS5 and PS5 Digital Edition have allegedly sold just shy of eight million units (7.94million) with the Xbox Series X and S selling 4.75million.

If supplies were more plentiful than the PS5 and Xbox Series X and S would no doubt have sold much more.

The Switch itself last year was hit by worldwide stock shortages when coronavirus lockdowns first hit, with Nintendo warning recently that the Switch could suffer from low stock once again in 2021 due to the semiconductor shortage which has impacted PS5 and Xbox.

Either way though, the Switch in its first four years on sale has laid down an impressive marker for the PS5 and Xbox Series X to try and match. And right now this huge sales momentum the Switch is having is showing no signs of slowing down.

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This post originally appeared on Daily Express :: Entertainment Feed

Finance

Peloton beats sales estimates as home workouts boom

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Peloton beats sales estimates as home workouts boom© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A Peloton logo is seen on an exercise bike after the ringing of the opening bell for the company’s IPO at the Nasdaq Market site in New York City, New York, U.S., September 26, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

(Reuters) -Peloton Interactive Inc beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue on Thursday as more people snapped up its exercise bikes and treadmills to work out indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Peloton (NASDAQ:) emerged as a pandemic winner as home workouts became all the rage during prolonged lockdowns, but investors are now closely watching how demand will holdup as vaccine rollouts in key markets allow fitness centres to gradually reopen and enthusiasts to train outside.

The results come a day after the company issued a recall of its treadmills, following reports of multiple injuries and the death of one child in an accident.

Revenue at Connected Fitness, which includes interactive videos that stream live classes, jumped 139.9% to $ 1.02 billion in the quarter, while its Connected Fitness subscriptions increased 135% to about 2.08 million.

The interactive fitness equipment maker said total quarterly revenue rose 141% to $ 1.26 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of $ 1.11 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

Net loss attributable to Class A and Class B shareholders narrowed to $ 8.6 million, or 3 cents per share, in the third quarter, compared with a loss of $ 55.6 million, or 20 cents per share, a year earlier.

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Author: Reuters
This post originally appeared on Stock Market News

US

Hutto Chevrolet sales manager accused of illegally dealing firearms at car dealership

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Hutto Chevrolet sales manager accused of illegally dealing firearms

HUTTO, Texas (KXAN) — The former general sales manager of a Chevrolet dealership in Hutto is facing a federal criminal charge — accused of dealing much more than SUVs off the lot.

Federal prosecutors say he was trafficking weapons.

Craig Aaron Tondre was arrested in April and he’s accused of dealing firearms without a license. Investigators also say he wasn’t at it alone.

A U.S. District Court criminal complaint filed April 6 lays out the illegal sales of several firearms through a chain of command.

According to arrest affidavits, Craig Tondre was working with another employee at the Covert dealership who is also a convicted felon, Joseph Ellard.

KXAN obtained Joseph Ellard’s booking photo from the Florida Department of Corrections of his arrest for second degree murder in the 90s. Now, Ellard is charges with felon in possession of a firearm and a machine gun.

Through an elaborate investigation, Austin Police Department detectives and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Austin Task Force (ATF) agents discovered the sales happening at the dealership located at 1200 U.S. 79, which is south of Limmer Loop in Hutto.

According to the complaint, Joseph Ellard claimed who used work for Tondre is accused of selling multiple firearms, including a machine gun and a tactical rifle, plus ammunition, and a silencer to undercover agents at the dealership back in February.

Tondre wasn’t present during these specific deals where individual firearms were sold for thousands of dollars, but agents saw a black Ford Explorer known to belong to him both at the scene and at his home during surveillance. He was also later seen carrying an AR-style rifle out of his home and transporting it to the dealership, agents say.

On March 31, a purchase was arranged at Tondre’s home, where the man claiming to be working under Tondre met an undercover detective. The agent reported seeing about 10 firearms and a work station, which later triggered Tondre’s arrest.

Tondre was booked into the Burnet County Jail on April 8, charged with dealing firearms without a license and has since bonded out. His attorney declined to comment at the time of this report.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Covert Auto Group released a statement, saying:

“Two employees who worked for Covert Ford Hutto had their employment terminated immediately after management was informed of their arrests on allegations of selling illegal firearms. Covert Ford Hutto was not aware of any alleged illegal activity by these employees on our premises until the time of arrest. Once we learned of the arrests, they were terminated. The actions of these former employees do not reflect the values and business practices of Covert Ford Hutto. No member of management or ownership knew of any illegal activity prior to the arrests of the individuals.”

