Apple posts strong quarterly numbers but a weak outlook, headlining a Handelsblatt briefing on troops, energy, AI and heat.
Apple raised group revenue by 16.4% over three months to over 109 billion dollars, with iPhone revenue up almost 22%. But its sales forecast for the next quarter stayed below analysts' expectations, citing supply chain shortcomings and threatening cost increases for storage chips, so the shares lost significantly after hours.
Answered around 1:23Apple deliberately stayed out of the race for the best AI model and avoided expensive data center investments, which the briefing says was recently rewarded by the stock exchange and analysts. However, Apple cannot escape the AI trend, as the resulting price increases for chips now show.
Answered around 2:00The USA is preparing its largest troop realignment in Europe in decades. Spain could be hit hardest, losing around 2,000 more soldiers, seen in Washington as punishment for denying bases for the Iran war. Germany's withdrawal of 5,000 soldiers is decided, but Ramstein remains needed.
Answered around 2:40By the end of 2025, around 36,000 US soldiers were permanently stationed in Germany. A withdrawal of 5,000 is already decided, but Washington needs Ramstein as a hub for the Middle East and Africa for air transport and drone operations, so Germany fares better than others.
Answered around 3:26In the largest deal in 10 years, Cologne's RheinEnergie takes over EnBW's entire contracting portfolio for a low three-digit million sum, covering planning, financing and operating energy plants from heat pumps to combined heat and power plants. It becomes market leader among municipal providers and targets data centers.
Answered around 4:02Co-founder Axel Sauer told Handelsblatt the company is moving from pure image generation to an AI that processes images, videos and audio and can control robots in the physical world. Lacking the computing capacity of big US rivals, it faces more pressure to make models efficient and economical.
Answered around 5:11In an interview with Hans-Jürgen Jacobs and Sven Prange, Sloterdijk describes psychopolitical explosives gathering in the economy and world trade being openly mafiotized, and criticises tech billionaires as a small minority disrupting the world. He sees a chance for Europe, saying America's fall could lead to re-Europeanization.
Answered around 6:19Cows reach their limits above 20 degrees, and heat stress cut milk deliveries to dairies in the last two weeks of June more than in years. Farms use fans and devices that spray or drip water on the animals. These cow showers also keep flies away, making the animals more relaxed.
Answered around 7:42