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Golden Ten Data April 20th｜Morgan Stanley released a research report, anticipating that Apple’s upcoming earnings for the fiscal quarter ending in March and the guidance for the fiscal quarter ending in June will surpass market expectations, potentially serving as a clearing event for an upward move in stock price. The firm believes that growth in iPhone revenue will offset the impact of memory inflation on gross margin, and expects the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June and the launch of the foldable iPhone in September to be major catalysts, driving the stock price up to $300 before September. Morgan Stanley gives Apple an “overweight” rating and maintains a price target of $315. The report points out that although rising memory costs will put pressure on gross margins, the continued strength in iPhone, Mac, and services revenue is sufficient to offset the effects. The firm expects Apple’s guidance for earnings per share in the third fiscal quarter to be roughly in line with the market expectation of about $1.74, which is a better result than feared. Morgan Stanley estimates that Apple's revenue for the quarters ending in March and June will be 1% to 5% higher than market expectations, mainly benefiting from robust iPhone shipments and growth in Mac revenue driven by the MacBook Neo.

Foresight News reported, citing NADA NEWS, that Japanese yen stablecoin issuer JPYC has raised an additional 2.8 billion yen (approximately $17.62 million) in the second closing of its Series B round. Investors include Metaplanet, NCB Venture Capital, TechMira Holdings, Canal Ventures, SUMISEI INNOVATION FUND, i-nest capital, NTVP, Hokuyo Bank, and Yokohama Capital, among others. Metaplanet had previously disclosed in March this year its plan to invest up to 400 million yen in JPYC. The total Series B funding has reached approximately $29.62 million. The funds will be used for system and application development, talent recruitment, stablecoin issuance and settlement business, as well as for strategic investments.

Glonghui, April 20｜According to The Wall Street Journal, Verizon CEO Dan Schulman has warned that AI will impact the workforce, and it is expected that within the next two to five years the unemployment rate could reach 20% to 30%. Advancements in humanoid robots may disrupt manual labor positions that are currently considered safe. He also stated that this is a very difficult period, and everyone is aware of it, so the key is to tell the truth as much as possible. Verizon laid off 13,000 employees starting last year, marking the largest layoff in the company’s history. Dan Schulman said this move was necessary to improve the company’s efficiency and to reduce costs by $9 billion. He also advocated for enhanced education and reskilling to help workers adapt to the intensifying impact of technology. When the company laid off employees last year, it also established a $20 million fund for career transition and retraining.