Covert Auto Group

Author: Russell Falcon
This post originally appeared on KXAN Austin

Finance

AstraZeneca says on track to deliver on COVID shots as sales hit $275 million

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Author: Reuters
This post originally appeared on Stock Market News

AstraZeneca says on track to deliver on COVID shots as sales hit $ 275 million© Reuters. Exterior photos of the North America headquarters of AstraZeneca

By Pushkala Aripaka and Ludwig Burger

(Reuters) -AstraZeneca said its COVID-19 vaccine sales were $ 275 million in the first-quarter and it is on track to deliver 200 million doses a month from April, as better-than-expected results and a second half growth forecast boosted its shares.

Chief Executive Pascal Soriot again defended the vaccine rollout on Friday, saying that Anglo-Swedish drugmaker had not overpromised on its ability to supply shots, as he defended big cuts in deliveries that prompted a European Union lawsuit.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:), which has said it will not make a profit from the shot during the pandemic, was reporting financial details of distribution and sales of the vaccine it developed with Oxford University for the first time.

It said the revenue included delivery of about 68 million doses, adding that European sales were $ 224 million, emerging markets $ 43 million and $ 8 million in the rest of the world.

Sales of $ 275 million for 68 million doses equates to a price tag of around $ 4 per shot.

AstraZeneca was one of the leaders in the global race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Its cheap and easily transportable shot was hailed as a milestone in the fight against the crisis, but has since faced a series of setbacks.

“Shipments (of COVID-19 vaccines) are increasing as manufacturing improves,” Soriot said during a briefing, adding that it was on track to deliver 200 million doses a month.

“We never overpromised, we communicated what we thought we would achieve at the time,” he said.

AstraZeneca shares were up 3.5% at 7,654 pence at 0942 GMT, putting them on track for their best day since October. The stock, which hit record highs in July 2020 due to optimism around the vaccine, ended last year 4% lower.

The results come after a bruising start to the year as the drugmaker struggles with production of its vaccine and faces a legal battle after cutting deliveries to Europe, while regulators probe rare blood clots in people who got the shot.

“Despite the intense operational and political challenges created by AZN’s COVID-19 vaccine roll out, the core business continues to perform above market expectations in a most challenging quarter, demonstrating strength across therapeutic areas and geographies,” Citigroup (NYSE:) analysts said in a note.

VACCINE RACE

Pfizer (NYSE:), whose COVID-19 vaccine co-developed with German partner BioNTech is several times more costly than AstraZeneca’s, has forecast $ 15 billion for its share of sales, with analysts expecting as much as $ 18 billion on average.

BioNTech expects close to 10 billion euros ($ 12.1 billion) in revenues from committed vaccine deliveries this year but raised the prospect of more supply deals.

Moderna (NASDAQ:) in February said it was expecting sales of $ 18.4 billion from its own vaccine this year.

Before AstraZeneca’s earnings, market researcher GlobalData said it expected annual sales of $ 278 million this year and next for the drugmaker’s coronavirus vaccine, branded Vaxzevria.

AstraZeneca said it is working as fast as possible to compile data to apply for U.S. approval. Soriot said there was nothing wrong with the data, but the dataset was very large.

RESILIENT

AstraZeneca’s core business has proved resilient, with the drugmaker sticking to its forecast for 2021 on Friday and predicting better times ahead.

This guidance does not include any impact from sales of the vaccine and its $ 39 billion purchase of Alexion (NASDAQ:), which is expected to close in the third quarter.

Total revenue of $ 7.32 billion for the three months to March exceeded analysts’ expectations of $ 6.94 billion, while core earnings of $ 1.63 cents per share beat a consensus of $ 1.48.

Quarterly sales growth was driven by best-selling lung cancer drug Tagrisso, up 17% to $ 1.15 billion, while revenues from heart and diabetes drug Farxiga jumped to a better-than-expected $ 625 million, on new prescriptions for heart failure.

($ 1 = 0.8262 euros)

Finance

Carlyle earnings rise 23% on strong asset sales

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Carlyle earnings rise 23% on strong asset sales
Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A general view of the lobby outside the Carlyle Group offices in Washington
(Reuters) – Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:) Inc said on Thursday its first quarter after-tax distributable earnings rose 23% year-on-year, driven by strong growth in asset sales from its private equity business that was partly offset by a decline in its credit unit.Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle reported after-tax distributable earnings of $ 215 million, up from $ 175 million in the previous year. That translated to after-tax distributable earnings per share of 58 cents, higher than the 52 cents that Wall Street analysts estimated on average, according to financial data provider Refinitiv.

Private equity firms like Carlyle have benefited from rising corporate valuations in the public and private markets, which have allowed them to cash out investments at higher profits.

Blackstone Group (NYSE:) Inc, the world’s largest private equity firm, also reported earlier this week that its distributable earnings more than doubled in the first quarter owing to a surge in asset sales.

Carlyle said it sold $ 6.4 billion worth of assets in the first quarter, allowing the firm post a net income of $ 869 million under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), compared with a $ 612 million loss a year earlier.

Its divestments included the sale of a majority stake in PA Consulting to Jacobs Engineering Group Inc (NYSE:), which valued the Britain-based advisory firm at 1.82 billion pounds ($ 2.54 billion). Carlyle also exited its entire shareholding in Japanese enterprise software developer WingArc1st via an initial public offering on the Tokyo Stock Exchange for about $ 175 million.

Carlyle said its credit funds appreciated by 8% in the first quarter. Its corporate private equity, real estate and natural resources funds rose 15%, 4%, and 7%, respectively.

Total asset management rose to $ 260 billion, up from $ 246 billion in the previous quarter owing to the appreciation of its funds. Carlyle closed the quarter with $ 75 billion in unspent capital and declared a quarterly dividend of 25 cents.

($ 1 = 0.7176 pounds)

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By Chibuike Oguh

Author: Reuters
This post originally appeared on Stock Market News

Life Style

Electric cars: Boris should ‘take responsibility’ and ‘play part’ to boost sales

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Author
This post originally appeared on Daily Express :: Life and Style Feed

They have called for major updates to ensure electric car prices are reduced to “better compete” with petrol and diesel cars. The experts claimed electric charging infrastructure needed to be improved, saying it was “not good enough” in its current model.
Their comments come after a new analysis by the group has revealed 92 percent of UK drivers do not feel current infrastructure is good enough for current demand.

The analysis found 69 percent of road users do not think this infrastructure will even be good enough for electric cars by 2030.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, Chris Green, Regit COO said: “It’s clear that three major things need to happen in order to speed that transition up.

“The price of EVs needs to generally reduce to better compete with petrol and diesel alternatives.

READ MORE: Classic cars converted to electric power in ‘world first’

Concerns over charging time were also stopping 61 percent from adopting a new electric vehicle.

However, only 30 percent of those surveyed said they would never adopt an electric vehicle at any stage.

Four percent of motorists said they would be prepared to buy one later this year with 20 percent saying this would be before 2025.

Mr Green has warned there is “no doubt” changes would happen “quickly” over the coming years.

However, he has said the Government needed to “play its part” to ensure infrastructure was delivered.

He added: “The technology will need to continually improve so range anxiety disappears and charge times become quicker.

“I have no doubt that this will happen quickly over the coming years.

“As a result, we’re in a strong position to ensure there is a high adoption of electric vehicles over the coming years and this is largely down to excitement created by the automotive sector with regards to new models and technologies.

“But we certainly need the Government to play its part in delivering infrastructure and education so the dream of mass adoption of EVs becomes a reality.”

The Department for Transport said: “The UK has one of the largest charging networks in Europe, with over 160,000 residential and almost 21,000 public chargepoints already installed.

“Recently, we’ve committed even more funding to support charging infrastructure as we phase out the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles.

“This is testament to the Government’s commitment to creating a cleaner, greener transport system for all.”

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Gaming

Spiritfarer Celebrates 500,000 Sales With Free 'Lily' Update, Out Today

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Spiritfarer developer and publisher Thunder Lotus has today announced that its hit “cozy management game about dying” has surpassed 500,000 sales worldwide.

The announcement coincides with the launch of the game’s first free update – one of three free additions planned to launch for the game throughout the year. This first of these is called the ‘Lily Update’, and can now be downloaded regardless of your chosen platform.

Here’s what you can expect to find:

“In this small yet important addition to Spiritfarer’s main game, Stella’s memories begin to blossom as wondrous flowers over her cabin. These flowers house butterflies that roost to form Lily, the Butterfly Spirit! Stella’s new spirit friend is revealed to be an important figure from her past; Lily will help our hero gain perspective on her life as she approaches the touching conclusion to her journey…”

The new character, Lily the Butterfly Spirit, will guide the player through several scenes which are said to “add depth and detail” to Stella’s story. Additionally, the update brings improvements to local co-op play and fixes various bugs.

“As ever, the updates we’re bringing to Spiritfarer this year are all about the fans – those who helped make this our studio’s most popular game ever,” says Spiritfarer Creative Director Nicolas Guérin. “We wanted to keep the Lily Update small, to address the single most common feedback we’ve received from players since launch: fans want to know more about Stella and what, ultimately, her quest is about.”

This article originally appeared on Nintendo Life | Latest News

US

Texas distilleries push for end to Sunday sales prohibition

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — Weekends are busy — in a good way — at Still Austin Whiskey Co.
Customers can tour the 10,000 square-foot distillery in south Austin and sample the Straight Bourbon Whiskey. But the distillery can only partially capitalize on the foot traffic.

“On Sundays, we’re allowed to be open. We’re allowed to give tours. We’re allowed to have people come in and sample our product and have a drink but if they’ve enjoyed it and want to leave with a bottle, they can’t,” Still Austin co-founder Joanna Salinas told KXAN.

Alcohol-to-go bill clears Texas House, heads to Senate

House Bill 937, sponsored by state Rep. Richard Raymond of Laredo, would dismantle Texas’ remaining “blue laws” and allow distilleries and liquor stores to sell their products seven days a week — a step distillery owners say is necessary after a difficult financial year caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott allowed restaurants to sell alcohol to-go to help alleviate some of the financial pressures of the pandemic. Restaurants are not blocked from selling mixed drinks to-go on Sundays.

The Texas House passed a bill in March to make the rule permanent.

“As a young business, turning away someone who wants to buy your product is hard,” Salinas said.

A separate bill would lift a restriction that prevents distilleries from selling more than two bottles to a single person within 30 days.

John Engel
This article originally appeared on KXAN Austin

Business

Russia’s Alrosa sees diamond sales triple for second month in row as demand in US & China remains strong

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In March, Russian gem miner Alrosa recorded a threefold year-on-year surge in sales of polished diamonds. At the same time, sales of rough diamonds more than doubled, according to the latest data revealed by the producer.

In monetary terms, sales of rough diamonds amounted to $ 345 million, while polished diamond sales totaled $ 12 million. Meanwhile, the miner’s sales revenue in March ran at $ 357 million, marking a four-percent decline compared to the previous month.
Also on rt.com Russian diamond sales triple as demand in key markets recovers – Alrosa 
In February, Alrosa – the world’s leading diamond-mining company by volume – sold $ 361-million-worth of rough diamonds and $ 12-million-worth of polished gems, marking a 5.5% surge in sales of the former and a threefold growth of the latter year-on-year.

Overall sales of diamonds rose to $ 1,159 billion in the first quarter of 2021, against $ 904 million recorded in the same period a year ago.

“The results of jewelry sales in major market outlets, including the US and China, show that high demand from end consumers is maintained,” said Evgeny Agureev, Alrosa’s deputy CEO.
Also on rt.com ‘Ultra-rare’ pink Russian diamond fetches record $ 26.6 million in Geneva (PHOTO, VIDEO)
The company makes the top three of the world’s largest diamond-mining companies, as its share in the global diamond output stands at 25%. Angolan company Catoca, 41% of which is owned by Alrosa, mines 6% of the world’s output. In Russia, Alrosa operates in the remote Yakutia Republic and in the Arkhangelsk Region.

Its market capitalization makes up nearly $ 9.5 billion, and its public float totals 34%, with 33% owned by the Russian Federation. Yakutia owns another 33% of the company’s shares.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section

RT

Gaming

Monster Hunter Rise: Capcom offers free bonus as Nintendo Switch game hits sales milestone

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The Kamara Pack 1 Commerative Item Pack features plenty of free items to help players on their next quest in Rise.

The free item drop features 30 Mega Potions, 20 Well-done Steaks, 10 Large Barrel Bombs, five Mega Demondrugs and five Mega Armorskins.

That’s plenty of free items that will help Rise players when they head out to battle their next monster.

Announcing the release of the free items the official Monster Hunter Twitter posted: “First week numbers are in: #MHRise has shipped over 5 million units worldwide!

“As a token of our gratitude, we’re giving out a Commemorative Item Pack.

“Check in with Senri the Mailman to claim your Kamura Pack 1.”

READ MORE: Nintendo Switch Online tipped to get N64, GameCube, Wii games